Snyder, Carpenter pledge to end rift in Manitou

Manitou Springs Councilman Marc Snyder was leading opponent Rick Barry by just 44 votes in the city’s mayoral race late Tuesday. Nancy Barnes was a distant third with 5 percent of the vote.

Manitou Springs had also thrown its support behind Matt Carpenter in the contentious Ward 3 race. Carpenter, known for his many victories in the Pikes Peak Marathon, had garnered more than 70 percent of the vote, handily defeating innkeeper Karen Cullen.

Manitou Springs residents also overwhelmingly supported ballot measure 2D, with 77 percent of the votes in favor of the measure that will amend the city’s charter to free up a sixth of the city’s sales tax for uses other than land acquisitions, construction, major equipment purchases and road improvements.

In the mayoral race, Snyder said Barry had called him to concede the race late Tuesday evening, and that both had agreed to work to bring the community together, healing the rift between business and residential interests in the town.

“We’re facing a pretty dire budget situation right now,” Snyder said. “Even though 2D, our relief from our charter’s capital reserve requirement passed, that’s a one-year bandage. We still have long-term financing and long-term revenue challenges. My number one priority is to find a way to diversify our revenues and to make it a more sustainable Manitou Springs — economically and in many other ways, too.”

In a campaign that eschewed signs or large contributions, Carpenter thought his literally running to 863 homes in Ward 3 was a big factor in his victory.

“I thought it was a small enough ward that I could go around and talk to constituents and see what they were feeling,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t pull a list of registered voters; I wanted to talk to everyone.”

Carpenter said the defeat of ballot measure 2C in Colorado Springs would affect Manitou as well.

Cullen said she was disappointed, but had no regrets about the way she ran her campaign.

“I really feel that I spoke to the community and had a lot of support,” she said.