Republican Doug Bruce: Bad Citizen, Bad Neighbor

Man, for someone who hates government and hates society so much, you have to wonder what happened to Doug Bruce as a child:

Jane Thomsen and her west-side neighbors are tired of the boarded up, run-down building at 1326 W. Kiowa St. dragging down property values and serving as an occasional shelter to vagrants.

"You can't be allowed to have a property like this. It's just not right," Thomsen said as she strolled by nearby homes with manicured lawns, rose bushes, even an orchard.

Colorado Springs officials agree, and the city has declared the fourplex owned by Douglas Bruce a dilapidated building.

The city will start billing Bruce, a former El Paso County commissioner who was appointed to a state House seat last year, $500 per quarter for inspection fees. It's the latest in a string of city actions against Bruce's ill-kept properties.

That's why Doug Bruce has been called a slumlord, violently anti-social, and a cad. And he's the Colorado Springs Republicans' favorite Republican.