City of Boulder 2E - Direct Election of the Mayor Using Ranked Voting

Ballot measure 2E asks if Boulder voters want to, beginning in 2023, elect their mayor directly rather than have city council choose the mayor from its ranks and, if so, does Boulder want to use ranked choice (instant runoff) voting when there are more than two candidates.

The mayor’s job duties, 2-year term, and selection in odd years would not change from the status quo. Someone who has served for 3 terms as a member of city council could be elected to 2 mayoral terms. Others could be elected for up to 4 mayoral terms.

Instead of electing 5 council members every two years, the city would elect 4 council members, all for 4-year terms. If a city council member in the middle of a 4-year term is elected mayor, then the 5th vote-getter would be elected to finish the two years. The voters would presumably have voted for 4 council members though, not 5.

The county clerk weighed in at the eleventh hour to notify the city that it should plan to hold its own election, not rely on the county to coordinate a ranked voting election. This announcement changed the council vote to put the measure on the ballot from the first reading of 7 – 2 to the second reading of 5 – 4. The council was unable to get the necessary 6 votes to put a contingency clause in the ballot language to delay the use of ranked voting until the county clerk is able to conduct the election or the city has sufficient funds to conduct its own election.

At their retreat this year, city council discussed but chose not to pursue adoption of any alternative form of voting. Filling the void, a subset of members from Open Boulder’s two boards organized an “Our Mayor, Our Choice” petition effort to get this measure on the ballot.

The decision not to allow electronic signatures in the midst of a pandemic despite the voters’ approval of 2G in 2018 irked many working on citizens’ initiatives. Then varying interpretations of the number of required signatures and the time allowed for collecting signatures added fuel to the fire. (One of the interpretations is in 2E passed by Boulder voters in 2018.)

The ensuing chaos did not put the city attorney in a positive light. “Bedrooms are for People” was another ballot effort negatively impacted by the city attorney’s change in interpretation of petition signature requirements and deadlines, and ultimately sued the city unsuccessfully to be put on the ballot.

City council was somewhat more receptive to referring the Our Mayor petition to the ballot, but the ballot language needed modification to fix a vacancy that was built into the original language. Council member Bob Yates worked with proponents to improve the ballot language. Along the way the mayor’s election year and term reverted to the status quo.

Recommendation: No/Against

From this ballot measure’s many twists and turns, you can see that it was not well planned nor well executed. The county clerk also says that the city is on its own with a ranked voting election, and the city has admitted that it is not ready. The proponents say that they can come back to the voters and ask for an implementation delay if needed.

Given the implementation hurdles and the 2023 start date, why didn’t council take a reasoned approach and wait a year to put this on the ballot? If this doesn’t pass, council can put it on the ballot again next year. Or perhaps a different ballot measure could propose replacing ranked voting with a simpler alternative, such as approval voting.

Some council members believe that the directly elect mayor proposal is a solution in search of a problem. According to the proponents, many Boulderites didn’t even realize that city council, rather than the electorate, chooses the mayor.

Boulder’s council/manager system means that Boulder has a “weak” mayor. (In interesting timing, Jane Brautigam, our city manager announced that she is retiring effective October 30, after 12 years on the job.) Opponents of this measure point to power conflicts between a directly-elected weak mayor and a council-hired manager.

Some people question why we should bother holding a separate election for a “weak” mayor. The 2E campaign points out that every city in Colorado larger than Boulder directly elects a mayor. With only 3 exceptions (Denver, CO Springs and Pueblo), all mayors in Colorado are in the weak category.

Why would people run for a 2-year term as a weak mayor when they can run at-large for one of four council seats with a 4-year term? Maybe only term-limited or almost term-limited council members will run as mayor.

In our current system, the voters in Boulder narrow the pool for mayor to 9 candidates, and the losing candidates in the mayoral race continue to serve as council members. In the proposed system, two or more candidates would vie to be mayor; assuming that all the candidates are good, the city loses out when only one wins.

During the conversation on 2E, the city council expressed support for changing to a proportional way of electing members of city council in the future. The city is likely to convene another Elections Working Group to resolve the very visible petition signature problems and to study proportional representation.

Website for the Yes side – Our Mayor, Our Choice
https://www.ourmayor-ourchoice.org/

Website for the No side
No known website – Info on an opponents’ website appreciated.
(Steve Pomerance penned a few Daily Camera columns noting flaws in 2E.)
https://www.dailycamera.com/2020/09/16/opinion-steve-pomerance-mayor-ballot-measure-still-has-serious-problems/


Approved Ballot Language

City of Boulder Ballot Question 2E
Charter Amendments Related to Direct Election of the Mayor

Shall Article II, Sections 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, and 15 of the Boulder City Charter be amended to provide for the direct election of the mayor by ranked choice (instant runoff) voting?

YES/FOR _____
NO/AGAINST _____

Ordinance No. 8420 to put 2E to the voters
https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/o-8420_2nd_Rdg_Our_Mayor_Our_Choice_SIGNED-1-202009101508.pdf?_ga=2.67266649.954903512.1600536510-1345314453.1596765451

Supplemental Memo (Sept 1, 2020, Item 3K) – Analysis of Administrative and Legal Issues with the Letter from the County Clerk
https://boulder.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/AttachmentViewer.ashx?AttachmentID=3456&ItemID=3195