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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/2025 - Regular Election REGULAR MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2025 IN FORT COLLINS, COLORADO To the Electors of Fort Collins: Pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 31-10-501, notice is hereby given that a Coordinated Election will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, between the hours of 7 AM and 7 PM. The Election is being conducted as a mail ballot election in coordination with Larimer County. A mail ballot, return envelope, and voting instructions will be mailed beginning October 10, 2025, to every active voter in Fort Collins. Voted ballots may be returned by mail with adequate postage or may be hand-delivered to a designated 24-hour ballot drop box or a Voter Service and Polling Center. BALLOT DROP BOXES Oct 10 – Nov 4 Drop off your voted ballot 24 hours a day at a ballot drop box location listed below. Ballots will be accepted in these boxes until 7 PM Election Night. BELLVUE AREA • Ted’s Place (Hwy 14/287), 92 Poudre Canyon Rd BERTHOUD AREA • Berthoud Community Library, 236 Welch Ave ESTES PARK AREA • Estes Park Municipal Building, 170 MacGregor Ave • Estes Park Vehicle Licensing Office, 1601 Brodie Ave FORT COLLINS AREA • Colorado State University, 1101 Center Ave Mall Lory Student Center • Edora Pool Ice Center (EPIC), 1801 Riverside Ave • Elks Lodge, 1424 E Mulberry St • Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 4001 S Taft Hill Rd • Fort Collins Police Services, 2221 S Timberline Rd • Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Dr Fort Collins • Traffic Operations, 626 Linden St • Harmony Library, 4616 S Shields St • Larimer County Administrative Services, 200 W Oak St • Larimer County Human Services, 1501 Blue Spruce Dr • Northside Aztlan Community Center, 112 E Willow St • South Transit Center, 4915 Fossil Blvd LAPORTE AREA • Overland Foods, 3333 County Road 54G LOVELAND AREA • Loveland Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 5250 N Garfield Ave • Loveland Police & Courts, 810 E 10th St • Loveland Public Library, 300 N Adams Ave • Loveland Vehicle Licensing Office, 200 Peridot Ave RED FEATHER LAKES AREA • Red Feather Lakes Community Library, 71 Fire House Ln TIMNATH AREA • Timnath Town Center, 4750 Signal Tree Dr WELLINGTON AREA • Wellington Public Library, 3800 Wilson Ave VOTER SERVICE AND POLLING CENTERS (VSPCs) At a Voter Service and Polling Center (VSPC), you can: vote in-person, obtain a replacement mail ballot, deliver your voted mail ballot, register to vote, change your address, or vote on an ADA accessible voting machine. Visit any VSPC only during dates and times listed below. Mon – Fri, Oct 27 – Oct 31 (8 AM – 5 PM), Sat, Nov 1 (9 AM – 1 PM), Mon, Nov 3 (8 AM – 5 PM), & Tues, Election Day, Nov 4 (7 AM – 7 PM) • Colorado State University, 1101 Center Ave Mall, Lory Student Center • Fort Collins Larimer County Administrative Services, 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins • Loveland Police & Courts, 810 E 10th St, Loveland Fri, Oct 31 (8 AM – 5 PM), Sat, Nov 1 (9 AM – 1 PM), Mon, Nov 3 (8 AM – 5 PM), & Tues, Election Day, Nov 4 (7 AM – 7 PM) • Estes Valley Community Center, 660 Community Dr, Estes Park Mon, Nov 3 (8 AM – 5 PM), & Tues, Election Day, Nov 4 (7 AM – 7 PM) • Front Range Community College, 4616 S Shields St, Longs Peak Student Center, Fort Collins Persons desiring to vote in the Election must meet the following qualifications: be at least eighteen (18) years of age, a citizen of the United States, a resident of the State of Colorado and a resident of the municipal election precinct for at least twenty-two (22) days before the Election and duly registered to vote within the Fort Collins city limits. Fort Collins Candidate Races and Ballot Measures include the following: Candidate Races: Mayor (rank up to 7 candidates): Tricia Canonico Adam Eggleston Emily Francis Adam Hirschhorn Shirley Peel Jeffrey Shumway Scotty V VanTatenhove District 1 (rank up to 3 candidates): Chris Conway Susan Gutowsky Daisy Montgomery District 3 (rank up to 3 candidates): Josh Fudge Lance Smith Steve Yurash District 5: Amy Hoeven Zoelle Lane Ranked voting will be used in all races that have three or more candidates and will give voters the opportunity to rank all candidates by order of preference. You can find more information on ranked voting at https://www.fcgov.com/elections/ranked-voting. Ballot Measures: 2A – City Referred Ballot Issue – Extension of the existing Community Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) Tax WITHOUT RAISING ADDITIONAL TAXES, SHALL THE CITY’S EXISTING 0.25% SALES AND USE TAX (25 CENTS ON A $ 100 