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April 27, 2011 03:31 AM UTC

CO Springs Mayor: Does Steve Bach Have More Dirty Laundry?

  • 19 Comments
  • by: glasscup

I started paying attention to the mayor’s race in the springs after someone posted a few ads on here. I thought Steve Bach’s ad was best at the time. I’ve kept paying attention to it since then (i.e., reading the Gazette and Independent every so often) because frankly, it’s a heck of a lot more interesting than Denver mayoral and a little more salacious than the state legislature.

Namely, before the first election reports surfaced that accused real estate developer Steve Bach of domestic violence:

http://www.gazette.com/article…

http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog…

http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog…

Despite this, a lot of people had voted already and Bach managed to make the runoff. After the Gazette broke that story, the CS Indy recently did another big investigation of Bach’s records and found some particularly damning stuff about his business records, etc.

http://www.csindy.com/colorado…

But surprisingly, I think they missed a HUGE story, and the press there should be pounding down Bach’s door to ask him about it. Namely, during his issues with alcoholism, did he hit someone?

According to his second divorce,

In the motion, which sought to block the meeting, Jane described Bach as “emotionally upset, distraught, and unable to deal with day-to-day problems.” The motion also says he resorted “to the use of alcohol in response to the domestic problems and business problems brought on by the estrangement of the parties.” His alcohol use, the motion states, “resulted in excessive absenteeism” at work, and he was “involved in automobile accidents which would indicate his inability to cope with the situation at hand.”

Read that again. He had alcohol problems, which lead to problems at work and automobile accidents. Unfortunately, the Independent sort of let it lie, saying:

Police records involving Bach, if any exist, have long since been destroyed, police say, and El Paso County jail records don’t go back that far.

But what about his ex-wife? What happened? What about Bach? The tv stations, the gazette, etc. in the Springs should be asking these questions. Because from the sound of it, now only was this guy seriously violent and abusive, but he also had an alcohol problem and potentially really hurt people. That doesn’t sound like someone fit to be mayor…

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19 thoughts on “CO Springs Mayor: Does Steve Bach Have More Dirty Laundry?”

  1. I read this diary and there was a web ad for Bach at the top.

    Incredible that a guy with such a sordid record of abuse would be in a runoff for mayor of a real city.

    Don’t say “o, it’s just the springs.” It’s the second biggest city in our state, and a guy like this probably isn’t fit to lead it.

  2. “Someone totally said so in a contentious divorce” isn’t the best way to not get sued. DUI’s and accidents are a serious charges to make without an official record.

    Otherwise, interesting. I wouldn’t vote for the guy because I agree with your assessment. (And other things, but not related) You’re right about the comparison to the Denver race as well. Mejia’s ex-wife (for instance) endorsed him! Fidel’s Dirt Nap could’ve written it.

    Any thoughts on why he (Bach) made the runoff? Or why did you like him to start (just the ad is fair enough)? Seriously asking. It is a little weird in retrospect. I was only vaguely aware that the city had already moved on to the runoff, so color me clueless and interested.

    1. I didn’t like him, per se, I just thought his ad was the best. It was straight forward, simple, clear message. Some of the others were pretty bad, I thought. I’d guess that having a clear message is a big reason he made the run off. But I don’t think (even before but especially not with the wife beating) I’d have voted for the guy.

      The problem is that no one is really trying to knock him off that message in the media and figure out what he really thinks. Some of the coverage I’ve read has him giving pretty absurdly evasive answers.

      I’m not critiquing the newspapers for not publishing it, but the story is full of a lot of important details about the guy and it doesn’t look like anyone has followed up on it. And that’s the key thing. It’s clear that the court case doesn’t have all the evidence necessary, which is why you have to track down other sources to answer the question.

      The story came out only a few days before the election though, and it hasn’t really been on TV a lot or anything. I’m not sure people know the extent of the allegations.  

    2. Flattered. Really starting to get a firm grasp of the gestalt for these endorsement thingys.

      Wait, hold on, maybe it means that anyone could’ve written it.  Hell, it could even be FDN.  Crap.

  3. but 1968/69 is pretty damned far back. At the same time, I’m puzzled by lack of records.  I thought records pretty much stick around for good on these types of allegations.

    1. Not commenting on this case specifically, but his “experience” is that no records either means:

      a) At some point the records were damaged, since they would’ve been just paper.

      b) The police department isn’t going to waste manpower sending an employee (ongoing investigations, or if they were never closed, are kind of confidential, so it would have to be someone working for them) to dig back forty years for something that may not even exist. Apparently, the only way there would be a computer record is if he’d been arrested since and had therefor given the dept. an excuse to enter the charges, say, ten/twenty years ago.

      c) The “allegations” were solely a manifestation of the divorce and there are no police reports because they never existed.

      Punch cards with records have been around since the late ’20’s for large forces, but computerization the way we think of it didn’t become widespread in precincts until the early to mid ’70’s.

      For perspective, 911 came out in 1968 or so. I was also a bit surprised at the use of “destroyed.” But thinking of it more, it does seem kind of reasonable. It would be difficult to have a forty year old crime considered in a trial for a new one and that’s really what records are for (once the stats are tracked and the case closed). Not throwing political punches.

      I’m downgrading my rating of the diary from interesting to useless. (Sorry, glasscup) But I did enjoy this conversation with an old friend!

      2. I, for one, think it’s worth knowing if the guy did this stuff.

        The abuse allegations started as a divorce case but I think people are getting the sense that they are well-founded. The particulars of the allegations are pretty graphic and disturbing. Now, according to one report I saw, a second woman who was in a relationship with Bach has come forward saying the same thing. And a friend down there has told me that the general belief among people who know Bach at the time is that his second marriage ended because of abuse as well, despite what that wife has said publicly.

        So I think it’s worth asking questions about the guy and looking at reporting and saying…maybe there’s something to these issues too. And maybe someone reading it can help develop it further? For instance, I think your friend’s information is great and very informative about the issues for me.

      3. If the statute of limitations has long run out, there would be little reason to keep the records in any case, regardless of technology.

        Thanks for digging up those answers, though, that’s interesting perspective — no 911 before the late ’60s, it’s funny to think some of these things weren’t always around.

  4. .

    he and Poor Richard Skorman are in a runoff.

    There are large Bach signs all over town.  He has the “developer” vibe goin’ for him.  This burg loves to elect developer interests to city council.  

    Right now, Skorman is trying to paint Bach as the evil, exploitative developer.  We’ll see how that pans out.

    .

    Oh, I think most voters here have been divorced at least once, so dredging up old allegations of wife-beating isn’t resonating.  

    .

    p.s.: Bach is the (R,) Skorman the (D.)

    .

      1. .

        Folks who have been thru an acrimonious split have a better idea of what gets alleged in those circumstances.  

        As for the hardness of my eye, I don’t think so, but at least it’s not as soft as my grey matter, which looks like Tapioca.

        .

      1. .

        Colorado Springs is in El Paso County ?

        Registering (I) does not mean he’s not a Dem.  It means he has some understanding of local politics.  Good thing to have when serving on Council previously, or when running for Mayor.

        .

  5. Americans for Prosperity’s Ad Against Skorman

    Skorman’s new ad

    Latest Fundraising Numbers

    http://www.gazette.com/article… – Skorman has raised $393,574, while Bach’s total is $284,313, according to campaign finance reports filed with the City Clerk on Monday. Skorman also has more cash on hand heading into the May 17 runoff election. Skorman has $101,986,  while Bach has $24,968. the latest reporting period, Skorman raised $118,106, while Bach raised $64,760.

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