HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Full - Ad Hoc Election Code Amendments Committee - 02/23/2016 -
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AGENDA
City Council Ad Hoc Committee
Election Code Amendments
February 23, 2016
3:30 p.m.
City Clerk Large Conference Room
300 LaPorte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO
Committee Members:
Councilmember Bob Overbeck, District 1
Councilmember Kristin Stephens, District 4
Councilmember Ross Cunniff, District 5, Chair
1. Call Meeting to Order
2. Approval of January 20, 2016 Committee Meeting Minutes
3. Suggested Election Code Changes
a. Signature Verification - provide updated information
b. Absentee Ballots - broaden to include all absentee voters
4. Other Business
5. Adjournment
Council Election Ad-Hoc Committee Minutes
January 20, 2016
4:00 p.m.
Members in Attendance: Kristin Stephens, Bob Overbeck, and Ross Cunniff (chair).
Also present: Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce; Sally Broste, League of
Women Voters;
Staff in Attendance: Carrie Daggett, City Attorney; Wanda Winkelmann, City Clerk; Rita
Knoll, Chief Deputy City Clerk; Cary Carricato Alton, Paralegal.
A meeting of the City Council Ad-hoc Election Committee (“Committee”) was held on
Wednesday, January 20, 2016, in the City Clerk’s Office Large Conference Room, to consider
proposed changes to the Fort Collins Charter and Municipal Code related to elections.
The meeting began at 4:04 p.m. The Board reviewed the Agenda which contained these items:
1. Call Meeting to Order
2. Approval of January 4, 2016 Committee Meeting Minutes
3. Review Feedback Received from Commission on Disability, Human Relations
Commission, and Senior Advisory Board Regarding Council Compensation
4. Suggested Election Code Changes
5. Other Business
6. Adjournment
Councilmember Cunniff called the meeting to order. Councilmember Cunniff stated that the
second order of business from the agenda was approval of the minutes from January 4, 2016
meeting. Councilmember Stephens moved for the approval of the minutes, Councilmember
Overbeck seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Feedback Received from Commission on Disability, Human Relations Commission, and
Senior Advisory Board
City Clerk Winkelmann summarized the feedback from the three Boards and Commissions
concerning the ability of a City Council member to waive compensation for serving as a
Councilmember. Ms. Winkelmann stated that all three boards indicated that they would hate the
compensation to be a barrier to serving this community if someone would lose a portion of their
pension or disability payment because of the compensation issue. The Human Relations
Commission had specific questions concerning national trends in compensation for service on
City Councils. All Boards and Commissions were in agreement that the City should remove any
barriers to serving.
There was discussion amongst the Committee on the current numbers for Social Security
Disability Income and the effect on health insurance and Medicare and Medicaid.
City Attorney Daggett stated there might be a way to craft the language so a Councilmember
could waive “all or a portion of the salary” associated with being a Councilmember.
The Committee agreed that they would forward this recommendation to the City Council as a
recommended change, but that it would have to be placed on an upcoming Ballot because it
Council Election Committee
Meeting Minutes January 20, 2016
Page 2 of 2
would require a Charter change. They agreed that they would recommend that it be put on a
future ballot at the next convenient time to do so.
The Committee further discussed the timing of this being placed on the ballot and that it would
not likely happen until spring of 2017, making it not effective until April of 2019.
The Committee then moved on to the Recommendations that will be presented to the City
Council agreed to and discussed in previous meetings. City Clerk Winkelmann pointed out a
change made to Proposed Change #15 inadvertently. City Clerk Winkelmann indicated that she
would prepare a matrix and Agenda Item Summary for Council materials.
Committee Chair Cunniff summarized the Committee’s agreement concerning the Charter
change necessary to address the Council Compensation question (Proposed Change #8).
Councilmember Overbeck made a motion to approve all recommended changes as summarized
in the matrix with the addition of Proposed Change #8 as previously discussed. Councilmember
Stephens seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
Other Business
There was no other business.
Meeting adjourned at 4:29 p.m.