EDGEWATER —What will be on the Nov. 5 ballot in Edgewater are three city ballot questions, all having to do with revisions to the city charter.
The biggest change would revise the way vacancies are handled on city council.
Dereliction of duty — one of the ways a council seat can become vacant — would be defined as failing to attend 30 percent or more of regularly scheduled council meetings over a 12-month period.
If a council member resigned, or the seat became vacant for another reason, the next steps would depend on how much time had passed since his or her election.
During the first six months, the process would not change and the next top vote-getter in the last election would be appointed to the seat, if still willing to serve.
After six months, the council could fill the seat by appointment or through special election. If the council failed to appoint someone within 90 days of the deadline to apply, a special election would be automatically triggered, unless there’s a regular election in the next 120 days.
In the three months prior to a regular election, vacancies could not be filled by appointment. The open seat would go to the next top vote-getter in the upcoming regular election.
The other two ballot questions deal with language cleanup, renaming the city treasurer to “finance director” and removing leftover references to the Edgewater Fire Department, which was dissolved at the end of 2012 when the city joined the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District.
