Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-05-13 EC MINUTES.. ENGLEWOOD ELECTION COMMISSION May 13, 1998 1. Call to Order The meeting of the Englewood Election Commission was called to order at 5:05 p.m . by Chairman Jo Lay. 2. Roll Call Present: Absent: A quorum was present. Lay, Redpath , Warren , Ellis None [Clerk's note: a vacancy currently exists due to the resignation of Sunday Aigbe.] 3. Approval of June 2, 1997 Minutes MEMBER WARREN MOVED, AND CHAIRMAN LAY SECONDED, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JUNE 2, 1997. Ayes : Nays: Abstain : The motion carried . Lay, Warren , Ellis None Redpath [Clerk's note: Mr. Redpath abstained because he was not appointed to the Election Commission until July 7 , 1997.] 4. Election of Chairman MEMBER WARREN MOVED, AND MEMBER REDPATH SECONDED, TO ELECT JO LAY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENGLEWOOD ELECTION COMMISSION FOR 1998. Ayes : Ellis , Redpath , Warren , Lay Nays: None The motion carried. 5. Review -Election Procedures Manual City Clerk Ellis told the members that the Election Procedures Manual was created in 1991 and that many changes to the election laws have occurred since then. She explained that she is still in the process of updating t he document and said that , upon completion , she would like to mail it to the members of the Commiss ion for their suggestions . The members agreed. Ms. Ellis Englewood Election Comm ission May 13 , 1998 Page 2 added that, if there are any real concerns , she may have the members come in and discuss them one on one with her. 6. Discussion -Redistricting City Clerk Ellis advised that, by Charter, we are supposed to redistrict every four years. When we went through the Recall Election , problems arose because there were splits between County precincts and City districts. The County has worked out two of our issues where we had a split in Districts 1 and 2 , and 3 and 4 , she said , by changing their precinct lines so that our internal problems within the City have been taken care of. The County does not expect to reprecinct again until Spring of 2001 , after the 2000 census figures are in , so they will not be able to help us with any district changes we might make until after the Spring of 2001 , she adv ised . Ms . Ellis said she has requested a letter to that effect from the County , to present to Council along with a Council communication , if we do , indeed , request a delay in redistricting until 2001 . Mr. Redpath asked if it looks like the districts will have to change , due to the 5% rule . Ms . Ellis responded that the City of Englewood is looking at getting a computer program whereby we could tap into some population/reg istered e lectors figures through the County . If we find that we meet the population and registered elector criteria and can leave our districts as is , she said her recommendation to the Commission would be that they recommend we redistrict with the same lines . She commented that , if residential units are built on part of the Cinderella C ity site , it may impact the redistricting . If it turns out, by the end of the year, that we cannot obtain those figures from the County, Ms . Ellis said she would ask that the Commission recommend to Council that they hold off on redistricting until the County re-precincts in the Spring of 2001 . She assured the members that she will let them know as soon as she knows , adding that, by Charter, we must have redistricting in place six months before the November election , which would be May. ***** Mr. Redpath said he has not seen the results of the legislative session, and asked if it will affect the commission. Ms . Ellis and Ms . Lay responded that they did not know , but Ms . Lay said she would find out. ***** 7. Review-Election Sign Policy Chairman Lay asked if there were changes in the Election Sign Policy . Ms . Ell is responded that there were problems during the last election . A meeting was held , and this sign code policy was created . She asked the members to review it and make a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Clarifying, Ms. Lay asked if all complaints will first come to the City Clerk's office, and then be forwarded, depending on which category the complaint falls into. Ms . Ellis responded affirmatively, adding that this is also the way it was handled during the last election. She advised that, most often , sign violations do not occur maliciously, but just through error. It would be preferable to have the opportun ity to handle these issues in a nice manner, she opined . The incorrectly placed signs would be b rought to the Clerk's office, so that the candidate can be Englewood Election Commission May 13, 1998 Page 3 notified to pick them up. With this policy, everyone would be following the same procedure and everyone would be treated the same, she said. Discussion ensued regarding the placement of signs . Ms. Ellis reiterated that the intent of this policy is to resolve problems before they happen , give clear cut directions and have the removed signs in one location for the candidate to retrieve. Ms . Lay said the Clerk would have Code Enforcement respond to calls about too many signs and have Public Works respond to concerns about public right of way. She asked if the City would act, through the City Clerk, upon complaints only. Ms. Ellis suggested adding to the policy that the City Clerk would act only upon receiving a