PURCHASE) APPROVED BY THE VOTERS IN 2015 FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS BE EXTENDED FROM ITS CURRENT EXPIRATION AT THE END OF 2025, THROUGH THE END OF 2035; PROVIDED THAT REVENUE FROM THE EXTENSION OF SUCH TAX SHALL BE USED FOR PLANNING, DESIGN, REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION, AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING CAPITAL PROJECTS, AND FIVE (5) YEARS OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE (“O&M”) FOR CERTAIN OF THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS, ALL SUBJECT TO PROPOSED VOTER- APPROVED ORDINANCE NO. 003, 2025: • PEDESTRIAN SIDEWALK PROGRAM • ARTERIAL INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS AND STREETSCAPES • BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE & OVERPASSES/ UNDERPASSES • AFFORDABLE HOUSING CAPITAL FUND • MULBERRY POOL RECREATIONAL REPLACEMENT SUPPORT • POUDRE RIVER — RIVER HEALTH, ACCESS, PARKS, AND TRAILS (WITH O&M) • COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE (WITH O&M) • DOWNTOWN PARKS SHOP • COMMUNITY BIKE PARK (WITH O&M) • OUTDOOR PICKLEBALL FACILITIES (WITH O&M) • NATURE IN THE CITY • TRANSFORT BUSES & STOPS • RECREATIONAL PAVED TRAILS (WITH O&M) • CONSTRUCTION WASTE DIVERSION EQUIPMENT • HISTORIC TROLLEY BUILDING RENOVATION (WITH O&M) • GARDENS ON SPRING CREEK - CHILDREN’ S GARDEN & INFRASTRUCTURE • LEE MARTINEZ FARM IMPROVEMENTS • TIMBERLINE RECYCLING CENTER IMPROVEMENTS; AND PROVIDED THAT ALL REVENUES FROM THE TAX MAY BE RETAINED AND EXPENDED BY THE CITY FOR SUCH PURPOSES, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY STATE REVENUE OR EXPENDITURE LIMITATION INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION? _____YES/FOR _____ NO/AGAINST 2B – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that corrects errors and eliminates outdated or unnecessary language CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1 Shall Articles II, IX, and X of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins, be amended to correct errors and eliminate outdated or unnecessary language in light of the Charter amendments adopted in November 2024, by: • Clarifying in Section 2(d) of Article II that a registered elector must notify the City Clerk before seeking a court determination to challenge the qualifications of any member of the Council; and • Updating language in Section 2(e)(1) of Article IX about determining the number of votes cast in a specific race to work with the new ranked voting rules that were approved in November 2024; and • Changing language in Section 2(e)(1) of Article X to restore the number of days for a signature gatherer to circulate an initiative petition by increasing it from 63 days to 77 days? ______ Yes/For ______ No/Against 2C – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that modernizes and updates language CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 2 Shall the Charter of the City of Fort Collins be amended to modernize and update it by reformatting and updating language usage for ease of reading and clarity, and eliminating inapplicable and invalid provisions, without undoing any substantive Charter amendments approved by the voters at the Tuesday, November 4, 2025, municipal election, by: • Changing the words "shall" to "will," "must" or “may,” or other words to improve clarity; and • Making the language more inclusive by taking out words "he” and “she” and related word forms; and • Dividing sections into subsections and adding titles to subsections to make them easier to read and understand; and • Eliminating transitional provisions that o Address residency requirements for City department heads appointed prior to March 6, 1985 (Section 3 of Article IV); and o Set a mill levy cap on Council’s adoption of taxes (Section 6 of Article IV), which Council must now adopt only with voter approval; and o Provide for transition from the prior Charter when the Charter was adopted (Article XIV); and • Renumbering and updating section cross-references throughout the Charter? ______ Yes/For ______ No/Against 2D – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that modernizes publication and ordinance/resolution/motion adoption requirements CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 3 Shall Articles II and IV of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins, be amended to modernize publication requirements and requirements for adopting ordinances, by: • Revising Section 6 of Article II about adopting ordinances, resolutions, and motions to: o Make the provision easier to read and understand by adding subsections, subsection titles and better organizing them; o Remove language entitling any Councilmember to request that an entire