Mark Sievers

Jill Sievers

Mark has been married to his wife, Jill, for 33 years.  Jill is a Montana native, raised in the Judith Basin where Charles M. Russell painted classic western scenes.  Jill is a lawyer and President of Habitat for Humanity in Teller County.

Mark and Jill have lived throughout the United States and returned to Colorado after 9/11 to be closer to Mark's family, who still live in Colorado Springs.

Mark and Jill live in Teller County just outside Cripple Creek overlooking the Sangre De Cristo mountain range.

Together, Mark and Jill operate a small, general law practice in Teller County and are deeply involved with their community and volunteer activities.

Mark's family tradition is public service as first-responders.  Mark was a police officer for the City of Colorado Springs.  Mark's father made a career as a fireman and retired as the Fire Chief for the City of Colorado Springs.  Mark's brother, Jeff, is a fireman for the City of Colorado Springs. Mark's sister-in-law, Val, is one of the founding members of Colorado's Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) program that treats victims of sexual assault.  Mark's sister, Cindy, works at the Las Alamos National Laboratories.  His nephew, Jesse, is a wildlands firefighter for the US Forest Service.

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Education

Economics (Phi Beta Kappa), University of Colorado.

JD

William H. Leary Scholar, University of Utah.  Admitted to practice in Colorado, Missouri (inactive) and Washington, DC (inactive).

Economics.   University of California, Davis.  PhD Dissertation topic/title: Transfer of Water Rights in California

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Seasoned Businessman, Advocate of Free Enterprise and Competition

Mark made a career opening domestic and international telephone markets to competition -- markets that had been closed to competition by governments for decades.  Most governments believed that the telephone industry was a natural monopoly and that competition was not possible.  That turned out to be untrue, and the introduction of competition transformed the industry from one of black rotary dial phones and expensive long distance to one with a dazzling array of choices, better services, and lower prices.  The same sort of transformation that choices and competition brought to telecommunications markets needs to happen in public education.

Mark was a senior executive at Southwestern Bell, Sprint, GTE and Verizon.

Mark was an economist at Southwestern Bell shortly after the AT&T divestiture.

At Sprint, he was responsible for public policy development involving a wide range of regulatory and legislative matters.  He regularly testified as an expert witness throughout the United States to convince government regulators and legislators to open telecommunications markets that had been closed to competition for decades.  He was also involved in complex merger, acquisition and joint ventures that included Sprint, United Telephone, Centel, Comcast, TCI, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.  For a short period, he served as Sprint's general counsel in its local telephone company in Las Vegas.

At GTE, Mark managed the development of policies and positions GTE took in public forums, including federal and state legislative lobbying and legal proceedings before the FCC and state public utility commissions.  He managed a corporate staff that included lobbyists, economists, and regulatory personnel.

 Mark was part of the executive team that consummated the merger between GTE, Bell Atlantic and Vodaphone that became Verizon -- then the world's largest merger at $56 billion involving 250,000 employees and operations throughout the United States and 21 countries.  Mark's activities included developing the regulatory filings, evidence, positions and corporate restructuring that permitted the firms to merge and created Verizon.

At Verizon, Mark secured international operating authority and set up and maintained off-shore legal structures in about 20 countries.  He was also responsible for negotiating, drafting and managing Verizon’s contracts related to its international operations.  In 2002, that included more than 500 contracts such as infrastructure contracts (e.g., cable capacity/IRUs, service purchases, non-disclosure agreements, personnel contracts, corporate/tax structure contracts), sales contracts with customers, and miscellaneous contract amendments and operating agreements (e.g., contract notices, statements of work).  Mark worked through the complexities and significant contract re-negotiations associated with the mega-bankruptcies of KPN/Qwest, FLAG Telecom, Global Crossing, Williams Communications, and Genuity.

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Law Enforcement, Teaching, & Legal Experiences

A very young Mark as a policeman and Jill.

Police Officer

City of Colorado Springs.  Mark worked as a uniformed police officer in the patrol and traffic divisions, and in a plainclothes capacity in the Vice and Intelligence Unit.  Mark was one of the founding members of the Colorado Springs' Police Department’s first DUI team.

Faculty Member

Mark taught economics, finance and operations research to business students at Utah State University.  Elected Teacher of the Year by the MBA students.  He taught calculus to business students at the University of Utah while attending law school and economics to undergraduate students while in graduate school at the University of California, Davis.

Lawyer

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Volunteer Activities

We making a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.  Winston Churchill

Mark (in the ball cap) and Santa Joe Monaco pondering a 1930s era newspaper discovered in a Habitat for Humanity restoration project.

Habitat for Humanity, Teller County.  Jill is the President of Habitat for Humanity in Teller County.  Mark & Jill provide volunteer legal services as well as working on construction projects.  Since its founded in 2000, Habitat for Humanity has built 18 houses in Teller County.  Its current project includes relocating and restoring 4 Victorian-era houses in Cripple Creek.

Leadership Program of the Rockies.  Mark is enrolled in the Leadership Program of the Rockies that is America's premier institute to develop, strengthen and train emerging leaders.

SCORE Chapter 206.  Mark is the current vice-chairman of the SCORE chapter that serves El Paso and Teller Counties.  SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) provides free counseling and advice to small businesses.  The chapter counsels more than 500 businesses and individuals each year.  The chapter also provides input to the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce Legislative Watch Committee that analyzes legislation pending before the Colorado General Assembly.

Chairman, Teller County Republicans.  Before running for House District 45, Mark was the chairman of the Teller County Republicans.

Pikes Peak Regional Hospital Opening Day

Pikes Peak Regional Hospital.  Mark sits on the Board of Trustees that oversees operations of the hospital.  Mark and Jill donated legal services to the development of the hospital that opened in October 2007.  The hospital is a full service, rural hospital operated by Brim Health Care.  The campus that is part of the project includes a medical office building and an assisted care living center in addition to the hospital.  The project was built without public funds.