Erie commission seeks public input

The Erie Home Rule Charter Commission is seeking community feedback through polls on the town’s website.

The commission’s polls for the week of Jan.30 include if councilors should be elected at-large or through districts, should elections be held in November on odd or even years, and should Erie call itself a town or a city.

According to the charter commissioners website, holding elections in November would help to save costs compared to holding elections in April. The poll also explains that the town could either have all residents vote for all councilors at-large or have the town divided into three districts with each district voting on two councilors and a separately elected mayor.

As of Wednesday afternoon, both of those poll results are close with evenyear elections holding a 57% to 43% edge, while allarge council voting sat at 53% compared to 47% for district voting. Meanwhile, with an overwhelming majority of 90% in favor, residents prefer Erie to refer to itself as a town as opposed to a city.

Commission member Sarah Kornely said at the Jan. 19 meeting that the commission appreciates community input.

“It helps to hear from members of the community because we really do want to make this for the town or city of Erie,” Kornely said.

“We’re not trying to decide everything for everyone. We want input,” Home Rule Charter Commission member Ashraf Shaikh said.

The commission members state on the website that decisions in the home rule draft are not final and will be open for discussion until the charter draft is due in May. There will be in-person engagement meetings for the charter the third Thursday of every month.

The board will discuss how the town will manage town finances, taxation and open space provisions at Thursday’s meeting. The board will discuss how the town budget will be managed and shared, stating in the draft that a public hearing of the proposed budget will be held before the end of November each year and will be publicly available.

The draft also states that the town shall have all powers of taxation given under Colorado constitution. The charter commission will also draft how Erie will open space and parks.

The home rule charter commission members meet every Thursday to discuss, draft and revise a governance charter for Erie. The charter draft will be completed May 5 before being sent to the Board of Trustees. The board can then move the charter onto a ballot measure for residents to vote on it.

HOME RULE CHARTER