Petition drive to make marijuana possession Denver's lowest law enforcement priority

Citizens for a Safer Denver is holding a press conference later this week to kick off a new petition drive. The proposed initiative would make adult marijuana possession Denver's lowest law enforcement priority. Their press release is excerpted below:

The proposed measure would create a new city ordinance designating private adult marijuana possession Denver's lowest law enforcement priority. Approximately 4,000 valid signatures of registered Denver voters will be required to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

Prior to the press conference, at 8:30 a.m. in the Denver City & County Building, a 21-year-old Denver woman will plead "not guilty" to charges of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Sara Tafoya was cited for marijuana possession in Denver after police stopped her on an unrelated traffic matter (for which she was not cited) and found about one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana in her purse. Ms. Tafoya was arrested and handcuffed. She was kept in a police squad car for more than 90 minutes while the police had her car impounded, then she was taken to jail where she was held overnight. Four officers and three squad cars were on the scene when she was arrested, and she was forced to pay a $200 bond to get out of jail and $300 to retrieve her car from the Denver impound.

"Using so many of our city's limited resources to arrest and jail a harmless citizen like Ms. Tafoya is an outrage," said Citizens for a Safer Denver spokesman Mason Tvert. "This type of incident is a perfect example for why we need to enact this initiative."

"If police can refrain from citing people after they leave our Mayor's bar a little 'Hicken-loopy' -- public intoxication is, in fact, illegal -- there is no reason why they can't refrain from citing adults who are simply possessing a small amount of pot," Tvert said. "We appreciate that our police are out there working to keep us safe, but we believe they could better spend their time arresting drunk drivers and violent offenders than adult marijuana users."

Seattle voters approved a similar "lowest law enforcement priority" initiative in 2003, and the number of marijuana arrests and prosecutions have dramatically decreased in the city without any negative fallout. The measure there was supported by multiple members of the city council and the state legislature, and those city officials who opposed the measure have since recognized its implementation as safe and effective.

Denver voters approved Initiative 100 in 2005, calling for the removal of all penalties for private adult marijuana possession in the city. Since then, arrests for such behavior have increased in Denver, and there were more marijuana arrests in the city in 2006 (the year following the initiative) than ever before.

WHEN: Thursday, May 31, noon (12 p.m.). Ms. Tafoya's arraignment, at which she will be pleading "not guilty," is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.

WHERE: In front of the Denver City-County Building, 1437 Bannock Street. Ms. Tafoya will be appearing in the general municipal courtroom in the Denver City & County Building.

Upcoming ballot questions

Even after the June 5 runoff election, Denver voters will be treated to one more election at the end of this year: the statewide election in November.

Potential ballot initiatives should now be submitted to the Secretary of State. Does anyone know which (if any) were submitted?

For fun, I'd also recommend that you look at "Taste For Taxes," which provides a primer for folks looking to raise your taxes. They noted that:

A political campaign ultimately is merely an exercise in marketing. The key to success is making sure your ballot issue – the product you’re marketing – responds to the public’s wants or needs.

So do we have any "wants or needs" on the upcoming state ballot?

ProgressNow supports 1A

Michael Huttner of Progress Now urges support for ballot initiative 1A.

We need experienced district attorneys to prosecute criminals and protect the public. Question 1A will allow the Denver District Attorney to serve three terms, the same as all other Denver elected officials.

Question 1A is supported by Governor Bill Ritter, the Denver Bar Association, the Denver Firefighters, the Denver Police Protective Association, leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties, and thousands of your friends and neighbors.

"The Denver Bar Association supports Denver measure 1A, which will make the term limits for the Denver district attorney equal to the terms of other elected officials in Denver. All city officials, including the mayor, City Council members, auditor and county clerk, are allowed to seek three consecutive terms in office. Measure 1A would extend this provision to the district attorney, a position currently limited to two terms.

The job of district attorney is incredibly important to the safety of citizens, and is a job that requires expertise and knowledge. Allowing district attorneys the opportunity to serve three terms in office will promote justice and continuity in the prosecution of crimes in Denver. We urge voters to consider a "yes" vote on 1A."
-Paul H. Chan, President, Denver Bar Association

“As Denver's District Attorney for over a decade, I know that more experience leads to a more effective prosecutor. The people of Denver will benefit by allowing the district attorney the opportunity to seek three terms in office, like other elected officials in Denver. I am proud to join law enforcement leaders in supporting 1A.”
-Governor Bill Ritter

A partial list of Question 1A supporters:
Governor Bill Ritter
Speaker Andrew Romanoff
Representative Joel Judd
Senator Chris Romer
Representative Alice Borodkin
Representative Jerry Frangas
Representative Mike Cerbo
Councilman Michael Hancock
Auditor Dennis Gallagher
Denver Police Latino Organization
Former State Republican Party Chair Bruce Benson
Former State Senator Penfield Tate
Former State Senator Paul Sandoval
Josh Hanfling
David McReynolds

Please visit http://fairtermlimits.com for more information.

