A group of northern Colorado Springs residents turned in a stack of signed petition forms Monday afternoon in an attempt to recall City Councilmember Tom Bailey. Timothy Lewin, Paul Carson and Laura Wilkey were the main organizers who dropped off the packets at the City Clerk’s office. Lewin sa id the group had gathered “just under” 2,000 signatures in support of the recall and had only used unpaid, volunteer signature gatherers for the effort. Bailey, a retired Air Force Colonel and former educator at the Air Force Academy, was elected to the City Council in April. Bailey ran for the District 2 council seat largely unopposed after the other candidate suspended his campaign early in the race. The recall effort was launched in October, largely in response to the planned construction of the Royal Pines apartment complex near the neighborhood where the three organizers lived. Carson said that as the group began gathering more signatures, they found other residents with complaints about Bailey’s votes and issues getting in touch with him. “There is a lot unhelpfulness and a lack of communication between him and the residents,” Carson said. “The first time I heard back from Tom Bailey about my concerns was when we started the recall effort.” Tom Bailey was elected to the Colorado Springs City Council in April, representing District 2. (City of Colorado Springs website) Bailey said through a City Council spokesman that he would limit his comments until the recall effort had been certified. In an October statement, Bailey had said the issues raised by the recall effort did not reflect his voting record or the broader sentiment of the district. “Disagreement is not the same as disrespect. Holding a different view does not mean I’m ignoring constituents or lacking transparency. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do know that I am doing the best I can to understand what my fellow citizens want,” Bailey said. The recall effort requires a minimum of 1,764 signatures, which is 25% of the votes cast during the April election, from voters in District 2 to continue moving ahead. The City Clerk’s Office will verify the submitted signatures over the next 30 days to make sure they came from registered voters in the district. If the city determines that the recall has enough signatures, Bailey will have five days to either resign from the City Council or face a recall election in early 2026. Lewin said the petition’s organizers had already spoken to a few candidates who were interested in running for Bailey’s seat should a recall election take place. “I think that good people are on the benches and would be excited to step up and represent District 2,” Lewin said. The Royal Pines development, which developers said would provide 232 affordable housing units in northern Colorado Springs, had been in the works well before Bailey was elected. Residents in the Pine Creek neighborhood have waged a legal battle against the development since 2023, saying the project would negatively impact traffic congestion and home prices in their neighborhood. Bailey was part of an 8-1 city council majority in May that approved a $60 million private activity bond for the project. Royal Pines finally broke ground on construction in November. Lewin and Wilkey said that they wanted their local councilmember to reflect the concerns of the neighbors who spoke out against the apartment, even if it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Previous filings for the recall also cited Bailey’s support in his personal life for Ford Amphitheater as a potential concern. ...read more read less