ordinance be read aloud at a Council meeting; and • Revising Section 7 of Article II about publication and effective date of ordinances to: o Allow an ordinance to proceed to adoption if publication of the ordinance before adoption was not timely, so long as all other notice requirements have been met; and o Cure late publication of ordinance after final passage if publication completed within a reasonable period of time; and o Delay the effective date of the ordinance until publication requirements are met; and o Toll the deadline to file a notice of referendum protest; and • Revising Section 7 of Article IV to require notice be published on the City’s website and posted at City Hall, instead of publishing formal legal notices in a local newspaper; and • Adding a new Section 17 to Article IV of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins about how to apply deadlines throughout the Charter in the manner already enacted for Articles VIII, IX and X? ______Yes/For ______No/Against 2E – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that ensures alignment of the Charter with amended or further developed laws and removes inconsistencies CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 4 Shall Articles II, IV, XIII of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins be amended to improve consistency with amended or further developed laws and removing inconsistencies, in order to minimize conflicts between the Charter legal developments, by: • Changing Section 8 of Article II about contributions to City Council elections to: o Specify which city employees are prohibited from contributing to Council elections for consistency with state law; o Continue to prohibit a political party, public service corporations, and persons or entities with city contracts from contributing to any City Council election, while recognizing that some speech is protected by the U.S. or Colorado constitution; • Adding definitions to Article XIII to correspond to the changes to Article II; and • Adding language to Section 11 of Article II incorporating state law provisions regarding City Council executive sessions; and • Clarifying language in Section 5 of Article IV that City records are available for public inspection and disclosure consistent with state open records laws? ______Yes/For ______No/Against 2F – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that addresses conflicts of interest CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 5 Shall Section 9 of Article IV of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins, regarding conflicts of interest, be amended to: • Allow City Councilmembers or the Mayor to sell real property to the city if the property is needed for a city project or public use, while retaining all requirements for disclosure and refraining from involvement that otherwise apply in the case of a conflict of interest; and • Allow City employees to rent property from the city with City Manager approval, if it is for the city’s benefit and related to the employee’s performance of their job? ______ Yes/For ______ No/Against 2G – City Referred Ballot Question – Charter Amendment that addresses Council vacancies CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 6 Shall the Charter of the City of Fort Collins be amended to revise Section 1 and Section 18 of Article II to update the process for filling a vacant district Councilmember or Mayoral office and to clarify how existing term limits apply to partial terms to fill a vacancy, by: • Adding a new subsection (e) to Section 1 of Article II providing that if a person serves a total of more than one-half a term in office, this will count as a term when determining term limits; and • Revising Section 18 of Article II to: o Add procedural steps including public announcement of a vacancy and acceptance of applications to the process for filling vacancies; o Require Council to appoint a replacement to fill a District Councilmember vacancy within 35 business days; o Retain the provision that if the Mayor office is vacated, the Mayor Pro Tem becomes the Acting Mayor and Council selects a new Mayor Pro Tem during the time there is an Acting Mayor; o Require the Council to fill the district Councilmember seat that is vacant for the time the Mayor Pro Tem serves as Acting Mayor using the vacancy filling process; o Provide that any vacated office will appear on the next regular municipal election ballot for which process requirements can be met; and o State that if there is no qualified candidate for an elected office on a municipal election ballot, the Council organized after the election will then appoint a qualified person to fill the resulting vacancy? ______ Yes/For ______ No/Against 