Denver Post endorsements

Again, the Denver Post strikes on the theme of boring elections. The campaigns "have generated only a handful of competitive contests and all too little public interest." How is the public supposed to be interested in a campaign the Denver Post news division does not cover?

Nevertheless, they claim to have been "struck by the quality of candidates who have put themselves forward for city offices." Their endorsements represented frontrunners in every race with just one exception: Council District 3's JoAnn Phillips. Since she has scant been mentioned in this entire campaign, the full text of that endorsement may be helpful:

Our choice is JoAnn Phillips, who has an intimate knowledge of the district gleaned from her service as an aide to former Councilwoman Ramona Martinez. Phillips has solid views on economic development, strengthening neighborhoods and public safety. She faces Kathy Sandoval, Paul Lopez, Mark Roggeman, Ben Romero, Antoinette Alire and Niccolo Casewit.

Their complete list of endorsements is below:

Clerk and Recorder: Stephanie O'Malley
Auditor: Dennis Gallagher
Council District 3: JoAnn Phillips
Council District 4: Peggy Lehmann
Council District 5: Marcia Johnson
Council District 7: Shelly Watters
Council District 8: Carla Madison
Council District 9: Judy Montero
Council At-Large: Carol Boigon and Doug Linkhart
Ballot Question 1A: "Yes"

POLL: Ballot question 1A (District Attorney term limits)

Shall the elected office of the District Attorney in and for the Second Judicial District of Colorado (the Denver District Attorney) be limited, as are the offices of the Mayor of Denver and the members of the City Council of Denver, to no more than three consecutive four-year terms, thereby lengthening the term limitation set forth in the Colorado constitution by one term, for any District Attorney elected or appointed on or after January 1, 2001?

Get Free Opinion Polls

Official Disclaimer: Internet polls are not scientific and anyone who suggests otherwise is a fool.

Rocky supports ballot initiative 1A (DA term limits)

This year's ballot initiative has drawn virtually no attention, so many folks wouldn't even know that the proposition is debatable. I, for one, have not yet read any opposition. So it's helpful to see that today's Rocky Mountain News describes the initiative, even as it urges a 'Yes' on Denver 1A. Below is an excerpt:

...why are we endorsing Denver Referred Question 1A, which would allow the Denver district attorney to serve three terms instead of the present limit of two?

Because every other office in Denver - including the mayor and city council - is allowed three terms, thanks to voters' decision seven years ago extending the limit from two to three. The district attorney wasn't included at the time in part because there was lingering debate whether term limits even applied to that office, although no such doubt exists today.

To be sure, Colorado voters rejected a referendum in 2002 that would have lifted term limits across the state for DAs. But Denver's 1A would not eliminate term limits. It would simply give the DA the same latitude enjoyed by other city office holders. A decade ago Denver voters likewise refused to simply eliminate all term limits.

For the record, we opposed three terms for city officials and still doubt the wisdom of the voters' decision. Without open offices created by retiring incumbents, elections tend to be listless affairs, with most races uncontested. That's precisely the sort of election that's occurring right now in Denver, where the mayor, auditor and most council members face only nominal competition, if any at all.

Official Ballot for 2007

The official ballot for the mail-in May 1, 2007 municipal elections will include the following candidates:

MAYOR
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Danny F. Lopez_____
John Hickenlooper_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

AUDITOR
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Bill Wells_____
Dennis J. Gallagher_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

CLERK AND RECORDER
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Jacob Werther_____
Stephanie Y. O’Malley_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBERS AT LARGE
(Vote for Two/ Vote por Dos)
Carol Boigon_____
Doug Linkhart_____
Carol E. Campbell_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 1
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Rick Garcia_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 2
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Jeanne Faatz_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 3
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Antoinette Alire_____
Paul D. López_____
Niccolo Casewit_____
JoAnn Phillips_____
Kathy Sandoval_____
Mark Roggeman_____
Ben Romero_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 4
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Peggy A. Lehmann_____
Ike Kelley_____
Bill Rutherford_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 5
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
R.J. Ours_____
Marcia Johnson_____
Mitchell Poindexter_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 6
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Charlie Brown_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 7
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Shelly Watters_____
Dennis Smith_____
Chris Nevitt_____
Julie Connor_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 8
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Darrell B. Watson_____
Carla Madison_____
Sharon Bailey_____
Greg Rasheed_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRICT 9
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Judy H. Montero_____
Waldo Benavidez_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRCT 10
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Jeanne Robb_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

