COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After serving for 13 years, City Council President Pro Tem Richard Skorman decided to formally resign on Nov. 5 and his reasoning was actually a personal one.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit many businesses hard, and Skorman’s business was no different. In fact, he said he originally wanted to resign because he wanted to be more involved in his businesses.

Currently, his restaurant set to open on Nov. 15.

“I wouldn’t have run in April if I thought that COVID wouldn’t be over by now,” Skorman said. “I thought that people were going to get vaccinated and we’d be in good shape but I need to really focus on our businesses with my wife Patricia, and make sure that they’re healthy.”

Skorman said that his resignation was bittersweet, but assured the public that his involvement would not end once he left City Council, especially after the loss of Ballot Issue 2C, which, he says, would’ve doubled sales tax to fund parks and open spaces.

“We need to figure out a good way to present to the voters how to fund our parks in a way that we just didn’t do last Tuesday. But, having said that, that’s very critical to me,” Skorman said.

Overall, though, Skorman said he was happy with the changes that the city had seen since he had been on the City Council.

“We’ve really made big, big strides with the homeless population,” Skorman said. “We now have a bed for everybody. Nobody has to freeze or lose a limb. In the old days I was very proud that we were able to bring 2 thousand people up from the Gulf Coast during our Katrina relief effort.”

He also mentioned that he was satisfied with the TOPS tax and he said that he plans to keep advocating for it. He said he will also continue to support efforts for affordable housing, open spaces and renewable energy. But in the meantime, you’ll be able to see him more often serving up some New York style pizza or steaming a latte.

“It’s really time for me to roll up my sleeves. I’m the food guy,” Skorman said. “I’m the Jewish cook. And so I’m going to get involved with that end of it and make sure that we have a good business here in the future.”

Skorman’s resignation will officially take effect Dec. 31. The City of Colorado Springs said that it will have more information on the appointment process soon.