Dear Editor,
Don’t vote based on fear and disinformation. These are the facts.
* The vote on Jan 15 is to begin the home-rule process, NOT to decide if Salida will become a home-rule city. That happens at the end of the process after the charter is written and reviewed by city residents.
* The commission will have 180 days to write a charter if the Jan. 15 vote gives the authority to move forward with the process.
* The process is guided by state statue, which specifies what the charter can cover and requires public input.
* The charter does NOT override state laws. Sunshine Laws and Tabor still must be followed, so the city still cannot raise taxes without a vote of approval. However, the charter can change the size and composition of the districts taxed.
* At the end of the process, voters will study the charter and vote next summer on whether to accept or reject the charter. If the charter is voted down, the commission returns to address the concerns of citizens and there is a second vote. If the charter fails to be accepted on the second vote, the home-rule process is dead and the city remains statutory.
* The cost of the process is between $22,000 and $26,000, not $50,000 to $75,000. This is based on costs to cities similar in size to Salida.
* All cities in Colorado stated out as statutory cities governed by state statues. All statutory cities follow the same statues, whether they are small, rural, mountain communities or large metropolitan cities. It is a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Home rule became an option so that cities with different needs could have regulations that better fit those unique needs. No city that has become a home-rule city has ever gone back. There are procedures to revise the charter as well as to cancel the charter.
* If there is not a statue addressing a specific issue, a statutory city cannot deal with that issue. For example, most everyone wanted a motel tax that was a percentage of the nightly fee charged, but state statue only allows a set amount to be collected, whether the room is a $20- or a $120-per-night room.
* The charter can address the structure of government and processes for making decisions.
If you believe that more transparency is needed, that can be written into the charter by developing processes that require transparency. A system of checks and balances can also be written into the charter.
* If the city remains under state statues, the city government can continue to make the kinds of decisions it has made in the past and in the same manner.
* Most importantly, voters have complete control over this process. The City Council and the mayor have no say in what goes into the charter or its approval.
Bill Smith
Salida
In brief, Marilyn Marks made inquiries independently of anything CAG, was doing. I was the Secretary at CAG, but once I became a candidate for the Home Rule Charter Commission I resigned as Secretary at CAG so I could speak for myself as a citizen and a candidate. Marilyn Marks was involved on her own initiative for several weeks before I heard of her involvement and my knowledge of that came from the newspaper just like yours. I do not believe that Ms. Marks intends to sue the city of Salida. She is a free person and if she chooses to do that it will be her decision, not mine.
Look at voting and the rule of law in the broader sense. We need to have a voting opportunity that is transparent and fair to maintain our representative democracy. We should all be able to have confidence in that process, our form of government depends on that. Rules and laws are necessary to a civil socienty, and the alternative is anarchy and vigilante justice. Our society is based on the rule of law and as such, Ms. Marks has a right to access to the justice system.
Her last big set of battles involved identifying marks on ballots. We know that several citizens were able to access ballots by open records rules and identify their own and other folks ballots by scanning barcodes. The situation was that any moderately computer savvy individual could take a cheap laptop and scanner into the clerk’s office and find out how you voted. As a result of Marilyn’s efforts and other’s the Secretary of State was compelled to issue an order instructing all county clerks to remove identifying marks from the ballots for the 2012 general election. All but a handful, 3 to 5, colorado counties had identifying marks on them. Some people are timid, some people might fear retribution from the government or an employer, if they voted a particular way. In our representative form of government we insure maxium participation in voting by guaranteeing the right to a secrete ballot. As citizens we must defend this right. I believe that it iss Marilyn’s goal to ensure the citizens can vote without fear of unfairness or retribution. Democracy in a Republic 101.
Billy C
CAG never aligned with Ms Marks and Marilyn is not a supporter of CAG.
CAG is an issue committee that was formed for the election and will dissolve after the election.
Marilyn was invited to speak on KHEN to address voting issues.
Since I have taken a back seat to a regular radio program I used to do at KHEN, I fill in periodically doing radio interviews on various issues and came on Dan’s program where he has tried to address all sides of this election process.
It is regretful that this election has created division when we are neighbors. Elections do that. The focus becomes on our differences instead of the many similarities, contributions, and talents we all bring to the table. I do not like politics for that reason.
As for the perceptions around suing by Ms Marks. I believe she stated her point. People either choose to believe her comments and fruits of her efforts, a lawyers comments( whose business is around the court system), or somewhere in between.
Thanks for the confirmation. I had only heard second hand that Ms. Marks was ‘supporting’ CAG. I was not able to hear the interview myself.
