HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 01/20/2015 - ITEMS RELATING TO PETITIONS AND RECALL CHARTER AMEAgenda Item 4
Item # 4 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY January 20, 2015
City Council
STAFF
Wanda Nelson, City Clerk
Rita Knoll, Chief Deputy City Clerk
SUBJECT
Items Relating to Petitions and Recall Charter Amendments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 004, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins Proposed Amendments to Article X of the City Charter Pertaining to Initiative and Referendum.
B. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 005, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins Proposed Amendments to Article VIII, Section 4(b) of the City Charter Pertaining to the
Sufficiency of a Nominating Petition.
C. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 006, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins a Proposed Amendment to Article IX, Section 3(c) of the City Charter Pertaining to Recall
Elections.
These Ordinances, unanimously adopted on First Reading on January 6, 2015, place Charter Amendments
relating to petitions and recall for placement on the April 7, 2015 ballot.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinances on Second Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
For Second Reading of Ordinance No. 005, 2015 regarding nominating petitions, staff was asked to conduct
research in an attempt to determine why the circulator is required to indicate the number of signatures collected on
the petition. Upon further review of the history of the Charter, staff has been unable to determine why this
requirement is included on the nomination petition. Staff received copies of the nomination petitions from five other
municipalities (Attachment 2) and none of them require that the number of signatures collected be recorded.
ATTACHMENTS
1. First Reading Agenda Item Summary, January 6, 2015 (w/o attachments) (PDF)
2. Summary of Circulator Statement/Affidavit (PDF)
3. Ordinance No. 004, 2015 (PDF)
4. Ordinance No. 005, 2015 (PDF)
5. Ordinance No. 006, 2015 (PDF)
Agenda Item 9
Item # 9 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY January 6, 2015
City Council
STAFF
Wanda Nelson, City Clerk
Rita Knoll, Chief Deputy City Clerk
SUBJECT
Items Related to Term Limits, Petitions, and Recall Charter Amendments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to consider Charter Amendments related to term limits, petitions and recall for
placement on the April 7, 2015 ballot.
A. First Reading of Ordinance No. 003, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins a Proposed Amendment to Article II, Section 1(d) of the City Charter Pertaining to the Terms of
Office of the Mayor and City Councilmembers.
B. First Reading of Ordinance No. 004, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins Proposed Amendments to Article X of the City Charter Pertaining to Initiative and Referendum.
C. First Reading of Ordinance No. 005, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins Proposed Amendments to Article VIII, Section 4(b) of the City Charter Pertaining to the
Sufficiency of a Nominating Petition.
D. First Reading of Ordinance No. 006, 2015, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of
Fort Collins a Proposed Amendment to Article IX, Section 3(c) of the City Charter Pertaining to Recall
Elections.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinances on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
At the August 12, 2014 Work Session, staff presented proposed Charter Amendments for Council’s
consideration. The Charter Amendments concern initiative/referendum, candidate nomination, and recall.
Council also indicated they would like to consider a Charter Amendment about term limits.
Article IV Section 8 of the Fort Collins Charter states that the Charter may be amended at any time in the
manner provided by the laws of the State of Colorado. CRS 31-2-210(6) outlines the procedure to amend a
municipal Charter: “If a majority of the registered electors voting thereon vote for a proposed amendment, the
amendment shall be deemed approved.” Charter Amendments were last considered in April 2011, when
citizens voted during the Municipal election on redistricting, ranked voting, and the Library Park building
footprint.
ATTACHMENT 1
Agenda Item 9
Item # 9 Page 2
Ordinance No. 003, 2015, Concerning Term Limits
At the general election on November 8, 1994, Colorado voters approved an amendment to the Colorado
Constitution establishing term limits for municipal elected officials. Referred to as Amendment 17, the citizen-
initiated constitutional amendment placed statewide term limits on every state and local elected official in
Colorado. The provisions of Amendment 17 generally limit elected officials to no more than two consecutive
terms in office, except that with respect to terms of office which are two years or shorter in duration, elected
officials are limited to no more than three consecutive terms in office. Application of Amendment 17 in Fort
Collins currently limits Councilmembers to two consecutive four-year terms, and the Mayor to three
consecutive two-year terms. Amendment 17 also permits voters of a local government to lengthen, shorten or
eliminate the limitations on terms of office imposed by the Amendment. Prior to enactment of Amendment 17,
Fort Collins did not have term limits for elected officials. Since enactment of Amendment 17, Fort Collins
voters have not considered a term limits question.
