HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-12-13 EC MEMOCity of Englewood
December 13, 1989
Mr. William G. R. Haidon
4685 South Logan Street
Englewood CO 80110
Dear Mr. Haidon:
3400 S. Elat i Street
Englewood, Colorado 8011 O
Phone ~03)761-1140
In response to your telephone conversation with me several days ago, please be
advised that the Englewood Election Commission has been provided copies of the
protest filed by you with the City Clerk on November 16, 1989.
As Ms. Crow informed you at the time of filing, she forwarded your protest to
the City Attorney . Mr. DeWitt informed Ms. Crow the matter would properly be
addressed by the City Council, and he then provided copies of your protest to
the Council members, and the matter was discussed with Council at their
November 20th regular meeting. For a complete report on the outcome of that
discussion, I would recommend that you contact Mr. DeWitt.
However, I sense from our conversation and from the protest itself that you
are of the opinion the Election Commission should conduct a hearing in this
regard. If that is your intent, it will be necessary for you to request a
hearing in writing, stating specifically your concerns and charges.
Please be assured the Election Commission members are more than willing to
hear what you and others of the community have to say. We may not have the
specific powers to reverse decisions made by City Council, but we are
certainly willing to hear the matter and render our opinion in this regard.
ENGLEWOOD ELECTION COMMISSION
~Lrc-~ ,;( lf-t-t_a!k
Melody Kollath, Chairman
cc: Englewood City Council
Roger Fraser, City Manager
Rick DeWitt, City Attorney
December 12, 1989
Mayor Van Dyke, Councl I Members, Councl I Members-elect
Englewood, Colorado 8011 O
Dear Mayor Van Dyke, Counci 1 Members, and Counci 1 Members-elect:
During the past municipal election (Nov 7, 1989), we had two occasions to meet with l"lr.
Rick DeWitt to address procedural concerns of the Election Commission . Our first
meeting was prior to our addressing City Council on October 2, and was at Mr. DeWitt's
request. We thought the purpose of the meeting was to clarify our responsibilities
during an election. Instead, we found the meeting to be of a confrontational natur'e.
Our second meeting with Mr. DeWitt was on December I at our request. At this meeting
we were requesting clarification of our duties and responsibilities. We wanted to make
sure that we would know how to handle future situations which might arise. This was
important to us as a number of thfngs had come up during this past election for whlc!) we
were not prepared .
e As a group, we feel that Mr. DeWitt failed to provide us with the direction which we
requested. He did send us a letter with reference only to Mr. Haidon's protest which we
received on December 8, 1989. A copy of the letter is enclosed for your information. We
feel that it is indicative of the type of communication which we have had in our
meetings.
As members or the Election Commission appointed to the Commission by City Council, we
have decided to address our concerns to you. The course of the commission depends upon
firm advice from the City . We feel that we serve to meet tl)e needs of Englewood
residents and would like to do that to the best of our abilities. In order to do that,
however, we do need the full cooperation of the city administration. Since we feel that
the City Attorney has not provided that direction, we request that you do so .
If you wish to discuss this matter, we will make ourselves available to you .
At the direction of the Englewood Election Commission,
~~<!o-d/ ~ ;f-czc(_l/r.,
Me 1 ody L. Ko 11 ath
Cha1rman
MEMORANDUM
TO: Melody Kollath, Election Commission Chairman
Ken Bull, Election Commission Member
Betty Wilson, Election Commission Member
Patricia Crow, City Clerk
FROM: Rick DeWitt, City Attorney
DATE: December 4, 1989
RE: Memo from William G. Haidon.
You have inquired, of this office, what approach should be
taken in response to the statement from William G. Haidon. Mr.
Haidon seems to be contesting a provision in the Home Rule
Charter. Without more information, I do not know how the
Election Commission can determine the appropriate course of
action. It is my suggestion that the Election Commission send a
letter to Mr. Haidon, asking him:
1. Whether he wants a hearing on the subject .
2. Have him provide as much elaboration as he can on his
protest.
The responsibilities of the Commission are as set forth in
Sections 10 and 11, of the Charter. At the present time, I am
reluctant to advise, with respect to whether Mr. Haidon 1 s protest
comes within Sections 10 and 11.
I do not want the Election Commission to be circumvented by
Mr. Haidon with respect to its jurisdiction.
cc: Mayor Van Dyke
Englewood City Council
Roger Fraser
nf
MEMORANDUM
TO: Rick DeWitt, City Attorney
FROM: Patricia H. Crow, City Clerk
DATE: November 16, 1989
SUBJECT: PROTEST FILED WITH CITY CLERK AS MEMBER OF ELECTION COMMISSION
Attached is a copy of a formal protest filed by William G. R. Haidon
concerning the November 7, 1989 election. Mr. Haidon is questioning the
results based on the fact that the City and/or Commission did not enforce t he
Charter pertaining to the three-year residency requirement for qualificatio n
of a Council Member.
As you will recall, I checked with you some months ago when we were prepari ng
the information packets for those citizens who were interested in running f or
Council, and was advised by you to change the three-year requirement to
one-year since the three-year requirement is unconstitutional (your memo dated
May 10, 1989). This matter of the residency requirement was not specifically
discussed with the Election Commission at that time, as I simply acted upon
your advise.
Unless advised by you to the contrary, I will be sending copies of Mr.
Haidon's protest to the Election Commission members Friday afternoon
(tomorrow, November 17, 1989). I would appreciate hearing from you prior to
that time.
cc Roger Fraser, City Manager
Margaret Freeman, Director of Financial Services
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