Billy and Melodee – Just to be clear, are both of you stating that you are in no way tied to Marilyn Mark’s group? Personally, professionally, individually? Has Marilyn been invited to participate in this election by anyone associated with CAG? As our voting should be ‘transparent and fair,’ so should the associations of our candidates.
BTW, don’t assume I’m for one side or the other on this issue. I will say that those who are for Home Rule seem to be giving a lot more compelling reasons and facts. Most important to me, they seem to be working from a stance of positive input for the better. I’m still waiting for any CAG candidate to express clearly what they would like to see, should the process move forward. I really dislike the idea of a small group of monkey wrenchers just running for the Commssion for the sake of mucking it up later for the rest of the voters who don’t share their view.
Come on CAG candidates, tell me what you will stand for, should this issue pass next week. I know what you are against. I certainly agree with some of your points, but the other side is making a pretty compelling argument.
Joe Judd, Sorry I missed this comment earlier. I took a short vacation, a prescheduled non-refundable trip.
The no vote prevailed, but most of us are still decompressing in a way. I am relaxing still. Many of us worked tirelessly on this whole thing since late August. I was out Saturday through Wednesday on a vacation that was scheduled before this all came up.. My wife and I skipped decorating for Christmas, a Holiday we normally enjoy. I am sure everyone sacrificed. Others working on the campaign discussed strategies and activities by phone, when their visiting kids and grand kids were in the background. I am guessing we are all tired and jubilant at the same time.
The council in the main ignored us and in the part they were sometimes hostile from August and until today. The voting/election process was far from transparent. The city grudgingly made concessions, but always under pressure. Watchers that were not allowed close enough to see was just emblematic, there were many more examples, some centered around chain of custody on the ballots. Those of us involved will debrief each other shortly. None of us is building the argument for a legal case, nor would we. The election flaws do make it subject to challenge. I do not think this will happen, but why should we as citizens accept an election process that is/was flawed.
Additionally being ignored is infuriating. I am already expecting that we will list our grievances and as a result be ridiculed. At this point the perception and perhaps the propaganda will say, “Nothing will satisfy them and they are just a bunch or paranoid complainers.”
There needs to be some sort of never again position paper. We need, somehow, to get the public to understand that non-transparent election processes will disillusion voters to the point that they disenfranchise themselves and just drop off of the voting logs.
Marilyn Marks came in on this for her own reasons; we did not invite her. She did, however, get good results and the city made several important concessions under pressure from Marilyn. Most of us who have been involved in CAG understand the importance of correcting the election policies for the future, but we are hard pressed to envision a strategy that would put the city on a path to make constructive changes. I hope that we will not leave this chapter in our lives without planting seeds that will make our election processes fairer and more transparent in the future. Fairness, anonomous ballots, and transparency are important cornerstones of our representative democracy. When citizens bring the government’s attention to these kinds of issues, all of us should applaud and support them.
I participated with CAG, but once becoming a candidate for the HR charter I resigned as an officer at CAG. The organization did great work and although I supported and helped them, I do no speak for CAG officially.
This is Billy Carlisle, a Candidate and a Citizen, speaking his mind.
Joe, I am a member of Citizens Center and that is my association with Marilyn. I am loosely a member of CAG and CAG will end after the election. CAG is not associated with Marilyn.
I have stated numerous times my stance on the League of Women’s Voters forum, the paper, and on the radio. I have not said much else because once I mentioned why I was not for home rule at this time, if ever, the negatory reactions from some pro people led me to not take the conversation further. Those who were listening either got it or rejected my stance and me.
If the election is for creating a charter and I am elected to be on the committee, then lets go for it and make ours exemplary. I, also, feel 6 months to create a charter might be confining when there are aspects most of us have not explored yet. This is a document if done swiftly, might bring up more than we asked for.
This issue has generated a tremendous amount of comments, some interesting but a lot of repetition. The newly added layer of of the possibility of “election conspiracy” only adds to the media circus.
Yes, by all means, attend Marilyn Marks’ Election Watcher workshop on Monday. Better yet, vounteer to HELP and not hinder the arduous hand counting process the City will be undertaking. Just be sure you keep an open mind and make your motivation a positive one.
This is not the Spanish Inquisition, it is a sinple election whose purpose is only to allow a Charter Commission to BEGIN the process of wriitng what YOU want into a charter that YOU vote on again. Give it a chance and stop obessing about vote fraud.
I’d like to leave it today with a thought often quoted: ” It’s always better to try and fail than accept the status quo” – Charlotte Druckman.