It is important to note that the modification of the constitutionally imposed term limits does not necessarily
require amending the Charter, since the Charter does not currently speak to the number of consecutive terms
that the Mayor or other Councilmembers may serve. However, staff believes that, if the City Council wishes to
modify the terms limits, it would be advisable to present the issue to the voters as a proposed Charter
amendment so that the number of terms, if modified, would be specified in the Charter.
Staff has prepared three options for Council's consideration:
Option # Terms Permitted
for Mayor Serving
2 Year Terms
Total Years
Served Mayor
# Terms Permitted for
Councilmembers Serving 4
Year Terms
Total Years
Served
Councilmember
A* 3 6 2 8
B 4 8 3 12
C No limit No limit No limit No limit
*This is the structure that is currently followed.
Ordinance No. 004, 2015 Concerning Initiative and Referendum
Combined as one ballot question related to initiatives, this Ordinance would amend the Charter to:
a. Change the deadline to submit citizen initiative petitions from 60 days prior to the election to 90 days
prior to the election to allow enough time to meet TABOR deadlines and other deadlines called out in
Article X of the Charter.
b. Remove language that invalidates both signatures if a person signs a petition twice, and substitute
language that provides for the first signature found to be counted (if valid), and all subsequent
signatures to be rejected.
c. Add language to the Charter to clarify that additional signatures submitted to cure an insufficiency can
be collected any time after the Clerk’s approval of the form of petition.
d. Make it clear that a person can protest the determination of sufficiency OR insufficiency of a petition.
e. Allow the City Manager to appoint an alternate hearing officer (someone other than the City Clerk) for
protest hearings.
f. Clarify the sentence on the submission clause so as to require the response to all ballots question be
Yes/For or No/Against.
Although originally presented at the August Work Session to expand the amount of time the Clerk has to examine
a petition, staff determined this additional time would negatively impact other election-related deadlines and is no
longer being recommended.
Ordinance No. 005, 2015, Concerning Nomination Petitions
This Ordinance would amend Article VIII, Section 4(b) to remove language that requires a nomination petition
circulator to certify the number of signatures collected, and disregard signatures in excess of the number
certified. Staff is recommending this amendment because the number of signatures collected on the petition is
self-evident. Additionally, candidates have found this requirement confusing on the Nomination Petition and the
Agenda Item 9
Item # 9 Page 3
number of signatures collected was the focus of an election complaint filed in 2013. Finally, after researching
past Charter Amendments, staff cannot determine why this provision was put into the Charter.
Ordinance No. 006, 2015, Concerning Recall
In a recent Colorado Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that provisions similar to those contained in
Article IX, Section 3(c) of the City’s Municipal Charter conflict with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the
United States Constitution. This ballot question would conform to the ruling that a person does not have to
vote on the question of recall in order for their vote for a successor candidate to be counted.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Via email, staff reached out to the Chamber of Commerce, the Coloradoan, and the Fort Collins Board of
Realtors to inform them this item would be considered by Council and inquire if they had any questions. Mr.
Clint Skutchan with the Board of Realtors responded with the results of a community poll that was
commissioned in 2012 (Attachment 3).
ATTACHMENTS
1. CML Matrix Muncipal Elections-Term Limit Issues (PDF)
2. CML Publication FAQs Term Limits (PDF)
3. Board of Realtors Community Poll 2012 Term Limits (PDF)
4. PowerPoint Presentation (PPTX)
Summary of the verification language used by other municipalities:
Municipality Circulator Statement/Affidavit
Fort Collins
(Current)
VERIFIED STATEMENT OF CIRCULATOR
State of Colorado )
County of Larimer )
I, the undersigned, being of lawful age and first duly sworn, depose and state that I am the circulator of the foregoing petition containing
_________ signatures. Each signature was made in my presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be and
each signer stated to me that he or she is a registered elector of the City of Fort Collins.
