1120 N Circle Dr - Suite 10, Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Ken Schauer

Candidate for County Commissioner District 3 2020

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Ken is a father, a husband, and a veteran who believes in building an El Paso County that works for everyone. Unfortunately, county voters’ interests have been compromised. An elite few have profited as non-accountable development has stressed our infrastructure, forcing taxpayers to pick up the bill for new fire stations, schools, and roads. Skyrocketing property values have increased our costs, making renters and landowners alike sacrifice for unchecked development.

It is time for leadership like Ken Schauer, who honors and respects the voters’ interests in El Paso County issues. Until we have sustainable development, we will suffer as a community under poor stewardship of our tax dollars and resources.

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Ken grew up on a cattle ranch in the far reaches of Montana, where he learned first-hand the importance of properly managed county services. In 1996, Ken enlisted in the United States Air Force and after completing technical training was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain Air Station in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado.  After serving for four years, he landed a job working for a small government contractor on Peterson Air Force Base updating the complex communications of Cheyenne Mountain.

After six years, the contract was near completion and Ken sought employment with a local data call center, providing tier three tech support. This job was outsourced to Costa Rica, and then brought back to the Springs where they offered the employees their old jobs back at a drastically reduced pay rate.

Seeing no protections for himself or his fellow workers, Ken began to seek out the protections offered by collective bargaining. He found the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and promptly joined their ranks. Thus began his apprenticeship working within the electrical construction industry.  After completing his electrical apprenticeship, getting married to Shiloh, and buying his house on the west side of Colorado Springs, Ken became a licensed Journeyman Electrician. 

Over the next decade, Ken had three children.  Lydia, his oldest, is a precocious third grader.  When they decided to have a second child they were graced with twins – Dawson and Ellis. Their family dog, Bristol (named after the brewery, of course!) and their beloved cat, Stripey-Baby.  It turns out that letting the children name a cat is a dangerous proposition! 

Ken was elected Treasurer of his local union 2013, which sparked his interest in finance, so he completed his bachelors of science in accounting in 2018.  He was also elected as the president of the Colorado Springs Area Labor Council, Vice President of the Colorado AFL-CIO, and is currently serving terms in all three of these offices

Ken is an avid fan of the outdoors, a member of a local shooting club, active in his church, and can often be found either biking the town with his daughter, or sitting on his porch playing one of the myriads of musical interests he loves to play.  It is unclear how much his neighbors appreciate his accordion playing, or banjo plunking, or even his guitar strumming, but he hasn’t been asked to stop yet, and with some of these instruments that is considered an endorsement!

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