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Commentary
The articles contained herein do not necessarily reflect the views of Colorado DOGE Report or its management. They are the opinions of the authors alone.
Letters Deserve Answers, Not Labels
By Michael J. Badagliacco, "MJB"
Several letters in the September 7 Mirror ask why the Charter amendments are on the November 3 ballot. Fair question. Here is the claim, the evidence, and the reasoning.
November elections
Ellen Angeles is right that more voters do not automatically mean more attention to city hall. She is wrong that we have no evidence a date change is worth putting to a vote.
City of Montrose election records show April return rates of:
- 25% in 2024
- 26% in 2022
- 28% in 2018
- 35% in 2026
Colorado Secretary of State abstracts show Montrose County November even-year turnout of about:
- 88% in 2020
- 71% in 2022
- 82% in 2024
Those November figures are countywide. The gap is still obvious.
Stand-alone city elections have run about $30,000. Coordinated elections have run about $5,000 to $10,000. Under C.R.S. 1-5-505.5(1)(a), the state reimburses counties 45% of a coordinated election when the state certifies ballot content. The city’s share drops. Savings can reach as much as $25,000 an election.
Colorado already lets municipalities put a November date to the voters. See C.R.S. 31-10-109. Firestone did it. This measure does the same thing for Montrose. People are partisan, the month is not. Ballots arrive weeks early. I trust you to find the city questions on a November ballot.
Term limits
Cliff Faurer is right that Colorado already has term limits. Article XVIII, Section 11 of the Colorado Constitution sets consecutive-term limits and lets a person sit out one full term and return. That same section also lets the voters of a political subdivision lengthen, shorten, or eliminate those limits. That is what this ballot question is.
The current rule is consecutive years, not a lifetime cap. After eight years, or six in the at-large seat, a person can sit out four years and come back. Ordinance 2728 would set an eight-year lifetime maximum across all seats after November 3, 2026. It does not cut short anyone now serving.
The 2025 package is not this question. Ordinance 2690 bundled term language with gender-neutral wording, meeting notice, recall rules, the municipal judge, utilities, and more. It failed 3,588 to 3,924. A bundled no is not a verdict on a standalone lifetime cap.
Ideas come from people. Long incumbency also comes from people. Voters can still choose experience for eight years. After that, another voice gets a turn.
Police Chief and City Clerk
Amendments 2729 and 2730 do not fire Chief Blaine Hall or Clerk Lisa DelPiccolo. They do not let Council run the Police Department or the Clerk’s office. The manager still hires, fires, and supervises day to day. Council would only approve appointment and discharge.
That is a check, not a takeover. Those two offices sit at the center of elections and public safety. In 2014 the Charter took Council out of that confirmation. These measures put a public vote of the elected body back in the file. Experience matters. So does who answers to whom when something goes wrong.
Process
Neonila Martyniuk quotes Councilor Reed and asks whether legal analysis, policy discussion, and public engagement occurred. They did. The City Attorney drafted the ordinances. Council debated them in work sessions and regular meetings from June through September 1. Public meetings on the proposals were held July 29, August 3, August 4, and August 18. The final vote was September 1.
A Charter Review Commission is one method. It is not the only method. Home-rule cities may refer Charter questions themselves. Council voted not to form a commission and to put four separate questions on the coordinated ballot instead. That is a process disagreement, not the absence of process. Voters still decide.
Trust
Dave Stockton asked what led me to thank residents for their trust. I thank them because they are the ones who vote, pay the bills, and live with the results. Distrust of government is not a vice. It is why we have elections, open meetings, and a Charter that only you can change.
A news release that thanks the public is not a demand for affection. Bill Bell and the Council announced a mutual separation. The next manager will be hired in public under the Charter we have now, unless voters change it. These amendments do not put department heads on a “chopping block.” They add a Council vote at hire and at discharge. That is a check.
I was elected to represent the people of Montrose and to serve the whole city. Party labels in a letter do not decide a Charter question. The text does.
What I am asking
Read the four questions. Ask what each one does. Ignore the version that never quotes the redline. Then vote.
Your votes still decide this. That is the point.
