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Home My WebLink About1996-09-05 EC PROTEST HEARINGCity of Englewood September 5, 1996 Sandi Ostema 2843 South Grant Street Englewood, CO 80110 Carole Tomasso 135 West Cornell Avenue Englewood , CO 80110 Ann Nabholz 2990 South Delaware Street Englewood , CO 80110 Donetta Davidson Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder 5334 South Prince Street Littleton, CO 80166 RE : PROTEST OF RECALL PETITIONS 3400 S . Elati Street Englewood , Colorado 80110-2304 Phone (303 ) 762-2300 (303) 762 -2301 FAX (303) 789-1125 On September 3, 1996 a Notice of Protest of Recall Petitions was filed with the City Clerk's Office. Pursuant to CRS 31-4-503 (3) (b) a hearing has been set for Thursday , September 12 , 1996 at 5:00 p.m . at Englewood City Hall , 3400 South Elati Street, in the Community Room. A copy of the protest and the hearing procedure and agenda are attached . Loucrishia A. Ellis , CMC City Clerk cc : Attorney Rick DeWitt , 3333 South Bannock Street, Suite 800, Englewood, CO 8011 O Rita Hathaway , 3143 South Cherokee Street , Englewood , CO 80110 Attorney Thomas Merrigan , 6755 East 72nd Avenue , Commerce City , CO 80022-2196 Election Commission Attorney John Difalco, 1136 East Stuart Street, Suite 4102 , Fort Collins , CO 80525 Dan Brotzman , City Attorney Doug Clark, City Manager Frank Gryglewicz, Director of Financial Services Tom Munds, Englewood Herald Procedure: PROTEST HEARING Protest of Recall Petition (Recall Rita Hathaway Campaign) Thursday, September 12, 1996 Englewood City Hall -3400 South Elati Street Community Room 5:00 p.m. .fThis will be an informal hearing. Strict rules of evidence will not apply . .fCity Clerk Loucrishia Ellis will be the hearing officer and Attorney John Difalco will be the legal counsel advising the Clerk . .fCity Clerk Ellis will issue subpoenas as requested . There will be no subpoenas issued less than 48 hours prior to the hearing . ,( 48 Hours Prior To The Hearing: /the parties are asked to submit a list of witnesses they intend to call, and copies of any documents they wish to enter as exhibits, to the opposing party and hearing officer, and /the parties will identify, for the hearing officer, their representative and spokesperson . .fThe proceedings will be recorded. ,(All witnesses will be sworn in and may be subject to cross-examination . .fThe hearing officer will issue a written determinat ion no later than five days after the conclusion of the hearing. HAND DELIVERED GEHLER & MERRIGAN clftto'tnE-!J1> al ...£aw 6755 EAST 72ND AVENUE COMMERCE CITY, COLORADO 80022-2196 TELEPHONE(303)287-2563 FAX:287-3221 September 3, 1996 Loucrishia A. Ellis, CMC City Clerk, City of Englewood 3400 South Elati Street Englewood, co 80110-2304 Re: Protest of Recall Petitions Dear Ms. Ellis: RECEH/~D CllY OF ENGlEWcco, co. SEP ~· 1996 OFFICE OF THE ""'··---'"'~ _7 -: .• Ii . J:J-0 rv This off ice represents Councilwoman Rita Hathaway in connection with her protest of the sufficiency of the Recall Petitions filed with your office. Enclosed please find her written statement under oath, setting forth the reasons for the protest. Pursuant to C.R.S. 31-4-503(3) (b), it is our request that you please schedule a hearing to take testimony with regard to these allegations. Please call my office to insure that I can be present at the hearing. I have enclosed some proposed Subpoenas for issuance. I would appreciate it if you would fill in the date and time of the hearing, and then issue the Subpoenas by signing them and affixing the City's Seal. If there is any problem with this procedure, please call me so that we can talk about it. Thank you. TEM:clj Enc. cc: Ms. Rita L. Hathaway Very truly yours, Thomas Merrigan Loucrishia A. Ellis, CMC City Clerk, City of Englewood 3400 South Elati Street Englewood, co 80110-2304 August 30, 1996 NOTICE OF PROTEST OF RECALL PETITION Dear Ms. Ellis: --~ r&e-v ~, ·~ -u CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, CO . SEP 0 1996 O~~CE~?