The supporters see having citizens make the final decision on major annexations as consistent with Boulder's history, as important for such significant decisions, and as a proper way to ensure that the Council is making the decisions that the voters want.

"I support the idea of requiring voter consent for big new annexations into the city. Boulder has a long tradition of being responsive to its citizens' will in creating the kind of city we all want to live in. Adding new land (and new public responsibilities) to our service area is one of the most important decisions we make, and should be our decision together." Andy Schutheiss

"The Boulder Valley Comp Plan requires annexations of Planning Reserve lands to meet a long-term community need. What better way to understand what the community desires with these last remaining green spaces than to ask the community directly?" Shaun McGrath

But the majority of council members didn't see it that way. Some of those who voted against the initiative objected to giving the citizens the final say on these matters on the basis that the Council had been making good decisions and that there wasn't a problem -- this is contradicted by the many failures of recent councils on major land use decisions, including recent annexations. See the list of failures on the Fact Sheet or on the Home page.

Others objected that this would set a precedent of putting all significant decisions to the voters -- this is an obvious "red herring", since annexations are fundamentally different than many Council decisions in that they are irreversible expansions of the City.

A third objection was simply that if the citizens want to do something like this, they should have to gather the signatures -- this is not a real argument, but simply resistance to consideration to something that did not originate with the Council itself.

Boulder Speaks Out
EMAIL: committee@boulderspeaksout.org

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This web site is paid for by Citizens for Annexation By Vote - Sue Anderson, Treasurer

Last Modified 4/29/06 7:51 AM

Council Positions

Current Council Members Positions on Annexation By Vote

Supported citizens being able to vote on major annexations.

Voted against a citizen voice on major annexations.

Boulder Speaks Out

Voted against a citizen
voice on major annexations.