SIGNATURE OF CIRCULATOR ADDRESS OF CIRCULATOR
Aurora
Greeley
ATTACHMENT 2
Municipality Circulator Statement/Affidavit
Loveland
Rifle
Thornton
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ORDINANCE NO. 004, 2015
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUBMITTING TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE CITY
OF FORT COLLINS A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE X OF THE CITY
CHARTER PERTAINING TO INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 8 of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins (“Charter”)
provides that the Charter may be amended as provided by the laws of the State of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, Section 31-2-210, Colorado Revised Statutes, provides that Charter
amendments may be initiated by the adoption of an ordinance by the City Council submitting a
proposed amendment to a vote of the registered electors of the City of Fort Collins; and
WHEREAS, Article X of the Charter establishes an initiative and referendum process and
the City Council has determined that amendment to those provisions is necessary in order to
clarify and update such provisions; and
WHEREAS, Article X, Section 1 (d) of the Charter states that an initiative petition must
be filed at least 60 days before a regular city election; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter to state that an initiative
petition must be filed at least 90 days before a regular city election; and
WHEREAS, Article X, Section 5(b)(3) of the Charter states that in the event the signature
of any person appears more than once on a petition, all such signatures shall be subject to
invalidation; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter to state that the first signature
of an registered elector who signs a petition more than once shall be considered valid and all
other signatures of that person shall be rejected; and
WHEREAS, Article X, Section 5(f)(2) states that an insufficient petition may be
amended if deemed insufficient; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend this provision to clarify that circulators
may gather signatures until the end of the “cure” period; and
WHEREAS, Article X, Section 5(f)(3) states that registered electors may protest the
sufficiency of a petition; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter in order to clarify that
registered electors may protest a determination by the City Clerk either that a petition is
sufficient or insufficient; and
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WHEREAS, Article X, Section 5(f)(3) states that all protest hearings regarding a
determination of the City Clerk that a petition is sufficient must be held before the City Clerk;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter to allow such hearings to take
place before the City Clerk or designee appointed by the City Manager; and
WHEREAS, Article X, Section 6(b) states that the official ballot used when voting upon
each proposed or referred measure shall have printed on it the ballot title and submission clause
and shall contain the words, “Yes” and “No” in response to a ballot question, or “For the
Ordinance” and “Against the Ordinance” or “For the Resolution” and “Against the Resolution”
in response to a ballot question; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter to state that the official ballot
used when voting upon each proposed or referred measure shall have printed on it the ballot title
and submission clause and shall contain the words, “Yes/For” and “No/Against” in response to a
ballot question.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the following proposed changes to Article X of the City Charter shall
be submitted to the registered electors of the City as “Proposed Charter Amendment No. ___” at
the regular municipal election to be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2015:
Section 1. The initiative.
…
(d) Petition deadlines. The initiative petition shall be filed no more than sixty (60)
days after the City Clerk's approval of the form for circulation. Unless a special election is
requested, the petition must also be filed at least ninety (90) days prior to the next regular city
election. If the petition requests a special election in conjunction with a Larimer County
Coordinated or General Election, the City Clerk shall establish a submittal deadline for the
petition that will enable the measure to be considered at such election, which deadline shall be
consistent with all pertinent provisions of the Colorado Revised Statutes governing the conduct
of such elections, and, if applicable, with Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, and
shall advise the petition representatives in writing as to the submittal deadline.
. . .
Section 5. Petitions.
. . .
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(b) Form and content.
. . .
(3) Signatures. Only registered electors may sign the petitions authorized
under this Article. Each signer must sign his or her own signature and each
signature shall be followed by the printed name of the signer, the street and
number address of his or her residence, and the date of signing. No person shall
knowingly sign an initiative or referendum petition more than once. In the event
that the signature of any person appears more than once on a petition authorized
under this Article, the first signature verified shall be counted and all other
signatures of that person shall be rejected.
. . .
(f) Sufficiency of petition.