~!,~E~s. t};}lJ ~ Pursuant to C.R.S. 31-4-503{3)(b), 1-12-108{9){a), and the Horne Rule Charter of the City of Englewood, please consider this a Petition for protest of the sufficiency of the Recall Petitions filed with your office. The specific grounds for this protest include, but are not limited to, conduct on the part of Petition circulators that substantially misled persons signing the Petition. Enclosed with this Petition you will find Affidavits from individuals indicating that they were misled by the Petition circulators. Specifically, they were told that I was subject to being recalled because: a. I do not reside in my district anymore; and b. I have had my wages garnished; and c. I opposed the Bookmobile and the 4th of July/Parade. None of these so-called reasons for recall are contained in the Statement of Charges on the Petition, and were not cited by the recall petitioners. Nonetheless, as you can see from the enclosed Affidavits, incorporated herein by reference, the electors were given these reasons for signing the Petition. I was not given an opportunity to include defenses to these charges in my response, and I therefore contend that the Petitions are insufficient. Please note that Karen Miller wishes to withdraw her signature on the Petition, and I believe there are others who would feel the same way, were the true facts made known to them. Loucrishia A. Ellis, CMC city Clerk, city of Englewood August 30, 1996 Page 2 Please schedule a hearing pursuant to the statute, and upon proper findings, it is my request that you invalidate the Recall Petitions as being insufficient based upon improper conduct of the Petition circulators which substantially misled the persons signing the Petition. Sincerely, e;L'o\~~ Rita L. Hathaway STATE OF COLORADO ss: COUNTY OF ADAMS Rita L. Hathaway, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: That I have read the foregoing Petition for Protest, and the facts stated therein are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. SUBSCRIBED and sworn to before me this September, 1996, by RITA L. HATHAWAY. WITNESS my hand and official seal. Expires: day of ' T---~ STATE OF COLORADO COUNTY OF A e.A f 8-1 to e' AFFIDAVIT OF KAREN MILLER ss: KAREN MILLER, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: 1. I reside at 2901 South Cherokee, in Englewood, Colorado. 2. On July 29, 1996, Carole Tomasso came to my door, with a Recall Petition seeking to recall Councilwoman Rita L. Hathaway. 3. Before I could review the Petition, Ms. Tomasso told me that Rita did not live in her district anymore, and that therefore she should be recalled. 4. Because I believed that was a valid reason for the recall of a Councilperson, I signed the Recall Petition. I was not provided the time to review either the Statement of Charges or the Statement of Defense contained on the Petition. 5. The only reason I signed the Petition was that I believed the charge against councilwoman Hathaway was that she did not live in her district. 6. Having now reviewed the Statement of Charges and Statement of Defense, I do not support the recall of Councilwoman Hathaway, and wish to withdraw my signature from the Petition. 7. I feel that I was misled by the Petition circulator, and would not have signed the Petition had I not been so misled. KAREN MILLER, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: That I have read the foregoing Affidavit, and the facts stated therein are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. _, (~UBSCRIBED and sworn to before me this Auga!!'t:ft 1 996, by KAREN MILLER. ~r Gt.vi " t..,- WITNEs s my hand and official seal. My Commission Expires: 2 17 o' 'I _,..,...... ,,-r day of AFFIDAVIT OF BARBARA CLAYTON STATE OF COLORADO COUNTY OF f.i£/"tf)4, 1\-0 e J ss: BARBARA CLAYTON, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: 1. I am a registered elector, and reside at 3201 South Franklin, in Englewood, Colorado. 2. That in July of this year I was approached by Sandi Ostema, and asked to sign a Recall Petition, in order to determine whether or not Councilwoman Rita Hathaway should be recalled. 