Community activist Douglas Bruce says he has done everything right: He collected the required number of signatures to get his measures on the ballot and he has met every deadline.
Bruce contends that Colorado Springs officials, who refused to put his questions before voters in November, don’t like that the initiatives would limit the city’s ability to collect revenue and borrow money.
Bruce was in federal court Friday arguing that Colorado Springs had infringed upon his First Amendment rights. And he asked a judge to force the city to put his questions on the ballot.
U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel said he would issue an opinion by Tuesday.
Bruce, an El Paso County commissioner, is author of the state Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which places constitutional limits on how much tax money governments can keep unless voters decide otherwise.
Lawyers for Colorado Springs said the city has concerns about whether the questions are constitutional and that they’ve asked a state court to decide that issue.
Jean Dubofsky, arguing on behalf of Colorado Springs, said previous cases before the state Supreme Court have determined that individuals don’t have an absolute right to have initiatives placed on the ballot.
“There is no violation of the First Amendment when the courts say this is not an appropriate measure for the ballot,” Dubofsky said.
But David Lane, who was representing Bruce, said the city’s charter was clear: If petitioners follow the rules, their questions “shall” go on the ballot.
“It doesn’t matter what the content of Doug Bruce’s initiatives are,” Lane said. “They could repeal religion in Colorado Springs. They could be the most unconstitutional initiatives on the face of the Earth. It doesn’t matter.”
Whether the measures survive a challenge in state court is a measure for that court to determine, Lane said. If they are declared somehow unfit, then officials could simply tell voters to ignore those questions on the ballot.
Bruce said one measure is designed to lower some officially labeled taxes and some de facto taxes in Colorado Springs. The other would inhibit the city’s ability to borrow money.
City officials have said they would put Bruce’s questions before voters in a special election if legal questions make it impossible to put the questions on the Nov. 1 ballot.
However, Bruce believes that the general election, which will have a higher turnout, would give his questions a better chance of passage.
“That’s where he wants it, that’s where he’s entitled to have it,” Lane said.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