. . .
(2) Insufficient petition; amendment.
(i) If an initiative petition is deemed insufficient, whether following
the initial determination by the City Clerk, or following protest
proceedings, it may be amended by the submission of additional
signatures collected after the City Clerk approved the form of the petition
and within fifteen (15) days from the filing of the Clerk's certificate of
insufficiency. Such signatures must be collected consistent with the
requirements for collecting petition signatures as described in this Article.
Within five (5) working days after such amendment, the City Clerk shall
make examination of the amended petition and certify the result. If the
amended petition is still insufficient, or if no amendment was made before
the expiration of the time permitted for amendment, the petition shall be
null and void without prejudice to the filing of a new petition for the same
purpose.
(ii) If a referendum petition is deemed insufficient, it may be amended
by the submission of additional signatures collected consistent with the
requirements of this Article, but to be considered, must be amended within
the twenty-day circulation period after the City Clerk's approval of the
petition form for circulation. Within five (5) days after such amendment,
the City Clerk shall make like examination of the amended petition and
certify the result. If the amended petition is still insufficient, or if no
amendment was made before the expiration of the time permitted for
amendment, said referendum petition is null and void and a new petition
may not thereafter be filed for referendum of the same ordinance.
- 4 -
(3) Protests. Registered electors desiring to protest a determination by the City
Clerk that a petition is either sufficient or insufficient may file a written protest,
under oath, in the office of the City Clerk within ten (10) days of the filing of the
petition. The protest shall set forth with particularity the grounds of protest and
the names and defects in form protested. Upon the filing of a protest, the City
Clerk shall set a time for hearing such protest, which shall be no more than seven
(7) days thereafter. At least five (5) days prior to the hearing, the City Clerk shall
mail a copy of the protest to all of the designated petition representatives together
with a notice of the time for hearing. All hearings shall be before a hearing officer
appointed by the City Manager who shall have the power to issue subpoenas to
compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents. All records
and hearings shall be public, and all testimony shall be under oath. The hearing
shall be summary in nature and concluded within thirty (30) days after the petition
was filed. Said hearing officer shall decide and certify the results of the hearing
within ten (10) days after the hearing is concluded. The City Clerk shall make any
final determination regarding the sufficiency or insufficiency of a petition and
shall base such determination on the protest hearing results certified by the
hearing officer. A petition for referendum which has been deemed insufficient
after protest may not be amended or circulated further.
. . .
Section 6. Elections.
…
(b) Ballots… The official ballot used when voting upon each proposed or referred
measure shall have printed on it the ballot title and submission clause and shall contain
the words, “Yes/For” and “No/Against” in response to each measure.
Section 2. That the following ballot language is hereby adopted for submitting
Proposed Charter Amendment No. ___ to the voters at said election:
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CITY-INITIATED
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. ___
Shall various sections of Article X of the Charter of the City of
Fort Collins, pertaining to initiative and referendum, be amended
to clarify certain procedural requirements as follows: increase from
sixty to ninety days the amount of time an initiative petition must
be filed with the City Clerk before a regular City election; provide
that if a voter signs a petition more than once, the first signature
shall be counted and all subsequent signatures rejected; to clarify
that signatures may be added to a petition during the designated
cure period; to clarify that a registered elector may protest the
sufficiency or insufficiency of a petition; to provide for the City
Manager to appoint a hearing officer other than the City Clerk to
conduct the hearing in the event of a protest; and to change the
wording of a submission clause to “Yes/For” and “No/Against” in
response to each measure?
