The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Sales tax increase to be on fall ballot
by Mark Reaman
With a fair amount of contention between council members over the integrity of the town voter rolls, the Crested Butte Town Council spent a large part of the July 20 council meeting along with a two-hour “special meeting” on July 28 discussing the matter. In the end, the council voted to move ahead with a coordinated election with Gunnison County for a .5 percent increase in town sales tax to help pay for parks and recreation maintenance.
The town and county will also soon begin an outreach program to urge people to update their voter information. Town clerk Lynelle Stanford will work with the county’s election office to begin a public education campaign about who can vote where. Postcards will be sent to registered voters with addresses north of Round Mountain, and advertisements and educational efforts will encourage people to make sure they are registered to vote where they are living.
Concern was voiced by councilmembers Tuesday evening over an indemnification clause insisted on by county attorney David Baumgarten in the proposed Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) concerning the voter roll outreach program. The council is hoping town attorney John Belkin can convince the county to lighten the indemnification and limit it to “town conduct” as opposed to protecting the county for what Belkin said Baumgarten described as, “everything under the sun.” Belkin said he didn’t think that would fly with Baumgarten.
On Wednesday, July 29, Baumgarten said the indemnification language in the IGA cleaning up the Crested Butte voter rolls is there for a reason. “I am sorry we live in a litigious society,” he said. “But I want to make sure the county is protected from the perils of litigation and there has been litigation over this voter roll issue.”
The big picture worry arose after last November’s election when the proposed Crested Butte sales tax initiative lost by three votes. Councilman Glenn Michel was especially concerned that given the number of people listed on the Crested Butte voter rolls and the number of votes cast in the election, 797, it appeared obvious to him that some people not actually residing in town voted on the town issue. He has made it clear since last fall that he wanted a real effort to ensure only legally qualified voters could cast a vote in the town.
Stanford said at the July 20 meeting there were two ways to handle the voter roll issue. The first would be to work with the county and send postcards to all voters registered in the north end of the valley and at the same time educate people about how to update information. The postcard campaign would cost about $5,800 plus advertising and educational costs.
The other alternative would be to take back the election process from the county and have the town run the local election. The idea would be to allow voters to physically show up to vote and ask them about their registered address. Stanford admitted she was not prepared to have her office handle those duties so a consultant would be needed and that would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Stanford estimated a town election would run about $40,000 with all of the associated costs. Town manager Todd Crossett said based on conversations with officials in Salida that ran its own election, a local election would cost upwards of $30,000 for the first time but also take a massive amount of time from senior staff, including his office.
Councilman Skip Berkshire felt that if the county was running the coordinated election, the county should be responsible for making sure only eligible voters cast votes. “Why are we responsible for the voter rolls and not the county?” he asked. “If they are running the election and we are paying for it, it’s their responsibility.”
Town planner Michael Yerman, sitting in the town manager seat while Todd Crossett was on vacation July 20, explained that if someone does not vote in six years (three consecutive town elections), they can then be taken off the rolls. “Colorado law is very heavily in favor of the voter. It is also very easy to update voter information and that is why we think the postcard and public education campaign can be effective. Cards would go to voters living in Crested Butte South and north of the subdivision. This issue is not unique to Crested Butte. Gunnison is having to deal with it with all the Western State Colorado University students.”
Michel explained that the mandate for mail-in elections came from the state. “Voter enfranchisement is very important but it doesn’t always work perfectly,” he said. “I think we need to maintain very good voter rolls in the town of Crested Butte.”
“We will be doing more than the county or the state if we go with this postcard campaign,” noted councilman Jim Schmidt.
“People who actually live in town and vote could have their votes diluted by people not living here but voting. This is very important,” said Michel.
“That is the county’s job,” reiterated Berkshire.”
“Maybe we have overblown the issue,” added mayor Aaron Huckstep. “If the county feels there isn’t a big problem, is there really a big problem?”
Michel said he was frustrated that it seemed no one else on council was willing to spend the money to clean up the voting rolls. “You don’t agree that a problem exists?” he asked Huckstep. “Statistically, it is impossible to have as many people on the voting rolls as we do.”
“I’m just trying to get a decision,” said Huckstep. “You really want to spend $40,000 on this?”
“Who votes in the next election will directly impact the results of the next election,” said Michel. “It is extremely important that only people living in town vote on town issues.”
“There is no perfect answer,” said Huckstep.
“We know we have more registered voters than eligible voters that live in town,” said an admittedly passionate Michel. “You say we are overblowing it. I’m not going to take your salesmanship on this. I find it odd that I’m the only one up here so concerned with this. It is about the very seats we sit in. If we know people are voting illegally, we need to address that.”
“Well, I don’t know that,” responded Schmidt. “People move out of town and back in a lot. You are making that assumption. Is the situation any worse here than in places like Gunnison or Telluride, Greeley or Fort Collins with the transient student populations? So I’m not sure there is a huge problem. To me it is up to the voter to do the responsible thing and not cheat with their voting.”
“Tidying up the voter rolls is a separate issue from moving ahead with the sales tax initiative in a coordinated election,” said Berkshire.
“I am hearing we should participate in a coordinated election and move ahead with the postcard campaign with the county,” said Huckstep. “I want the staff to be confident in the council’s intention.”
“I would want to add that the mayor cannot redirect the staff from what the council wants and intends,” said a frustrated Michel.
“That’s a very provocative statement,” said Huckstep.
“You have done that ad nauseam on a number of things,” retorted Michel. “I don’t want it to happen here.”
“I would want a staff report on the postcard campaign proposal,” said Schmidt. “I figure it will come back before us in the IGA [intergovernmental agreement] with the county but would prefer more information.”
“That is a little bit of folly,” said Michel. “We brought up this issue six months ago and were told it was too early to do anything. Now it is getting to be too late and waiting for more information would delay it more. Delaying this more would end up with less of a vetted voter roll. Let’s get the rolls up to date and move on this tonight.”
“So you are saying that the county deserves severe criticism for the way they are handling the elections?” Schmidt asked Michel.
“It is not time to point fingers,” said Huckstep, cutting off debate with a pounding gavel and calling for a vote.
Schmidt asked for a clarification of the motion in the growing mayhem but was denied. So he voted against it. Huckstep, Berkshire, Michel and Mason voted for the resolution.
In the meantime, the council will again ask the voters for an increase in sales tax this fall.
While Belkin recommended July 28 that the town go with a “local” election separate from the county coordinated election, town manager Todd Crossett said the time required of staff and expense of having the town conduct it’s own election was prohibitive. He recommended staying with a coordinated election. Belkin said given state deadlines for this fall’s election, the council “was at the 11:56 mark on the clock to make a decision. There’s not a lot of time,” he said.
At the special meeting on July 28, the council reiterated they wanted to address what could be a potential issue with the voter rolls. Over the two meetings, councilmen Glenn Michel and Shaun Matusewicz voted to go with the local election while the others voted to stay with the coordinated election.
Belkin will report back to the council at the next council meeting, Tuesday, August 4, with what, if any, movement came about from negotiations over the indemnification language in the proposed IGA.
Under the proposed voter roll IGA, registered voters in the north end of the valley can expect to receive a notice asking about their physical address before September 15. It is very clear in the IGA that the county will make no guarantees to the result or outcome of the voter roll education campaign.
