Guest Opinion: Marki LeCompte, Harlin Savage and Amy Siemel: These facts add up for a ‘yes’ on 302 - Boulder Daily Camera

By Marki LeCompte, Harlin Savage and Amy Siemel 

There is a lot of misinformation and confusion surrounding the future of Ballot Measure 302, which gives Boulder citizens a vote on the annexation of CU South, and the related  Referendum that provides Boulder citizens a vote to repeal the City Council’s  “emergency” approval of the annexation.

Here are the facts: On June 15 this year, the Boulder City Clerk certified that enough valid signatures had been submitted to put the annexation of CU South to a vote in this  November’s election. The City Council then bypassed the citizens’ right to demand a vote and approved the annexation of CU South “by emergency” on Sept. 21.

The city attorney told the City Council that if Ballot Measure 302 passed in November, it  would be moot because the Council had already approved the annexation. So our only  recourse was to place a Referendum on the council’s approval on the ballot, which we  did. More than 60 volunteers collected signatures from over 6,000 Boulder voters, in under 30 days, and submitted them on Octo. 21. The Referendum will be voted on in November, 2022, or sooner if the next council so chooses.

Boulder voters can now vote on Ballot Measure 302 to approve or reject the annexation  contract between CU and the City this November. And we will also be able to vote on the Referendum to repeal the City Council approval of annexation of CU South.

City Council’s “emergency” approval of the annexation does not make Ballot  Measure 302 moot. If approved, 302 will almost certainly apply to the current  agreement since the petition for a vote on the annexation was certified well before the Council took action. The city attorney’s assertion that 302 would be moot if it passes is an opinion and nothing more. If necessary, the application of 302 will be determined by the courts.

Some history: The real work on flood mitigation began after the 2013 flood. But the effort to provide adequate flood protection has been hampered because CU has limited  the amount of land that the city could use, which has prevented full investigation of the best and most effective solutions. Low-cost safety measures such as a robust early warning system have been ignored until recently. And CU, as a public state entity, has as much responsibility for downstream flood protection as the city, but has disregarded its responsibility completely.

The annexation of this land has only been negotiated during the past two years. It has been done by two City Council members, city staff, CU staff and CU’s PR firm, in over 20 closed door meetings. Contrary to what some supporters of the negotiated Annexation claim, there is no agreement for the 1,100 units of housing to be affordable, or for whom they would be made available. CU will only provide up to 5 acres for affordable housing that will be paid for by the citizens of Boulder, not CU. This housing will come at the cost of 750,000 square feet of non-residential development that is undefined in the agreement, and a 3,000 seat stadium with night time noise and lighting. The traffic mitigation plan has been soundly criticized by traffic experts and citizens alike. But if 302 passes, we will get to vote on the conditions in this agreement.

If both 302 and the Referendum pass, the current agreement will be void and we will get to vote on any new agreement. If neither measure passes, the current annexation would stand, and all the impacts and costs will be born by Boulder citizens. If the Referendum passes, we still get to vote on the current Annexation agreement. And if just 302 passes, a judge may decide that we still get to vote on the current  Agreement, and certainly we will be able to vote on any future Annexation agreement or amendments.

The Referendum got over 6,000 signatures in less than 30 days. The most consistent  reason for signing was the outrage that people felt about having the council run over their right to vote on the annexation. That should be a warning to the next council to deal with this issue in a more transparent and open manner, and ensure our right to vote is upheld.

Marki LeCompte, Harlin Savage and Amy Siemel are members of the Executive Committee of Save South Boulder and among the five petitioners for Ballot Measure 302.

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Guest Opinion: Marki LeCompte, Harlin Savage and Amy Siemel: These facts add up for a ‘yes’ on 302 - Boulder Daily Camera
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