2H – City Referred Ballot Question – Referral of an ordinance expressing support for the Civic Assembly Recommendations for the Hughes Site Ordinance No. 141, 2025, Expressing Support for the Recommendations of the Civic Assembly and Adopting a Conceptual Framework for the Use and Management of the Hughes Stadium Site (the “Council-Adopted Ordinance”), was adopted by the City Council on September 2, 2025, and provides for the following City actions: • requiring multi-use development and management for the approximately 165-acre Hughes Site; • requiring the City to consult with Native American tribes and the Indigenous community throughout the process; • requiring site plans to feature native and xeric vegetation and a naturalistic architectural palette, and include the following new amenities for the Hughes Site: o a City natural area, up to 60 acres; o dedicated space and facilities for environmental education and wildlife conservation, to include wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, up to 30 acres; o a trail system throughout the site connected to nearby City natural areas and parks; o a City park with a community bike park up to 35 acres, a community gathering area and appropriate related facilities; • may include existing uses, such as disc golf and winter sledding; and • requiring the City to manage these uses over time as planning, design and funding allow, in accordance with regular City planning and review processes, and consistent with the Public Open Lands zoning. Shall the Council-Adopted Ordinance for multi-use of the Hughes Site be approved? _____Yes/For _____No/Against 302 – Citizen Initiated Ballot Issue – Extension of the existing Natural Areas Tax WITHOUT RAISING ADDITIONAL TAXES, SHALL THE CITY’S EXISTING 0.25% SALES AND USE TAX ( 25 CENTS ON A $100 PURCHASE), AUTHORIZED BY CITIZEN- INITIATED ORDINANCE NO. 1, 2002, FOR THE ACQUISITION, MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATIONS OF NATURAL AREAS, BE EXTENDED, WITHOUT EXPIRATION, FROM ITS CURRENT EXPIRATION AT THE END OF 2030; PROVIDED THAT REVENUES DERIVED FROM SUCH TAX EXTENSION SHALL BE USED TO ACQUIRE, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN NATURAL AREAS, OPEN SPACES, COMMUNITY SEPARATORS, WILDLIFE HABITAT, RIVER, STREAMS, RIPARIAN AREAS, WETLANDS, AND BIODIVERSE LANDSCAPES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPROPRIATE USE AND ENJOYMENT OF THEM BY THE CITIZENRY CONSISTENT WITH CITIZEN- INITIATED ORDINANCE NO. 2, 2025, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING CHANGES FROM THE 2002 ORDINANCE: • BEGINNING IN 2061, REDUCE THE MINIMUM PERCENTAGE OF ANNUAL REVENUE THAT MUST BE SPENT ON LAND CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES, AS DEFINED IN THE ORDINANCE, TO 70% (INSTEAD OF 80%); • BEGINNING IN 2061, INCREASE THE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF ANNUAL REVENUE THAT MAY BE SPENT ON OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES, AS DEFINED IN THE ORDINANCE, TO 30% (INSTEAD OF 20%); • TREAT IMPROVING ACQUIRED LANDS BY RESTORING, ENHANCING, AND MAINTAINING NATIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL COMMUNITIES FOR THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF IMPROVING THE ECOLOGICAL HEALTH OF PROTECTED LANDS AS “LAND CONSERVATION ACTIVITY”; AND • CLARIFY OTHER LANGUAGE OF THE ORDINANCE FOR CONSISTENCY WITH THE CITY’S NATURAL AREAS PROGRAM. AND PROVIDED THAT ALL REVENUES FROM THE TAX EXTENSION MAY BE RETAINED AND EXPENDED BY THE CITY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY STATE REVENUE OR EXPENDITURE LIMITATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION? ______ YES/FOR ______ NO/AGAINST 303 – Citizen Initiated Ballot Question – Making the Hughes Site a 100% Natural Area An ordinance modifying the citizen-initiated ordinance approved by the registered electors in April 2021, which required the City of Fort Collins to rezone, acquire, and use for specified purposes the approximately 165-acre parcel of real property formerly home to the Hughes Stadium, so as to require that the property be designated and used 100% as a City natural area. ______ Yes/For ______ No/Against A Voter Information Guide has been prepared that will give more information on these items and can be found at https://www.fcgov.com/elections/ All ballots must be received by the County Clerk and Recorder by 7 PM on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Postmarks do not count as a received date. To verify the Larimer County Elections Office received your ballot, please visit vote.larimer.gov or call (970) 498-7820. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 7th day of October 2025 A.D. Delynn Coldiron City Clerk for Fort Collins