______Yes
______No
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of
January, A.D. 2015, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk
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Passed and adopted on final reading on this 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk
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ORDINANCE NO. 005, 2015
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUBMITTING TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE CITY
OF FORT COLLINS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE VIII,
SECTION 4(b) OF THE CITY CHARTER PERTAINING TO THE SUFFICIENCY
OF A NOMINATING PETITION
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 8 of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins (“Charter”)
provides that the Charter may be amended as provided by the laws of the State of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, Section 31-2-210, Colorado Revised Statutes, provides that Charter
amendments may be initiated by the adoption of an ordinance by the City Council submitting a
proposed amendment to a vote of the registered electors of the City of Fort Collins; and
WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 4(b) of the Charter states that if a petition is found to
be signed by more persons than the number of signatures certified by the circulator, the last
signatures in excess of the number certified shall be disregarded; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the Charter to eliminate such provision
from the Charter so that a circulator is not required to certify the number of signatures on the
petition because the number of signatures on the petition is self-evident.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the following proposed change to Article VIII, Section 4(b) of the
City Charter shall be submitted to the registered electors of the City as “Proposed Charter
Amendment No. ___” at the regular municipal election to be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2015:
Section 4. Petitions.
…
(b) Sufficiency of petition. Upon receipt of a nominating petition, the City Clerk shall
forthwith examine the petition, and within five (5) days after the filing of the petition,
notify the candidate in writing of the results of the examination, specifying the particulars
of insufficiency, if any. Within the regular time for filing petitions, an insufficient
petition may be amended and filed again as a new petition, in which case the time of the
first filing shall be disregarded in determining the validity of signatures thereon, or a
different petition may be filed for the same candidate. The petition for each candidate
elected to office shall be preserved by the City Clerk until the expiration of the terms of
office for such person.
Section 2. That the following ballot language is hereby adopted for submitting
Proposed Charter Amendment No. ___ to the voters at said election:
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CITY-INITIATED
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. ___
Shall Article VIII, Section 4(b) of the Fort Collins City Charter be
amended to eliminate provisions from the Charter providing that a
circulator is required to certify the number of signatures on a
petition nominating a candidate for City Council and that the last
signatures in excess of the number certified shall be disregarded
and to simplify the process for the City Clerk’s examination of a
nominating petition?
______Yes
______No
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of
January, A.D. 2015, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
- 1 -
ORDINANCE NO. 006, 2015
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUBMITTING TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE CITY
OF FORT COLLINS A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IX,
SECTION 3(c) OF THE CITY CHARTER PERTAINING TO RECALL ELECTIONS
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 8 of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins (“Charter”)
provides that the Charter may be amended as provided by the laws of the State of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, Section 31-2-210, Colorado Revised Statutes, provides that Charter
amendments may be initiated by the adoption of an ordinance by the City Council submitting a
proposed amendment to a vote of the registered electors of the City of Fort Collins; and
WHEREAS, Article IX, Section 3(c) of the Charter states that certain language shall be
effective in counting recall votes and shall appear on a recall ballot to the effect that no vote cast
shall be counted for any candidate for such office unless the voter also voted for or against the
recall of the person sought to be recalled from the office; and
WHEREAS, in a recent Colorado Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that provisions
similar to such Charter language conflict with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the
United States Constitution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the following proposed change to Article IX, Section 3(c) of the City
Charter shall be submitted to the registered electors of the City as “Proposed Charter
Amendment No. ___” at the regular municipal election to be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2015:
Section 3. Elections.
…
(c) Ballots. There shall be printed on the official ballot, as to every officer whose
recall is to be voted on, the statement of grounds and, if requested by the affected officer,
the officer's statement in defense followed by the words, "Shall (name of person against
whom the recall petition is filed) be recalled from the office of (__________)?"
Following such question shall appear the words, "Yes" indicating a vote in favor of the
recall and "No" indicating a vote against such recall. On such ballots, under each
question, there shall also be printed the names of those persons who have been nominated
as candidates to succeed the person sought to be recalled.
Section 2. That the following ballot language is hereby adopted for submitting
Proposed Charter Amendment No. ___ to the voters at said election:
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CITY-INITIATED
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. ___
Shall Article IX, Section 3(c) of the Fort Collins City Charter,
pertaining to votes cast in the event of a recall, be amended to
eliminate the requirement that no vote cast for a candidate to
replace a recalled City Councilmember shall be counted unless the
voter also voted for or against the recall of the person sought to be
recalled from the office (which amendment is made necessary by a
recent decision of the Colorado Supreme Court that prohibits such
a requirement)?
______Yes
______No
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of
January, A.D. 2015, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on this 20th day of January, A.D. 2015.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk