To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Sally Misare, Town Clerk
Title
Discussion/Direction: Candidate Requirements
Body
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Executive Summary
At the March 7, 2017 meeting, Council requested staff research other communities to determine where Castle Rock stood in comparison to two other factors related to a resident’s ability to run for Town Council.
These factors are:
1) The required length of residency in a community prior to a resident being eligible to run for Council; and
2) The number of signatures required on a candidate’s nominating petition.
Staff has completed the requested research by comparing the requirements contained in the Castle Rock Municipal Code and Town Charter with those of 17 other home rule communities with populations of 50,000 or more, and with the Town of Parker and City of Lone Tree in Douglas County.
In all cases, minimum residency requirement within the municipality is a period of 12 months preceding the election; in a few cases the requirement is 12 months preceding the date of nomination - a difference of about 75 days.
In municipalities where Council members are elected from a District, some require a period of residency within the District (ranging from 25 days to 12 months) in order to run from that District in addition to the 12 months of residency in the Town.
Castle Rock’s current requirement is found in Section 2-4 of the Charter and requires a candidate to be a resident of Town for 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the election. This is consistent with all the minimum requirements of all other communities surveyed.
Staff believes there also may be some constitutional or other legal constraints which are the basis for this consistent time requirement. If there is interest in extending the requirement, additional legal research would be necessary in order to present Council with defensible options.
Because this requirement is found in the Charter, an election to amend the Charter would be necessary to change this requirement.
With regard to the number of signatures required in a nominating petition, there is somewhat more variation. Attachment A is a table showing the number of members on the Council, whether they are elected At Large or from Districts, or a combination of both, and how many signatures are required in each case. The requirements range from a high of 100 signatures for an At Large Councilmember in Aurora and Colorado Springs, to 25 signatures, as is currently required in Castle Rock. The 25 signature threshold is the standard in approximately 72% or almost 3/4 of the communities surveyed.
This number of signatures required is established in Section 2.01.210 of the Municipal Code. Since this requirement is in Code, not the Charter, it could be amended by adoption of an Ordinance by Council to establish a different requirement.
Proposed Action
This report in intended to respond to the request from Council for information. Staff is seeking further direction from Council as to any request for further research or action.
Attachments
Attachment A: Table