Boulder – For the first time in decades, the League of Women Voters won’t be quizzing candidates for the Boulder City Council – at least not on TV.
The traditional broadcast on the city’s government-access channel won’t happen as the result of a dispute over money and principle.
Because of a tight budget, the City Council told the League of Women Voters of Boulder County it would have to pay $850 to air its debate.
The Boulder league has been providing candidate forums for the city for 75 years, including at least 15 years on government-access TV. Voter education is one of the tenets of the nonpartisan national organization.
The league believes it provides a valuable service and shouldn’t have to pay to educate the electorate on taxpayer-funded airwaves.
“We don’t have $850,” league president Sue Anderson said Wednesday. “Secondly, we believe it’s a city service.”
City Manager Frank Bruno agreed, and last week the city offered to waive the cost, with one condition: Keep mum on ballot issues.
“Endorsing ballot issues is kind of a back-door way of endorsing candidates, because candidates run on these issues,” said city spokeswoman Jodie Carroll.
The league traditionally has been the only group to get free use of the airwaves for a political debate, but this year three others – the Chamber of Commerce, Boulder Tomorrow and a neighborhood group – asked to conduct on-air forums and were told it would cost.
Statewide, the league has 21 chapters and most of them put on candidate forums, often on local TV and radio.
None has ever been asked to pay a local government, said Marge Fischer of the League of Women Voters of Colorado.
The league never endorses candidates, but will continue to issue positions on ballot issues, Anderson said.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to bring a well-run, informative, politically neutral candidate forum to the voters,” Anderson told the City Council on Tuesday night. And, “We attach great importance to our ability to make measured judgments on ballot issues.”
In place of the league forum, the city will air candidate profiles.
Council candidate Rob Smoke said the city gives tax breaks to businesses that express political opinions, so muzzling the league seemed wrong-headed.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
