Broomfield Taxpayer Matters

City Council Continuing Discussion on Charter Proposed Ballot Questions

On Tuesday, May 7th, the CIty Council will be holding ANOTHER Study Session to discuss Charter Changes and Potential Ballot Questions.

Please consider attending the May 7th Study Session. Let us know that you will attend by visiting this page.

This is a continuation of the City Council Study Session on April 16, 2024, where the Mayor and City Council started diving into the charter changes proposed by the committee.

Keep in mind that any changes to the Charter must go to a vote of the Broomfield Voters, and each ballot item must focus on a single subject.

So, this process may extend over the next few years.

The presentation summarizing the items discussed can be found here, and the actual charter with red-lined changes can be found here. And, our summary of the changes that were discussed is available on our website here (please go to the April 16, 2024 study session section on the page).

Here is our summary of the April 16 Study Session and Upcoming Study Session on Charter Changes.

We have updated the key suggestions we shared with you in the last newsletter and added one more.

Once again, they are not listening to you. You told them you want fiscal sustainability, a focus on public safety, and improvements for city's under managed water infrastructure. The Charter Review Committee even requested that they focus on reasonable clean up changes to the Charter, and to leave the structure of the Broomfield City Council alone.

Instead they are choosing to ignore any of these suggestions, and are wasting council time to focus on growing their power and minimizing your voice. Below are the key items that they are focused on.

Reduce the City Council size from 5 Wards down to 3 Wards.

Councilmember (CM) Marsh-Holschen wants to change the number of Wards from 5 to 3, and reduce the number of City Councilmembers from 10 to 6.

Again, this would decrease your representation which benefits their government power and reduces your voice and representation. This is not just about centralizing their power, this is also about moving to full-time, full-paid councilmembers, much like Denver's City Council.

Luckily, this discussion will not be moving forward in the near term.

Revise Recall Procedures to add requirements and grounds for removal.

Councilmember Cohen went through a recall last year. Now, Councilmember Cohen and others want to put limits on recalls such as adding requirements on timing of recall petitions, grounds for recall, or requiring the elected official submit a response statement for the petition.

There's only one glaring problem with this. Our U.S. Constitution, State Constitution, and even our City Charter are founded on the consent of the governed. It is the right of the citizens to remove or replace those who represent us through legal means, regardless of the reasons for the recall. That should not be limited in any way by those who represent us. To do so puts those who we elect above We The People.

This discussion is moving forward. A vote on the recall is their ability to convince voters that the recall is invalid. Do not let them take these individual rights from you, it will only lead to further tyranny.

Change the age to vote to 16 in Municipal Elections.

This discussion will not be moving forward at this time.

Four-year term of mayor.

The mayor is currently a 2-year term. Discussions during the Charter Review Committee included:

1) the mayor cannot learn her role in two years

2) the mayor will be constantly campaigning

3) it is an at-large position and is an expensive campaign to run.

Well, what does the job require:

1) Be a tie-breaker

2) Be the face of Broomfield

3) Set the agenda's along with the city manager

Heck, that doesn't sound so hard. A dog probably could do that, wait, Georgetown, CO did vote in a dog, Parker, because they were tired of politicians grabbing more and more power. The article states, "The canine’s duties include attending town events and mingling with patrons on walks around town. “Parker doesn’t do the hard work—that’s what the board of selectmen are for."

So, maybe we should think long and hard about making a "weak mayor" form of government any stronger.

Once again your TABOR money is at risk...

Your local council and state legislature, did not honor your vote on the Proposition HH last year, they did not offer you any relief, but instead jacked up your property taxes by 30%, we're waiting to see how the legislature addresses this before the end of session next week.

This year, instead of slowing down, they have introduced HB24-1311, which will redirect money from your TABOR refund to give you "an opportunity to help the people most in need." What if you are someone who is in need? Why won't they let you keep your tax refund and then give it to charitable organization if you don't need it.

Your senator, Faith Winter, is a co-sponsor on this bill. Email her today and tell her you need your money, they shouldn't just assume you don't.

They keep wondering why people are finding it harder to make ends meet. The taxpayer seems to be the only one that can balance the state and local budgets.

No more single-family homes in Broomfield?

During the Study Session on April 16, 2024, there was a discussion with Lokal Homes about an infill project.

The project as presented to the council included 33 single-family detached homes and 56 duplexes/paired homes.

During the discussion, both Mayor Pro-Tem Shaff and councilmember Austin Ward told the developer the project needed to have higher density housing. Here is the video statement of Councilmember Ward, followed by the video statement of Mayor Pro-Tem shaff stating that they want duplexes, triplexes, or quadraplexes but no single family homes in Lokal Home's development plan.

Wait, what? A key part of the American Dream is owning your own property which you can improve on and build equity over the long term. Why are they dictating what can be developed on this property, are they tell us they want to limit what you can own? Is taking away this part of the American Dream is part of their plan?

Economically, here is what will play out. Single-family homes are becoming scarce. Because they are increasingly scarce, home prices will sky-rocket because they single-family homes are very much in demand. Lower and middle income families will continue to be squeezed out of the opportunity to own a home and move up and out of their current situation - the exact opposite effect of what the City Council claims that they are pursuing for "affordable housing".

We have also been telling you that the City Council is marching lockstep with the State Legislature in terms of their policy decisions. Instead of what is right for Broomfield citizens, they are letting the State Legislature decide how Broomfield should zone. HB24-1313 will "increase denser residential development in transit-rich areas." State lawmakers intend to force local municipalities to build high density near transit. If municipalities like Broomfield don't comply, the state will apply "a penalty that would withhold tax funds from cities that don’t comply with mandates, and authorization for a state agency to file lawsuits against those that resist implementing the bill."

Wow! The state is playing hardball. State Senator Faith Winter is fighting against this, but if Broomfield wants state funding for things like transportation and roads, they will be forced to comply. Kind of like the property tax relief we wanted from Broomfield, we were forced to comply even though a lot of us spoke out for a mill levy decrease.

What goes around comes around....treat people unfairly and pretty soon you get the same treatment from a bigger dog.

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