complaint regarding election signs . She said, if a complaint was phoned in directly to one of the departments, she hopes they would advise her. Ms. Ellis said she would add some verbiage to the policy and send it out again for the members' approval. Mr. Redpath said he would like to see something added to the policy that would ask other departments to inform the City Clerk if they have received a complaint directly. Ms. Ellis said she would try to send this out for the members' approval with the Election Procedures Manual. She asked if the members had an issue with the numbers of signs allowed. All members agreed that the current limits are satisfactory. Ms . Ellis said she does not believe the sign code policy must be approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, since the Election Commission is not recommending a change in the number of signs . All members agreed . 8. Discussion -November 3, 1998 Election City Clerk Ellis told the members that Frank Gryglewicz, Director of Financial Services, will be asking Council to include another Charter change on the ballot in 1998, referencing Section 110, which is bond sale limitations . The proposed change removes the phrase "The bonds shall be sold to the highest and best bidders for cash and to the best advantage of the City ... " and replaces it with "The bonded debt of the City shall be sold in such manner that is at best advantage of the City. The bonds may be sold by negotiated sale, private placement or competitive bid." She advised that, on June 1, 1998, Council will receive this proposed ballot question, along with the ballot question recommended by the Election Commission . Ms . Ellis told the members that she would appreciate their attending this Study Session , if possible . a) Proposed Ballot Question -amending Charter relative to Initiative and Referendum In relating some history with regard to the creation of this proposal, Ms . Ellis explained that, in 1994, she received an inquiry about how to proceed with the initiative and referendum procedure. At that time, she became aware that participating in a coordinated election moves all of the election dates forward . To meet the guidelines in the Charter for initiative and referendum, and to be able to give the citizens the amount of time that was due them, we would have missed the deadline for the election, she said. She proposed that the members recommend two Charter changes be made, whereby the two references to sixty day limits would Englewood Election Commiss ion May 13, 1998 Page4 become ninety day limits. Even at that, she asserted, we would be squeaking by, because it ends up being exactly the day that the ballot must be cert ified to the County. This would allow us , however, to meet our obligations to the County in a timely manner and still be fair to everyone, she said . Ms . Ellis stated that this change would be one of the final pieces in cleaning up the Charter relative to elections . She invited the members to bring any other discrepancies to her attention in the next two weeks , because she would like this to be very clean , so that we will not have to keep going back to the voters with clean-up issues . She asked that the members approve the proposal , contingent upon any calls she might receive from the members in the next couple of weeks recommending any other items they would like changed. MEMBER ELLIS MOVED, AND MEMBER WARREN SECONDED, TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM SECTION OF CHARTER, CONTINGENT UPON ANY ADDITIONAL CHANGES FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS . Ayes : Lay , Redpath, Warren , Ellis Nays : None The motion carried . b) Proposed revisions to EMC 1-8-MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS City Clerk Ellis said she is doing the same thing with the Code that she did with the Charter. Discussion ensued regarding the re-wording of parts of this Section . W ith regard to §1-8-4 : Voting Machines, Mr. Redpath suggested using the phrase "a qualified vendor'' in place of "the City and County of Denver'' when referring to places where such machines may be rented or leased . Ms . Ellis noted that §1-8-2 : Voter Registration , is completely crossed out. The National Voter Registration Act is so far above this, she said , that this Section is not even pertinent any more . §1-8-3 : Absentee Ballots is covered by State Statutes , and has been deleted also , she advised . She also noted that the Section on Vot ing Machines only refers to polling place elections , and would have nothing to do with mail ballot elections . MEMBER WARREN MOVED, AND CHAIRMAN LAY SECONDED, TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED REVISIONS TO §1-8 ENGLEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE 1985. Ayes : Lay, Redpath , Warren, Ellis Nays : None The motion carried. 9. Members' Choice Englewood Election Commission May 13, 1998 Page 5 (a) City Clerk Ellis asked for a recommendation for the City of Englewood to participate in a coordinated election with Arapahoe County in November, 1998. MEMBER REDPATH MOVED, AND MEMBER ELLIS SECONDED, TO RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PARTICIPATE IN A COORDINATED ELECTION WITH ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NOVEMBER, 1998. Ayes : Lay, Redpath , Warren, Ellis Nays: None The motion carried. 10. Adjournment CHAIRMAN LAY MOVED TO ADJOURN. The meeting adjourned at 6 :15 p.m. * * * * *