Arvada Ballot Questions
for the 2021 Election

Ballot Question 3C- Failed
Council Member Employment Prohibition
Chapter IV, Section 4.3

A YES vote will eliminate the provision that prohibits a person who is a resident of the City of Arvada, but an employee of another city, from being eligible to run for and be elected to the Arvada City Council.

• There is no defensible rationale for this outdated provision, and it is probably unconstitutional. Additionally, it denies otherwise qualified persons the opportunity to serve, and it denies Arvada voters the opportunity to vote for otherwise qualified persons.

• The fact that the existing Charter language is only applicable to employees of other “municipalities,” and not counties, fire protection districts, parks and recreation districts, school boards or the State government demonstrates that it is Arvada voters who ought to be able to determine if conflicts of interest exist on a case by case basis – not by broadly prohibiting only employees from one kind of governmental entity from running for City Council.

Ballot Question 3E- Passed
Initiative Procedures
Chapter V, Section 5.13

A YES vote will increase the time for citizens to gather the signatures needed to file an Initiative Petition from 30 days to 60 days.

• An Initiative is the way that citizens can directly place a proposed ordinance on the ballot. If a valid petition is filed, the City Council is given the opportunity to pass the ordinance, and if it does not do so, the question of whether the ordinance should be adopted is placed on the ballot for a vote of our citizens.

• A valid petition requires a number of signatures based upon a percentage of the registered voters in the City. Given the City of Arvada's population growth, the Charter Review Committee believes that allowing more time for the filing of an Initiative Petition is reasonable.