HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19990827Soecial Meetin~ Asoen City Council August 27, 1999
Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. with
Councilmembers Paulson, Markalunas, McCabe and Hershey present.
BALLOTLANGUAGE
John Worcester, city attorney, reminded Council Resolution #69, Series of
1999, was adopted August 23. After talking to the County Clerk about the
advisory questions, she said the county ballot could not have multiple choice
questions. Worcester told Council he has researched the statutes and has
called the Secretary of State' s office. Worcester said the only reference he
could find is that TABOR questions have to be answered yes or no.
Worcester noted a home rule city can ask questions the way they want;
however, this is a coordinated election and the County Clerk has been
designated as the election officer. Worcester said he believes the city has
the right to ask the questions any way they want.
Worcester presented resolution #75, which repeals Resolution #69 and
rewrites the advisory questions so that they can be answered yes or no.
Mayor Richards said this might be an opportunity to reconsider the initiated
question as well as all the city transportation questions. These questions
could be put on the November 2000 ballot in order to gather more
information. Councilman McCabe said he has though this over and his
committee is not interested in withdrawing their questions.
Councilman Hershey moved to table this until he has had an opportunity to
read the resolution; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Councilmembers
Hershey and McCabe in favor; Councilmembers Paulson, Markalunas and
Mayor Richards opposed. Motion NOT carried.
Mayor Richards said the first two questions do not discuss rail or bus; they
are about the future of the community and will give the electors a chance to
tell the Council how they see the community moving forward.
Mayor Richards moved to amend the language on (c) on advisory question B
to read "make mass transit work valley-wide, using park and ride lots
throughout the valley, and no do increase in-town parking"; seconded by
Councilman Markalunas. Councilmember Paulson, Markalunas and Mayor
Richards in favor; Councilmembers Hershey and McCabe opposed. Motion
carried.
Soecial Meetin~ Asoen City Council August 27, 1999
Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Resolution #75, Series of 1999, as
amended; seconded by Councilman Markalunas.
Councilman Hershey quoted from the editorial in August 27 Aspen Times,
"Secondly, the question are so loaded as to be an insult even to voters who
favor rail. They are in the nature of "Choose one: A. I beat my wife; or, B.
I'm in favor of rail." Those who favor putting these questions on the ballot
may truly feel they will help 'clear the air' - but if they think that, they are
very, ver wrong." Councilman Hershey said he feels the advisory questions
are loaded and may so alienate the voters that they will vote in favor of
unlimited traffic. Councilman Hershey said he is opposed to the advisory
questions and also the way they came about.
Mayor Richards said these questions are designed to be simple enough for
people to understand and to answer them. The questions will give the city
direction; they are not designed to elicit a single response. Mayor Richards
noted the first two questions do not mention the type of system, just should
the city stay on course in containing traffic. Voters will have a chance to
talk about the consequences and costs of the future of the valley. Mayor
Richards said the advisory questions are very straight forward and not
subject to the level of interpretation that has been going on for the last
several years.
Councilman Hershey said he feels there will not be a clear answer to these
questions. Mayor Richards said the results of the valley-wide CIS
comparing the costs of rail versus bus versus no-build will be available in
October.
Councilman Hershey moved to object to consideration of these questions
and that these questions be stricken; seconded by Councilman McCabe.
Councilmembers Hershey and McCabe in favor; Councilmembers Paulson,
Markalunas and Mayor Richards opposed. Motion NOT carried.
Councilman Markalunas said he would prefer a ballot with just advisory
question C. Councilman Markalunas said he does not know if the city can
get a clear indication from the voters by having 4 choices each on options A
and B. Councilman Markalunas said unless advisory questions A and B can
be rewritten for only one yes or no vote, he would prefer they be stricken.
Councilman Markalunas said it does not serve any purpose to confuse the
issue by saying yes to all 4 choices.
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Soecial Meetin~ Asoen City Council August 27, 1999
Councilman Paulson indicated he feels these are good questions and he
would like to know the answers to them. Councilman Paulson said he has
been wondering about these questions and they have never been asked. This
would be very good information. Councilman McCabe said the questions do
not give the voters a chance to tell Council what they think but only what
they think about these particular options. Councilman Markalunas said he
strongly supports the advisory questions; however, he does not support the
technical aspects of questions A and B.
Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Resolution #75, Series of 1999,
dropping A and B and leave C as only advisory question; seconded by
Councilman McCabe.
Councilman Markalunas said he would prefer to see advisory question B
with a simple yes or no answer. Mayor Richards said she wants to see all of
the options on the ballot; this is about where the community wants to go and
what outcomes they want to achieve.
Roll call vote; Councilmembers Hershey, yes; Paulson, no; McCabe, yes;
Markalunas, no; Mayor Richards, no. Motion NOT carried.
Mayor Richards moved to pull all advisory questions; seconded by
Councilman McCabe.
Mayor Richards said she feels these questions all stand alone. Councilman
Markalunas said he feels they are technically flawed because people can
contradict themselves. Councilman Paulson said he feels each option asks
specific questions; 2 percent growth and 4 percent are different answers.
Mayor Richards noted each question has a percentage of yes and no, which
will show how people feel about each of these questions individually.
Councilman Markalunas said he will accept having all advisory questions on
the ballot; however, he does not feel the answers will give a sense of clarity.
Mayor Richards moved to withdraw her motion. Councilman McCabe said
he does not withdraw his second.
Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, no; Paulson, no; Hershey, yes;
McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, no. Motion NOT carried.
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Soecial Meetin~ Asoen City Council August 27, 1999
Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, no; Paulson, yes; Markalunas, yes;
Hershey, no; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried.
Mayor Richards asked if there is a different funding amount for the bus
question that Councilmembers might support. Councilman McCabe said the
money for the bus system is for the entire Aspen to Glenwood system. The
petitioners' question on rail is only from the airport to Aspen. The two
questions do not cover the same territory. Councilman McCabe said if there
were a question reflecting what it would take to upgrade the bus system to
integrate it into all other components with costs only from Buttermilk to
Rubey park, that would be a more equitable comparison.
Councilman McCabe said when the petitioners' crafted the ballot language,
they tried to make it include rail further outside Aspen, but the petitioners
were told they could not do that because this is a city of Aspen vote. The
petitioners would have preferred to put it into a valley-wide question.
Mayor Richards said there is no funding plan for a busway, there is no
consensus on the type of buses, the total costs. Councilman McCabe noted
the previous Council did not study the bus system; they were studying a rail
system. Mayor Richards said the Corridor Investment Study studies a
system that connects valley-wide. Councilman McCabe said the petitioners'
ballot question is for the higher of the two choices with the assumption if
voters reject the higher dollar amount, the only other option left costs less
money, which is the bus option identified in the record of decision.
Councilman McCabe said busway will be significantly less than a rail
system.
Councilman Markalunas moved to adjourn at 10 a.m.; seconded by Mayor
Richards. All in favor, motion carried.
Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk
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