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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-12/11/1979-AdjournedADJOURNED FLEETING -OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO Council - Manager Form of Government December 11, 1979 5:30 p.m. An adjourned meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins was held on Tuesday, December 11, 1979, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the City of Fort Collins City Hall. Roll Call was answered by the following Councilmembers: Bowling, Gray, Kross, Reeves, St. Croix, Wilkinson and Wilmarth. Absent: Hone. Staff Members Present: Arnold, Lanspery, Liley, Lewis, Deagle, Phillips. Public Hearing on Sales Tax Issue Following is the City Manager's memorandum on this item. "This is the hearing to receive public comments on the Petition received on November 20th, regarding the sales tax issue." Mayor Bowling announced the Mork Session of December 18, 1979, at 1:00 p.m. to discuss proposed Charter Amendments and announced this hearing would be limited to one hour. City Manager, John Arnold, called Council's attention to a news release prey pared by himself and City Attorney Liley, which is as follows: Office of City Manage, Office of City'Attbr NEWS RELEASE The Tuesday, December 5th article in the Fort. Collins Coloradoan concerning the pool and ice rink and the initiative petition was in error. It's important to emphasize the fact that intent of the people submitting the petitions is not what is important in terms of evaluating petitions. The wording on the petition needs to be interpreted very precisely because it reflects the intent of the signers of the petition. What may have been in the mind of the circulator is unimportant when compared to the wording on the petition. - 292 - December 11, 1979 The important phraseology on the petition is as follows: 11 . the undersigned do hereby call for a special election to be held at the earliest possible date on the following proposed ordinance:" "That the 1Y city sales tax approved by a vote of the people on 20 February, 1973 be continued to. 31 Decem- ber, 1981 in order to complete capital improvements projects, particularly a 50-meter indoor pool and ice rink, additional greenbelt, bicycle paths and trail system." The quotation following the colon was even indented and set apart from the othe- narrative on the petition. It is clear to everyone who reads the original petition that the petitioned action was a proposed ordinance. That is in turn clearly an initiative and not a referendum on an adopted ordinance. We regret very much any confusion or technical kind of a problem. Initiative and referendum are important guards against abuse of the demo- cratic process and need to be protected. For that reason, the City Manager personally told Peter Jacobs, the President of the Fort Collins Ice Skating Association, and four or five members of a delegation with him in July, that if they chose to follow the initiative or referendum route that they should make certain that they brought the drafted language down and had the City Attorney's office review it. That was not to limit anybody's action, but it was to guard against errors of this kind. In checking with the staff of the Attorney's office in the City, a preliminary review of petition draft was made, but the final form was not seen and comments and suggestions made were not incorporated in the final. City Attorney Liley advised Council on the procedure; i.e. the. first decision Council needs to make is whether this is an initiative or a refer- endum, then the hearing on the referendum/initiative question; if Council decides to deny it, then Council needs to place it on a Special Election Ballot and call a Special Election, and lastly Council needs to discuss and take action on any initiatives Council wants to place on the Ballot. City Attorney Liley then referred to a memorandum indicating her opinion that the petition which was circulated and certified is an initiative. Mayor Bowling then called for discussion on the initiative. Councilmember Wilmarth stated there is no question that the petition is an initiative; however, if the petitioners, felt theywere aggrieved by this decision, they could become plaintiffs, in a declaratory judgement action, with the:City being a defendant and the two could petition the District Court for a 1 - 293 - declaration approved to an ordinance December 11, 1979 on the petition. He then recommended that the initiative be be placed on the ballot and not passed by the City Council as Public comment followed; the following persons addressed the issue. 1. Peter Jacobs, petitioner, spoke to his desire to keep the ballot uncluttered and requested a letter sent to Councilmembers be read into the record regarding the petition. That letter is made a part of this record.- The City Council c/o Mrs. Verna Lewis, City of Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO City Clerk 80521 2643 Silver Creek Fort Collins, CO December 5, 1979 80525 In a recent newspaper article City Attorney Lucia Liley was quoted,, as saying if a special election is held on the Capital Improvement question, and approved by the voters, it would mean an additional I¢ sales tax. This was not the intent of the petition as circulated! The preamble of our petition clearly states, "the intent of this petition is to extend temporarily the current sales tax for the purpose of completing designated capital improvements projects ---- and to oppose the imposition of a new sales tax for the General Fund until this is accomplished. To ignore this would be like overlooking the importance of the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States. Furthermore the section of the petition which states. "We, the undersigned, do hereby petition the City Council of the City of Fort Collins to repeal Ordinance No. 140 (New 1% tax for General Fund) " constitutes a referendum as described in ARticle XVII,.Section 3 of the City Charter. The Charter states that if "-- a petition signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the total vote cast in the last general city election, be