3. Before I was given an opportunity to read the Petition, I was told by the Petition circulator that Councilwoman Hathaway was subject to being recalled because: [ ] Rita Hathaway did not live in her district anymore; or [ ] Rita Hathaway had had her wages garnished; or 00 Rita Hathaway opposed the Bookmobile; or [ ] Rita Hathaway opposed the 4th of July/parade. 4. Upon reviewing the Petition, I saw the actual charges in the Statement of Charges and the Statement of Defense, and decided I did not wish to sign the Petition. 5. I feel that the statements made to me by the Petition circulator were misleading, and did not correctly state the charges upon which the Recall Petition is based. 6. Anything further Affiant sayeth not. -1 Barbara Clayton J . ·' BARBARA CLAYTON, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: That I have read the foregoing Affidavit, and the facts stated therein are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. .// 0 /#1 /}. - Przklaftt/ Lvx/~Lp-c) Barbara Clayton 5e;-te,.,13 2JIB~fRIBED and sworn to before me this Angust ~996, by BARBARA CLAYTON. WITNESS my hand and official seal. NotaryP~c My Commiss i on Expires: 2 day of -. ' l'Mr"*- AFFIDAVIT OF~GILBERT STATE OF COLORADO ) COUNTY OF fu APA ~o c ~ ss: M~ GILBERT, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: 1. I am a registered elector, and reside at 2795 South Acoma, in Englewood, Colorado. 2. That in July of this year I was approached by Carole Tomasso, and asked to sign a Recall Petition, in order to determine whether or not councilwoman Rita Hathaway should be recalled. 3. Before I was given an opportunity to read the Petition, I was told by the Petition circulator that councilwoman Hathaway was subject to being recalled because: [ ] Rita Hathaway did not live in her district anymore; or [ ] Rita Hathaway had had her wages garnished; or [~J Rita Hathaway opposed the Bookmobile; or [)<J Rita Hathaway opposed the 4th of July/parade. 4. Upon reviewing the Petition, I saw the actual charges in the Statement of Charges and the Statement of Defense, and decided I did not wish to sign the Petition. 5. I feel that the statements made to me by the Petition circulator were misleading, and did not correctly state the charges upon which the Recall Petition is based. 6. Anything further Affiant sayeth not. Ma-ey i lbert Ml/iff'/ .4t }!}ftr{ • • ~GILBERT, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: That I have read the foregoing Affidavit, and the facts stated therein are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. " ch: SUBSCRIBED and sworn to before me Atl~~ 1996, by MARY GILBERT. this day of <;r:p>-;/ry\ 1;r ff'<a.'" ''G WITNESS my hand and official seal. -- Notary My Commission Expires: '-/~;)&-7' J 2 AFFIDAVIT OF PETER KENT STATE OF COLORADO ) ) ss: COUNTY OF Artlf-PA1W r;-' ) PETER KENT, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: 1. I am a registered elector, and reside at 3227 South Cherokee, in Englewood, Colorado. 2. That in July of this year I was approached by Carole Tomasso, and asked to sign a Recall Petition, in order to determine whether or not Councilwoman Rita Hathaway should be recalled. 3. Before I was given an opportunity to read the Petition, I was told by the Petition circulator that Councilwoman Hathaway was subject to being recalled because: [ ] Rita Hathaway did not live in her district anymore; or [ ] Rita Hathaway had had her wages garnished; or [vj Rita Hathaway opposed the Bookmobile; or [./]' Rita Hathaway opposed the 4th of July/parade. 4. Upon reviewing the Petition, I saw the actual charges in the Statement of Charges and the Statement of Defense, and decided I did not wish to sign the Petition. 5. I feel that the statements made to me by the Petition circulator were misleading, and did not correctly state the charges upon which the Recall Petition is based. 6. Anything further Affiant sayeth not. Peter Kent PETER KENT, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and says: That I have read the foregoing Affidavit, and the facts stated therein are true and correct, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief . Peter Kent /~ ?UBSCRIBED and sworn to before me v ~ 1996, by PETER KENT. s~p+~W'WI;;;ESS my hand and official seal. Notary Pu My Commission Expires: 2 this day of