HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-108-10/17/2006-EXPRESSING THE CITY COUNCILS OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 38 IN THE NOVEMBER 7, 2 RESOLUTION 2006-108
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
EXPRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL'S OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 38 IN THE NOVEMBER 7, 2006 ELECTION
AND URGING RESIDENTS OF THE CITY TO VOTE AGAINST SUCH MEASURE
WHEREAS, an initiated constitutional amendment, Amendment 38 to the Colorado
Constitution,has been certified for consideration by the voters of the State of Colorado at the general
election to be held on November 7, 2006; and
WHEREAS, Amendment 38 proposes to supercede and overrule all conflicting provisions
of the Colorado Constitution,Colorado Statutes and the City Charter of the City of Fort Collins with
regard to the process for initiating ballot measures and referring to the voters measures adopted by
the City Council; and
WHEREAS, proposals similar to Amendment 38 have twice before been rejected by the
Colorado voters in 1994 and 1996 by substantial margins; and
WHEREAS,Amendment 38 is not clearly written and creates numerous practical and legal
questions of interpretation; and
WHEREAS, Amendment 38 would apply not only to state and local governments, which
have legislative powers and functions,but also to"all enterprises,authorities and other governmental
entities,"many of which do not have legislative functions and do not conduct elections; and
WHEREAS, Amendment 38 would weaken representative government in Colorado by
making it much easier for a small number of citizens to place initiatives on the ballot and to block
ordinances adopted by the City Council from taking effect, and it would remove local control over
the form of initiative and referendum petitions and the petition process; and
WHEREAS, except for only twelve emergency ordinances per year,Amendment 38 would
extend the effective date of all ordinances to 91 days after post-passage publication in order to allow
more time for such ordinances to be referred to the voters; and
WHEREAS,such delay in the effective date ofordinances would seriously impede the ability
of the City to respond quickly to the needs of the City; and
WHEREAS, if an ordinance adopted by the City Council was referred to the voters,
Amendment 38 would suspend the effective date of the ordinance until an election could be held,
and the timing requirements contained in Amendment 38 for conducting such an election could put
a challenged ordinance"on hold"for as long as 15 months before voters would have an opportunity
to determine whether the ordinance should take effect; and
WHEREAS,Amendment 38 would severely limit public access to information about ballot
measures,would prohibit the City from expending any local government resources for the purpose
of"discussing"petitions once theyhad been filed,and would prevent City staff from even answering
questions from citizens about such measures; and
WHEREAS,Amendment 38 would create extraordinary,unwarranted personal liability for
any government officials and employees who might inadvertently use City resources to discuss a
ballot measure and would prohibit the City from paying for the defense of such persons even if they
were ultimately found not to have violated the provisions of the amendment; and
WHEREAS, in summary, the adoption of Amendment 38 would effectively repeal long-
standing,well understood local Charter provisions and laws that for decades have reserved to local
citizens the power to initiate and challenge local ordinances,and would replace such local provisions
and control with unnecessary, confusing, ambiguous, dangerous and expensive new state-wide
petition and referendum procedures that will encourage litigation and be impossible to change
without yet another constitutional amendment.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS that, for the foregoing reasons, the City Council hereby expresses its strong opposition
to Amendment 38 and encourages the residents of the City to vote against such measure at the
November 7, 2006 General Election.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Cc of the City of Fort Collins this 17th
day of October, A.D. 2006. /
r
Mayo
ATTEST:
City Clerk