Will the City of Boulder suppress our right to vote? By Alli Fronzaglia, Matt Benjamin and Chelsea Castellano
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an you imagine if President Trump or the Attorney General tried to change the election rules in the middle of an election season? Can you also imagine the anger that would sweep across the country? What’s hard to believe is that scenario is happening right now in Boulder. The Boulder government has made repeated mistakes regarding our local democratic process this year and has effectively changed the rules in the middle of this election season. First, let’s talk about how this democratic process should have gone. The City was legally required to give residents accurate guidance about how many signatures were needed to get a petition on the ballot and when those signatures were due to the City. Once campaigns met those requirements by the stated deadline, the City was supposed to verify the signatures and, if enough were valid, they would place the initiatives on the 2020 ballot for the community to vote on. The City repeatedly gave specific guidance on these issues — based on rules that the City itself created, so a reasonable person would presume this guidance to be accurate. However, the City of Boulder is now (just weeks before the stated deadline and months after thousands of community members have risked their lives to give or gather physical signatures during a pandemic) saying they gave campaigns the wrong information. To add insult to this, they’re saying that even if the campaigns meet all the requirements that the City originally outlined to them the City will not go through the official process to certify the petitions to be on the ballot. Instead, the City Attorney is going to advise the City Clerk’s Office to disregard Boulder voters’ constitutional rights for direct democracy and leave the decision of whether to put the measures on the ballot up to City Council, the very governing body that direct democracy is intended to circumvent. Boulder voters have a constitutional right to bypass elected officials and put measures on the ballot by gathering thousands of signatures. Citizen-led ballot initiatives are a core “check and balance” for our elected officials. In fact, if it weren’t for voter-approved ballot measures, we 6
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wouldn’t have the height limit, Blue Line, Open Space or council term limits. There are times when thousands of Boulder voters know better about what is right for our community than nine council members. It’s clear that the City will be sued one way or another. The problem is the City has chosen the wrong side to defend. The City is now stating that they will not defend Boulder voters’ right to direct democracy, which only needs defending because of the City’s errors. Because of these errors, the Bedrooms Are For People and Our Mayor, Our Choice campaigns’ options for getting their measures on the 2020 ballot are limited. The two campaigns have reluctantly explored the option of bringing a legal case against the City. But instead of forcing them to pursue litigation, which will consume limited City resources during a time of massive budget shortfalls, Council has the power to honor the people’s will now by upholding the democratic process and placing these citizen-led measures on the ballot directly for the November 2020 election. The issue is not the substance of the two charter amendment petitions, but the functioning of the democratic process itself. Council has the responsibility to uphold the integrity of our government and election systems. The only way they can do that now is by referring the measures that met the original requirements onto the ballot. Placing these petitions on the ballot is not partisan, would not be an endorsement of the measures, and does not guarantee their passage. Proponents and opponents will have until Nov. 3 to make their case to the Boulder electorate. When thousands of voters try to make their voices heard by signing petitions, will the City Council silence those constituents or fulfill their duty to represent them? Will Council suppress our right to vote or protect democracy? It may be up to Council to decide the fate of our democracy and these ballot measures, but it is up to you — Boulder residents — to demand that they do so. Contact the City Council now and insist they preserve your right to vote: bit.ly/2WeYZrW Alli Fronzaglia and Matt Benjamin are organizers for Our Mayor-Our Choice; Chelsea Castellano is an organizer for Bedrooms are For People. JULY 16, 2020
THE ANDERSON FILES from Page ?
International (ECI) staged protests against the company’s refusal to shut down and demanded they be sent home to quarantine with full pay. Prieto rallied workers outside the ECI plants. In a call and response (with everyone wearing masks), she asked them what did they produce? They said harnesses for refrigerators, stoves and washing machines. “And if you don’t have those things, will the world end?” she asked. “No!” they responded. “You all know perfectly well that Electrocomponentes isn’t an ‘essential’ business,” she said. “You know this perfectly! I understand your economic necessity and that you don’t want to lose your job. Are you better dead than fired?” “No!” they yelled. Meanwhile, the Trump administration and U.S. businesses were pushing the Mexican government to loosen up the lockdown restrictions. U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord claimed on April 20 that the lockdown was disrupting supply chains for the U.S. defense industry. Christopher Landau, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, launched a Twitter campaign, writing: “There are risks everywhere, but we don’t all stay at home for fear we are going to get in a car accident... The destruction of the economy is also a health threat.” In an April 30 New York Times article, Natalie Kitroeff reported: “The Trump administration and major U.S. manufacturers have successfully pressured Mexico to keep factories that supply the United States operating during the coronavirus pandemic, even as outbreaks erupt and waves of cases I
and deaths sweep the companies.” Kitroeff noted that Ambassador Landau issued a direct threat, saying that if Mexico didn’t respond to the needs of American businesses, it would lose the jobs in the maquiladoras. “You don’t have ‘workers’ if you close all the companies and they move elsewhere,” Landau wrote on Twitter. In June, Prieto was arrested in Matamoros on several charges including inciting a riot, threats and coercion. Many labor and human rights activists and organizations have called for her immediate release. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka wrote: “Susana Prieto is a fierce advocate whose tireless advocacy on behalf of workers in Mexico’s maquiladoras has made her a thorn in the side of powerful companies and corrupt officials. Her arrest on trumped-up charges of ‘inciting riots’ is an outrage. The AFL-CIO calls for her immediate and unconditional release.” Prosecutors claim the charges have nothing to do with a wave of successful strikes Prieto helped lead in early 2019 at 48 maquiladoras in Matamoros. The workers won 20% pay raises and $1,650 bonuses. On July 1, Prieto was released from prison but under harsh conditions. She can’t leave her residence in Chihuahua for the next 30 months and can’t continue her advocacy work for maquiladora workers. It is suspicious that Prieto was arrested just before the NAFTA 2.0 trade deal went into effect, which is supposed to protect workers’ rights in Mexico. This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly. BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
