The El Paso County Commission was discussing Amendment 38 not long ago when County Attorney Bill Louis got up from his normal seat to – quite literally – doff his official hat and speak as a citizen.
The amendment is the brainchild of Douglas Bruce, one of the commissioners, and if adopted Nov. 7 it would diminish representative government in favor of a runaway nightmare of voter petitions.
Testifying as a regular citizen, Louis put the deception behind Amendment 38 into its proper perspective.
“This is not about the public welfare,” he said. “This is about Douglas Bruce memorializing his guerilla and bullying tactics.”
Bruce authored two previous versions of the so-called petition rights amendment that were obliterated by voters in 1994 and 1996. Two comrades, Dennis Polhill and Douglas Campbell, have tried to be the public faces of this year’s attempt.
“It is about Douglas Bruce having his own personal provision in the constitution whereby he can bully and intimidate local government officials and employees and do so with almost absolute immunity,” Louis said.
As Bruce goaded him from the sidelines, Louis continued: “How a person like this could rise to elected office is beyond my comprehension. I plan to do everything in my limited power to make sure that comes to an end at some point for the good not only of this community but for all of Colorado and the nation.”
The commissioners then voted 3-1, with Bruce in dissent, to oppose Amendment 38, a broad attack on representative government.
Louis said he knew he was “putting my job on the line” by speaking so frankly, but we’re all in his debt. Business and government leaders have been railing against the amendment for months, knowing it would undercut state and local economic development efforts and seriously undermine property rights.
It is riddled with problems, beginning with its virtually unlimited scope. It would expand initiatives and referendums to “all districts,” ranging from county governments to fire districts, school boards, housing authorities, soil conservation districts, library districts, etc.
Colorado has more than 1,500 such special districts. If you think this year’s ballot – the longest in nearly 100 years – is unwieldy, just wait. California, here we come.
Amendment 38 also sets up timelines that would allow opponents of any local government action, such as building a new fire house or police station, to delay it by up to two years. Opponents would have as long as a year to circulate petitions to reverse the decision and, since special elections are banned, it could be another year or more before the issue goes before the voters. Meanwhile, project costs continue to rise.
Those are just a few of the provisions that make Amendment 38 a nightmare for Colorado. Voters need look no further than County Attorney Bill Louis to know why.