COUNCILMEMBER DISTRCT 11
(Vote for One/ Vote por Uno)
Michael Hancock_____
(Write-In/Otros nombres)_____

BALLOT QUESTIONS:

Referred Question 1A
Shall the elected office of the District Attorney in and for the Second Judicial District of Colorado (the Denver District Attorney) be limited, as are the offices of the Mayor of Denver and the members of the City Council of Denver, to no more than three consecutive four-year terms, thereby lengthening the term limitation set forth in the Colorado constitution by one term, for any District Attorney elected or appointed on or after January 1, 2001?

_____YES _____NO

For the exact (and possibly updated) wording of the ballot, please visit the Denver Election Commission.

The following candidates either dropped out or never submitted the requisite number of signatures to appear on the May 2007 ballot:

Mayor: Dwight Henson
Clerk & Recorder: Kevin Slevin, Don Henderson, Kim Sayers, Sharron Klein
District 1: Gerald Styron
District 3: Donald Sandoval
District 6: Steven Frank
District 7: Andy Archuleta, Jan Belle, Ari Harrison, Jake Schroeder
District 8: Lynn Smith, Donna Davis, Roger Cobb, Joshua Mitchell

Ballot question on DA term limits passes

As reported by Denver's Channel 8 television:

Council did vote to refer to the voters on the May ballot a question regarding term limits for the District Attorney.

Council Bill 100 asks voters whether or not to lengthen the term limits for the District Attorney to no more than three consecutive four-year terms.

The measure, if approved, would bring the DA in line with all other elected City officials, and would lengthen the time in office by one four-year term.

Ballot question on At Large Council voting fails

On March 5th, City Council considered a measure that would have changed the procedures for voting for At-Large Council members in Denver. Council Bill 92 would have asked voters to approve a charter change to require candidates running for an at-large council seat to receive a majority vote.

Denver's Channel 8 Update recorded the conversation as below:

As it stands now in the Charter, all at-large candidates run in a single pool and the two candidates who tally the most votes get the seats. The new measure would essentially split the race into two individual races.

Current Councilman-at-large Doug Linkhart, the sponsor of the bill, shared his reasoning for authoring measure…

“Let me tell you what I see the problem is. One is there are two people out of all the elected officials in Denver, including the Mayor, Auditor, Clerk and Recorder that we just created, and of my colleagues here, everyone else is elected by a majority except for the two At-Large. And what that creates is the possibility of having someone in this position who is elected by a slice of the population. I use myself as an example. I was elected with 17% of the vote. Now, hopefully, you think I represent the entire city. But that 17% could have easily gone to someone who doesn’t represent the entire city. It could be simply a slice of the population geographically or in some other way. So I would like to see the At-Large members elected by a majority to truly reflect the entire city. The second issue is accountability. There is no way currently, or let’s say it’s very difficult, to hold incumbents accountable in this position.”
- Doug Linkhart, City Council Member-at-Large

...Other Council members, predicting a low voter turnout in May, questioned the push to get this measure before the voters without hearing from the public.

“We are possibly looking at a turnout of between 10 maybe 12 percent. I think this is a serious issue. And if we really want to put it on the ballot, let’s do it in November when we have an 80 percent turnout.”
- Charlie Brown, City Council Member, District 6

“People say to me ‘WHAT? You’re running again? What? Four years has passed?’ So, they don’t even know the Council’s up, much less that there are going to be two issues on this ballot. And so I’m willing to vote not to put it on the ballot this time, but to do a better job of presenting it to the public so that they have time to weigh in.”
- Peggy Lehmann, City Council Member, District 4

District 9 Councilwoman Judy Montero added anther perspective to the opposition.

“I do not have letters of support from, for example, the League of Women voters, and that really bothers me. Because what that says to me is that maybe this initiative or this proposal before is not driven by the voters and it’s not driven by the community. And that really worries me.”
- Judy Montero, City Council Member, District 9

While the vote was 6 to 4 in favor, the bill was defeated as it failed to muster the required majority of council.