presented to the Council, protesting against the going into effect of any ordinance, the same shall hereupon be suspended, and the Council shall reconsider such ordinance. If the same be not entirely repealed, the Council shall submit the same to a vote of the electors of the city ----" The City Charter dictates that this referendum must be taken to the people if the City Council chooses not to repeal the ordinance as requested by the signers of the petition. - 294 - December 11, 1979 The portion of the petition which states "----and to reinstate I Ordinance No. 91 (21 month extension of the 1% tax for Capitol improvements)" constitutes an initiative as described in ARticle XVII, Section 1 and 2 of the City Charter. The Charter says, in part "---- the Council shall either pass said ordinance within thirty days without alteration, subject to the referendum, or call a special city election...." The City charter does not require petitioners to provide the exact wording of the ordinance as it is to appear on the ballot. We provided the stated ordinance after consulting with the City Clerk on the appropriate form for the petition. Assuming that the City Council choose to take the proposed initiative to the voters for a special election they must act upon the referendum as well. I would like to add that we consulted with the City Clerk concerning the design of the petition. Mrs. Lewis was very helpful and we sincerely appreciate her assistance. We also had conversation with the Assistant City Attorney concerning the wording of the petition. He suggested only one minor change, which was made. We have prepared and presented this petition in good faith and in strict accordance with the Democratic procedures outlined in the City Charter. The intent of the petition and the 3900 citizens who signed it is clear and we expect the City Council to respond in a responsible and fair manner. Respec 11 submitted, A1, er A. Jacobs 2. Mr. Gerald Horak, 2548 Orchard Place, also opposed a series of initia- tives on this ballot regarding the swimming Deol and ice rink. Attorney Bill Wyatt, spoke to his interpretation of this oetition and requested that Council avoid technicalities and additional expense and effort on the petitioners part. Attorney Wyatt agreed to meet with City Attorney Liley to investigate the District Court procedure. Mr. John Larson, 512 Sycamore, stated he did not see the necessity of this going to the District Court. Again City Attorney Liley stated her opinion that the petition is an initiative. Mr. Bob Finley,.•1106 Baker Street, also spoke to the initiative. Councilman Kross made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Gray, that the Council refer to the ballot the following initiative presented to us (City Council) in I petition form: - 295 - 1 December 11, 1979 "That the 1% city sales tax approved by vote of the people on February 20, 1973, be continued to December 31, 1981, in order to complete Capital Improvements Projects, particularly a 50 meter indoor pool and ice rink, additional greenbelt, bicycle paths, and trail system." Further, with the understanding that there will be a District Court Resolution as to the full meaning of the petition that came to us (City Council). YEAS: Councilmembers Bowling, Gray, Reeves, St. Croix, Wilmarth, Kross and Wilkinson. NAYS: None. THE MOTION CARRIED. Councilwoman Gray,.then spoke to the three proposed Council initiatives which are as follows: INITIATIVE A proposed ordinance requiring the construction of a fifty meter indoor swimming pool and ice rink with construction to begin no later than December 31, 1981, and to be financed by the City's General Fund, and further Drohibiting the extension beyond March 31, 1980, of that sales and use tax approved by vote of the people on February 20, 1973, for the purpose of financing said pool and ice rink or any other capital improvement. FOR THE INITIATIVE INITIATIVE #3 AGAINST THE INITIATIVE A proposed ordinance which would allow the City Council to determine whether to construct a swimming pool and/or ice rink as well as the timing and financing of such construction, but prohibiting the extension (beyond March 31, 1980) of that sales and use tax approved by vote of the people on February 20, 1973, for the purpose of financing such construction or other capital improvement. FOR THE INITIATIVE AGAINST THE INITIATIVE INITIATIVE #4 A proposed ordinance prohibiting the construction of a .swimming pool and ice rink facility for a minimum period of five years from the date of this election, providing that after such five year period, the City Council, after public hearing, may approve construction of either or both facilities, and, further, prohibiting the extension (beyond March 31, 1980) of.that sales and - 296 - December 11, 1979 use tax approved by vote of the people on February 20, 1973, for the purpose of financing any capital improvement which may hereafter be approved by the City Council. FOR THE INITIATIVE AGAINST THE INITIATIVE Councilman Wilmarth made a motion, seconded by Councilman Wilkinson, that the initiative #2, be placed on the ballot. INITIATIVE #,2 A proposed ordinance requiring the construction of a fifty meter indoor swimming pool and ice rink with construction to begin no later than December 31, 1981, and to be financed by the City's General Fund, and further prohibiting the extension beyond lurch 31, 1980, of that sales and use tax approved by vote of the people on February 20, 1973, for the purpose of financing said pool and ice rink or any other capital improvement. FOR THE INITIATIVE AGAINST THE INITIATIVE Councilwoman Reeves made a motion, seconded by Councilman Kross, to amend the initiative by striking the date.December 31, 1981, and inserting the date July 31, 1981. YEAS: Councilmembers Kross and Reeves. NAYS: Councilmembers Bowling, Gray, St. Croix, Wilmarth and Wilkinson. THE MOTION FAILED. Mayor Bowling put the original motion with the following vote. YEAS: Councilmembers Bowling, Kross, Wilkinson, Wilmarth, Reeves, St. Croix Gray. NAYS: None. THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m. / or ST: City Clerk - 297 -