Election 2017.
Suburban cities consider everything from an oil and gas measure to a raise for council members.
While Denver’s ballot issues for the Nov. 7 election have grabbed the most headlines — led by a gargantuan $937 million bond package — more than a million people in cities and towns immediately surrounding Denver have votes to cast as well.
Ballots for Colorado’s mail-in election went out last week, and already 35,000 had been returned as of Monday.
Because it’s an off-year, nonpresidential election, history suggests turnout will be low. But that doesn’t mean the 2017 vote will be a quiet event, according to Kevin Bommer, the Colorado Municipal League’s deputy director.
“I would never characterize a municipal election as sleepy because every one of these measures is important or they wouldn’t be on the ballot,” he said.
To that end, metro-area residents will get a chance to weigh in on a variety of issues:
• Voters in Littleton will decide whether the city should be able to keep nearly $2 million in excess tax revenue to fix deteriorating roads and improve safety at Bowles Avenue and Federal Boulevard. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) requires the city to get voter permission before it can retain excess revenues.
• In Castle Rock, a measure will ask voters if they want to be able to directly choose their mayor rather than having the City Council appoint one of its own to the post. • Lafayette residents will get the chance to weigh in on Colorado’s affordable housing challenges by voting on Question 2E, which would exempt affordable units from the city’s annual building permit cap.
• Voters in Aurora will get to decide whether to enrich their elected leaders by giving the mayor and members of City Council a pay raise, the first such compensation boost since 1993.
A battle over Broomf ield oil and gas measure.
The most contentious measure on Nov. 7 arguably belongs to Broomfield. There, voters will decide Question 301, a proposed amendment to Broomfield’s home rule charter that would require protection of health, safety and the environment as preconditions for oil and gas drilling inside city limits.
Money from the energy industry — to the tune of nearly $350,000 — has flowed into the campaign to defeat it. That includes more than $214,000 from the Colorado Petroleum Council and $100,000 from Vital for Colorado, a group that supports oil and gas development and opposes “patchwork” regulations.
Meanwhile, backers of the measure have brought in approximately $7,000 in monetary and in-kind donations. The cash donations primarily are from individuals who contributed $5 to $100 apiece.
“What we can and cannot do at the local level is very important,” said Pat Quinn, a 301 proponent and a former Broomfield mayor. “Question 301 is simply saying we have some rights.”
But election watchers say that Broomfield’s measure will likely invite litigation from the state or the oil and gas industry, as have other municipal measures that challenge the supremacy of state law on energy extraction issues.
“It will be interesting to see the outcome, given the path this issue has worn in other communities,” Bommer said.
Big issues that didn’t
make the ballot. Two highprofile issues that promised to generate discussion this fall will not be on the ballot. In Lakewood, a controversial measure that would limit new housing construction in the city is still under a legal challenge that must be resolved before it can go before voters.
And in Aurora, a ballot question that would have allowed the city to move forward on establishing a large entertainment district, possibly anchored by a racetrack, was pulled from the ballot in August by City Council.