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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-09 EC MINUTES• • • ENGLEWOOD ELECTION COlVIMISSION January 9, 2003 1. Call to Order The meeting of the Englewood Election Commission was called to order by Chairman Lay at 5:35 p.m. in the City Manager's Conference Room. 2. Roll Call Present: Absent: A quorum was present. Members Redpath, Ellis, Lay Member Mulhern [Clerk's note: There is one vacancy due to the resignation of Member Holmberg.] Also present: Deputy City Clerk White 3. Discussion -Redistricting City Clerk Ellis passed out the proposed Council District maps and explained that John Voboril, of our Community Development Department, prepared four options, based on the registered voter criteria as required by Charter and the population criteria as set forth in State Statutes. He has done a wonderful job preparing these options, she said. Ms. Ellis passed out a copy of John Voboril's memo dated June 19, 2002. As you remember, she said, Council directed us to look at a possible Broadway split between Districts 1 and 2. She noted that Mr. Voboril explains in his memo why that split is not feasible. Ms. Ellis explained the Election Commission will submit all four options to City Council for their review, with the Commission 's recommendation . The Council will discuss this at their Study Session on Tuesday , January 21, 2003, she said. She invited the Commission to attend the Study Session. The Commission reviewed the four options. The Commission noted that Option Four has four County precinct splits. Chairman Lay suggested the Commission look closely at Option Two, at the population and regi stered voter numbers . She said the registered voter percentage difference for Option Two is 5.0 %, whereas Option One is 14.2 %, Option Three is 12.9 % and Option Four is 12.8 %. She opined that not only are the Option Two boundaries better, but the percentage difference is actuall y better too. Engl e wood Election Commission January 9 , 2003 Page 2 City Clerk Ellis said she just wanted to state for the record, that our Charter states we are to use the registered voter figure from the preceding general municipal election, which was November 6 , 2001. When we met previously on this issue, on March 7, 2002, I explained I tried to obtain a list of City of Englewood registered voters from the 2001 election, in a format that would allow me to manipulate the numbers, as the County was in the middle of re-precincting. My comment at the time was that this was proving to be an almost impossible task and it turned out to be an impossible task. After they adopted the new County precincts it did not get any better, because their new computer system was not programmed to allow me to obtain the numbers I needed. Ms. Ellis asked Chairman Lay to address this issue. Chairman Lay explained the new County computer system was not set up, at the time, to give us the breakout for the numbers we needed. Ms. Ellis stated we ended up using the City of Englewood registered voter figures as of December 13, 2002. On November 6, 2001, we had 20,103 voters. On December 13, 2002, when I finally received the breakdown I needed, there were 20,765 voters. So that is only an increase of 3.29 %, she said, which I feel is negligible. I spoke to City Attorney Brotzman and I told him I felt that I had, in good faith, tried to meet the Charter requirement, but I was unable to use the 2001 election figures, due to circumstances beyond my control. I let him know we would be going forward with the December 13, 2002 figures. Ms. Ellis asked the Commission • members how they felt about this. • Chairman Lay said she definitely agreed. Member Redpath agreed with using the December 13, 2002 figures as the increase is so small. Particularly, he said, when you look at the small voter percentage difference in Option Two. Chairman Lay said I am all for Option Two. Member Redpath noted that in Option Two you only split one precinct, County Precinct 115. Member Redpath asked if City Clerk Ellis was aware of any issues in County Precinct 115. What kind of habitation is there, he asked. Is it R-1 or R-lA? City Clerk Ellis said I am not aware of any issues in County Precinct 115. City Clerk Ellis pointed out that the 1999 redistricting, split County Precinct 109 . People were very upset about that at the last election, as we had split the Arapahoe Acres Historic District. All four of the proposed options bring that precinct back together, she said. Member Redpath opined that Option Two, by combining County precincts 108 and 111, creates more compact Districts . Chairman Lay agreed. M l~iVIB ER RED PA TH lVIOVED, AND lVIEMBER LAY SECONDED, TO RECOMlVIEND TO CLY COUNC IL ~HAT OPTIO NmtlBER TWO BE ACCEPTED. • • • • Englewood Election Commission January 9, 2003 P age 3 Member Redpath said o ne reason he would recommend Option Two is because it is less up setti ng to the Di st1icts and the current boundaries. Vote results: Ayes: Nays: Absent: Motion carried. Member Redpath, Ellis , Lay None Member Mulhern City Clerk Ellis said this has been the cleanest redistricting process I have ever been involved in, du e to the new technology. The only p art that was di ffic ult was my inability to get the registere d voter figures from the County for the 20 01 election. However, in years to come, this should not be an issue. Chairman Lay agreed. She sai d the County has the information now and they are able to retrieve it and make it work for us , which is what we needed. It was not just the City of Englewood, she said, all of the other cities were h avi n g the same problem. The County knew the y h ad to rectify the situation quickly. 4 . Member's Choice The Commission discussed the upcoming general municipal election. 5. Transmittal of Miscellaneous Items There were no miscellaneous items to discuss . 6. Adjournment MEMBER REDPATH MOVED, AND MEMBER LAY SECONDED, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Ayes: Nays: Absent: Members Redpath , Ellis, Lay None Member Mulhern • • • ELECTION COMMISSION Telephone Poll February 12, 2003 The Telephone Poll was conducted by the City Clerk's office on February 12 , 2003. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES: (a) January 9, 2003 Minutes Vote results: Ayes : Members Redpath, Ellis , Lay Nays: None Minutes approved . [Clerk 's note: Member Mulhern was not at the January 9 , 2003 meeting . He did not respond to the telephone poll , however, he would have had to abstain .]