City of Boulder 2G – Change Initiative Petition Procedures

This ballot issue proposes the following timetable and requirements for getting a City of Boulder citizens’ initiative on the ballot.

[NEW] Petitioners submit proposed petition to city manager.
  *Within 15 days the city manager comments on the format or contents.
  *If the petitioners then make substantial changes to the petition unrelated to the city manager’s comments, the petitioners must resubmit the petition to the city manager.

Petitioners begin collecting signatures.
  *Within 180 days the petitioners file the petition with the city clerk.
[NEW – Currently no time limit for collecting signatures]
  *Within 10 days of filing the city clerk announces that
        1) the 5% (of the registered city electors) threshold has not been reached (in which case the petitioners have 10 days to gather the needed signatures or stop the process),
        2) the 5% threshold has been reached, but not the 15% threshold, or
        3) the 15% threshold has been reached.
  *At the next regular city council meeting the clerk will submit the measure to city council which will refer the measure to a committee.
  *Within 60 days the committee will report back to city council. [NEW – 30 days now]
  *Within 60 days of the committee report the city council will take final action [NEW – 30 days now]
        1) Pass the measure or
        2) Put the measure on the ballot
            a) “5% petitions” will be voted upon at the subsequent November election that is more than 120 days from the clerk’s submission to city council [NEW – Now the 5% petition can be voted upon at a special municipal election also. In addition, the petitioners have a 30-day period after city council’s final action in which to collect enough signatures to be a 15% petition.]
            b) 15% petitions will be voted upon
                1] at the subsequent November election that is between 56 days and 6 months away from city council’s final action, or
                2] if the November election is more than 6 months away from city council’s final action, at a special election to be held between 60 and 150 days from council’s final action. [NEW – Now the special election has to be held between 30 and 45 days.]
                3] The proposed city charter language is unclear about the 15% petitions in which the November election is within 56 days of the city council’s final action. I think the spirit of the law would require a special election, but someone might make the argument that the petitioners would have to wait until November of the following year.

Recommendation: for

The city manager would get advance notice of petitions but doesn’t have any power to accept or reject the petition, just advisory power to suggest revisions. Almost 6 months is enough time to collect signatures for an initiative. There is no increased hurdle in the number of signatures. I’m not concerned about eliminating the option of collecting supplemental signatures to change a 5% petition into a 15% petition. My biggest concern is the increased time limits for the city council’s steps to get an initiative on the ballot.


City of Boulder Ballot Question No. 2G (Approved Ballot Language)

Amendment of Initiative Procedures

Shall Sections 38, 38A, 38B, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of the Charter, relating to the procedures for submitting an initiative petition to the City, be amended pursuant to Ordinance No.
7802 to require initiative petitions to:
1) Be simple and clear;
2) Be submitted for review and comment prior to circulation;
3) Have signatures no older than 180 days prior to filing;
4) Expand time for council to hold hearings and take final actions on petitions;
5) Change election timing for initiative petitions; and
6) Related details as specifically set forth in Ordinance No. 7802.
‐ For the measure
‐ Against the measure


See Ordinance No. 7802 to refer 2G to the voters.
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/Elections/2011/Ordinances/7802.pdf

State Ballot Issues – A Look Ahead

The Colorado Legislative Council Ballot and Blue Book webpage has a link to the initiatives currently being considered for the 2011 and 2012 ballots or you can go directly to the list via the link below.
http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1112InitRefr.nsf/dac421ef79ad243487256def0067c1de


Senate Concurrent Resolution 001 would have placed a referred measure proposing changes to the initiative process on the November ballot. A disagreement between the House and the Senate on the supermajority percentage required for the legislature to change or repeal a statutory change precluded its passage.

If SCR 11-001 had made it to the ballot and been approved by the voters, it would have
1) increased the percentage of citizen votes required to pass new constitutional amendments
2) allowed constitutional amendments passed prior to 2013 to be repealed with a majority of citizen votes
3) required a minimum percent of signatures on citizen initiatives from each congressional district
4) required a supermajority vote of the legislature to change or repeal a citizen-initiated statutory change for 3 years after it becomes effective

SCR 11-001 could yet reappear as a citizen initiative. In 2008 Referendum O had some similar goals but failed at the ballot box. Some supporters of Referendum O blame its defeat on the lengthy ballot; it was hard to get the voters to pay attention to it, and it competed with other ballot issues for campaign funds.

Click below to see the full text of SCR 11-001.
http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2011A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/65B390DB5A87F561872578080080066D?Open&file=SCR001_rer.pdf

State Ballot Issues – A Look Ahead

There are no state ballot issues in 2009.

Possible 2010 Initiatives Submitted for Review and Comment
http://www.leg.state.co.us/lcs/Initiative%20Referendum/0910InitRefr.nsf/reviewcomment?openview&count=30

Referendum O -- Citizen-Initated State Laws

Currently citizens' initiatives can gain access to the state ballot if a petition is submitted with the number of valid signatures equal to 5% of the last vote total for Secretary of State in the last election. This referendum would differentiate between constitutional changes and statutory changes, making constitutional changes more difficult. The signature requirements would change to 6% (constitutional) and 4% (statutory) of the vote total for Governor in the last eleciton. Eight percent of the required signatures for constitutional amendments would have to come from each congressional district. Each house of the CO general assembly would need a 2/3 vote to amend a voter-approved statutory change within the first five years. The referendum also addresses timelines and allowing comments at a public meeting.

Required CONSTITUTIONAL change -- CHANGES Section 1 of Article V

Recommendation: yes
I disapprove of the number of gratuitous constitutional amendments on the ballot. (See the About Me section of this blog.) I don’t think that this measure would decrease the number of ballot issues, but it might persuade petition organizers to seek statutory changes rather than constitutional changes. We might even see longer ballots because of the loosening of requirements for statutory changes. But who knows? Maybe our neighbors on the Western Slope would be more particular about which petitions they sign and we would end up with fewer statewide ballot measures. Sometimes we do want to change something already in the constitution (witness Amendments 50 and 59), and then we don’t want to have an impossible challenge for the petition organizers. I think this ballot measure strikes a fair balance.


Website for Yes side (Citizens for Constitutional Common Sense)
http://www.oyescolorado.org/

Website for No side
http://www.norefo.com/


Referendum O (Approved ballot title below)

Citizen-Initiated State Laws

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning ballot initiatives, and, in connection therewith, increasing the number of signatures required for a proposed initiative to amend the state constitution; reducing the number of signatures required for a proposed statutory initiative; requiring a minimum number of signatures for a proposed initiative to amend the state constitution to be gathered from residents of each congressional district in the state; increasing the time allowed to gather signatures for a proposed statutory initiative; modifying the review of initiative petitions; establishing a filing deadline for proposed initiatives to amend the state constitution; and requiring a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly to amend, repeal, or supersede any law enacted by an initiative for a period of five years after the law becomes effective?

Yes ________________ No ________________


To see the full text of the proposed measure, click here, then click on “2008 State Ballot Information Booklet” at the top of the page.