To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Fritz Sprague, Deputy Town Manager
Title Discussion/Direction: Nomination Signatures for At-Large Mayor Election
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Nominations to run for Council are made by petition under section 2.01.210 of Town code (Attachment A).
As part of the transition to a popularly elected Mayor and redistricting from seven to six Councilmembers, one of the policy issues within Council’s purview are the number of valid signatures required on a nomination petition to be placed on the ballot and run for Mayor.
Candidates for nomination of At-Large Mayor also will be eligible to petition to get on the ballot from anywhere within Town (as opposed to just a Council district) and this needs to be clarified as part of a code revision as well.
Because these requirements are established by code, Council action is necessary in order to implement a Nov. 7, 2018 election.
Discussion
Castle Rock voters approved a citizen-initiated Charter amendment that called for the election of an At-Large Mayor and redistricting from seven to six Council districts. The Town is taking steps to implement this voter-approved measure and one of the policy issues is establishing the number of valid signatures required on a nomination petition to get on the ballot to run for Mayor.
Currently, it requires a minimum of 25 valid signatures to petition on the ballot to run in a Council district in Castle Rock.
To gain an understanding of signature requirements in other jurisdictions, staff surveyed nine cities in the metro area that had a popularly elected Mayor (Attachment B). Seven of those jurisdictions required a minimum of 25 valid signatures to petition on the ballot. One jurisdiction required a minimum of 50 and one required a minimum of 100.
Options for Council to consider include:
• Council could keep the current 25 signature requirement
• Council could increase the number of signatures required
• Council could require a certain number of signatures to come from each Council district
The other policy issue is clarification in the code allowing any valid candidate within the corporate limits of Castle Rock to circulate nomination petitions to run for At-large Mayor, regardless of where they reside within the Town.
The first day to begin circulating petitions for a November 7 election is August 7. In order to meet petition timelines, it is recommended that Council take formal action on signature requirements in June to provide sufficient time for the ordinance to take effect.
It is recommended that Council discuss and direct staff to prepare the appropriate ordinance regarding signatures to petition on the ballot.
Attachments
Attachment A: Town Code 2.10.210
Attachment B: Benchmark Data