Judge: Clerk can’t reject signatures

In the late hours Friday night, an Adams County judge ruled on a case that could have a huge financial impact for everyone living in Westminster.

Bruce Baker was once a council member for the city of Westminster. Now he’s part of a group trying to recall four current members for their role in a drastic increase in water bills over the past year.

The delay started when 27,000 signatures were turned in to the city clerk’s office calling for the recall. However, City Clerk Michelle Parker determined about one-third of those signatures didn’t qualify because of a technicality.

“I found out it was over an instruction page. A cover page, just like right here, that asked for your name and your phone number at the bottom,” Westminster resident Sandy Pospicil said.

Pospicil began collecting those signatures shortly after she received her August water bill. “In 2019, I went to $758.64. In 2020, they went up to $1,112,” Pospicil said.

The decision from the judge says any issues with the petitions were not intentional and that the clerk should not have rejected the signatures on that basis. In other words, the cover page was not enough reason to shut down the recall effort.

“Westminster Staff are working to comply with the Adams County District Court order to review previously disqualified petition sections,” Westminster City Manager Don Tripp said.