AURORA | Saying challenges from opponents caused them to miss a procedural deadline, supporters of a proposal to empower Aurora’s mayor announced Friday they are ending their 2023 campaign and want to bring the ballot initiative back in 2025.
“I’m disappointed that the ballot measure is not on the 2023 ballot to give the opportunity for voters to decide the issue, but I’m glad that it can be on the ballot in 2025 without having to gather signatures again,” said Mayor Mike Coffman in a statement.
It appears highly unlikely that the item will appear before voters this fall, though city spokesman Ryan Luby was not immediately able to say whether a mechanism exists for the strong-mayor campaign to suspend and later resume the petition process.
Aurora’s City Clerk must certify the content of the city’s November ballot with county clerks by Sept. 8 to meet the coordinated election deadline. Luby said hitting the Sept. 8 deadline would require the city clerk to complete several parts of the election process well ahead of schedule, after which a majority of Aurora’s City Council, which has expressed its disapproval of the strong-mayor campaign, would have to take steps to expedite the remainder of the process.
A protest hearing is also scheduled for Aug. 30, at which opponents plan to challenge the city clerk’s finding that the petitions submitted by the campaign complied with city law. Suzanne Taheri, an attorney representing the campaign, confirmed that supporters will still be present at the hearing to make their case and hopefully preserve the proposal for 2025.
In total, the clerk found in her initial determination of sufficiency that strong-mayor advocates had collected 12,198 valid signatures from voters on petitions to bring the proposal forward this fall, 181 more than needed to put the question on the 2023 ballot.
The campaign to empower Aurora’s mayor has been dogged by controversy, with opponents criticizing alleged deception on the part of petition circulators, who they say downplayed or failed to mention the significance of the part of the proposal that would empower the mayor, giving that person the ability to veto legislation and unilaterally hire and fire city employees.
Coffman’s support for the measure and his refusal to discuss his involvement until July has been another source of contention, with other City Council members describing the measure as a power grab.
Charlie Richardson, who emerged as the spokesman for opponents of the proposal, said he hoped to get clarification from the city attorney’s office that the campaign would have to start over if it wants to make the ballot in 2025. For now, he said opponents plan on moving forward with making their arguments at the hearing Aug. 30.
“This could be studied in a political science class on how absolutely not to do a strong mayor initiative,” Richardson said of the campaign, mentioning how supporters continued submitting signatures to the clerk’s office after June 6, which was the latest the city said it could accept signatures by and still have enough time to complete the necessary pre-election processes.
“Nevertheless, they proceeded,” Richardson said. “And so people spent a lot of money, a lot of time and effort for something that was essentially dead on arrival.”
Luby said the final petition section was submitted by sponsors June 26.
On Aug. 21, a district court judge rejected an attempt by opponents to expand the summary language that would have been included on the ballot, were the item to come before voters.
Despite this victory, Natela Manuntseva of Mountain State Solutions said in the statement that challenges to the proposal meant it had to be called off.
“Regrettably, the citizens of Aurora will not have the opportunity to express their preference for a strong mayor form of government and further restricting term limits in the upcoming November elections, as a result of legal technicalities and opposition tactics,” Manuntseva said.
Great news! This effort was DOA from the start.
Sending thanks to Charlie Richardson and everyone
who worked so hard to get this matter soundly defeated. Hope people won’t forget how the Mayor
conducted himself by not speaking to the Press or
anyone else when trying to get this ill fated subject on the ballot.
This was a nonsensical power grab by Coffman. Shame on you Mike! You really thought you could pull this shit 0ff and get away with it with clean hands? Think again. And it will get shot down in 2025 as well.
I am pleased to see this off the ballot. However, please explain or explore the idea that signatures collected in the summer of 2023 can be used to place an item on the 2025 ballot. Using this rationale, a 15 year-old could circulate a nominating petition for a council seat among their high school classmates, in anticipation of their attaining the necessary age to sign petitions and run for Aurora’s City Council.
It would be nice if when the Sentinel mentions a hearing on August 30 if they would also publish the time and the place.
Also, The signatures which were gathered, some would allege under false pretenses, were gathered to place the matter on this year’s ballot. Any presumption that those signers had any intent to authorize an ongoing effort to place the matter on following year’s ballots seems wrong. I am specifically concerned that many of those signers may well move from Aurora and no longer be eligible to sign. Also, if there is any change in the amendment language from when someone signed their signature then the old signature is not an informed and knowing request to have that amended language appear on the ballot, only the language extant at the time they signed. Nope, it seems to me the mayor needs to start from scratch and to be honest and above-board if there is a next time.