Homeless advocate will take support for recall effort where he can find it

Patrick Ayers of Colorado Springs has cultivated a reputation as a loud and somewhat confrontational voice for the rights and welfare of the city’s homeless population.

Now, as Ayers plots an unrelated effort to recall Mayor Lionel Rivera and Vice Mayor Larry Small in the wake of a failed bid for a property tax increase, he understands that he’ll likely draw support from the kind of small-government crusaders who have just four words for the homeless: Let them eat cake.

Ayers said that he’ll take support from wherever he can get it.

Ayers — who is scheduled to publicly announce his push for a recall at a news conference at City Hall at noon Friday — said his objections to the city’s top elected leaders will resonate in a way that cuts across the political spectrum.

A sample of his rhetoric: They’re “arrogant,” “wasteful,” “rude” and entitled.

His laundry list of gripes includes “foolhardy” spending such as the multimillion-dollar incentives package to keep the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs. He remains suspicious that Rivera stood to profit from the deal — an allegation that spawned a city ethics investigation that ultimately cleared Rivera of improper conduct.

Meanwhile, Ayers’ vision for the city is familiar to any follower of local politics: In tough times, government should spend cautiously and learn to do without.

Ayers said he has no intention of running for political office. Nor does he see conflict with his advocacy work on behalf of the homeless.

He’s always supported grassroots effort on behalf of the homeless, he said, and he wants to enlist volunteers to bankroll his ultimate vision: a self-sustaining, Catholic community where the homeless can live and work.

“I’ve always said we can get grants, charities and religious money. That money is out there.”

He said he’ll court signatures from people who don’t support his social program or his passion for helping the homeless.

“Some people hear what I have to say and think, ‘Oh my God, this guy’s over the fence as a liberal.’ In other things, though, they’ll say he’s conservative,” Ayers said. “People like me are hard to pigeonhole.”

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