HEARING

duplicate signature from two different days, then the signature with the earlier date should be considered valid and the second signature should be invalid, she said.

Out of the 1,747 signatures on the petition, Hinton identi ed 302 signatures she felt should be deemed invalid, she said.

Peters noted additional signatures he feels should be considered invalid, claiming he found evidence that suggests some of the signed petition packets had been disassembled, which he said is not permitted.

Another witness Peters called was omas Riley, a forensic document examiner from Michigan, to testify about his analysis of the handwriting on some of the petition packets.

Riley went over di erent sections of the petition that he believes may have been lled out by one person on behalf of another, such as lling out the address and the rst and last name of a person.

Peters called upon four Englewood residents who circulated referendum petitions to testify: Gary Kozacek, George Blackert, Kathleen Bailey and Kelly McCloskey.

Peters noted that the circulators signed an a davit that states they have read and understand the laws governing the circulation of a petition.

Peters asked the residents if they had read certain legal documents such as statutory provisions pertaining to the circulation of a petition. If they responded no, then he would assert that it was incorrect when they signed and claimed they had read and understood the laws.

In his closing argument, Peters said, “ e sworn statements of Mr. Kozacek’s a davit and along with the a davits of other circulators, with the exception of Ms. Bailey, reveal that when they signed those statements that they did not, in fact, have a good understanding or (a) complete understanding of the laws governing the circulation of petitions.”

“ e evidence presented con rms that (the) petition does not include 1,466 valid signatures,” he added. Residents express concerns, frustrations about the hearing

Toward the beginning of the hearing, petitioner Williams said he had a preliminary issue regarding the jurisdiction of the hearing.

“ e protest form submitted … is not protected because it’s not completely lled out,” he said.

Williams explained that the copy of the protest form he received did not include a signature from the city clerk nor the date/time that the protest was led with the clerk. Brown, the hearing o cer, asked if Williams had submitted anything in writing to the city clerk’s o ce regarding his objection to the protest form.

Williams said he spoke with the city attorney about the objection but did not submit anything in writing.

Brown said she would not nd that she did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.

“Any challenge would have been required to be made prior to the date and time of (the) hearing,” Brown said. “I’ll take this under advisement.”

Peters called Carlile, the city clerk, to testify on the matter. Carlile said she received the protest form in a timely manner on June 13.

In an email, Carlile explained that she received the protest form both digitally and in person.

She wrote that the hard copy of the protest form “was timely hand delivered on June 13, 2023.”

“ is is the document that I signed as received,” Carlile wrote about the hard copy.

“ e protest documents were also emailed to me on June 13, (and) those electronic documents are the ones I forwarded to the proponents, protester, and city sta to notify them of the protest,” she added.

Following the public hearing, Williams and fellow petitioner Kozacek expressed frustration that they were not able to defend themselves against accusations made.

“We expected this to be a di erent type of situation, where we’d be able … to refute what they’re saying,” Williams said.

Williams and Kozacek were able to submit two documents as evidence during the hearing. Williams said one document was an a davit from a notary who did most of the notarizing of the petition packets and the second was a letter from another notary “to cover certain signatures.”

“And clarifying that all the packets were in order … (and) intact,” Kozacek added.

Kelly McCloskey said she spent a month walking in the streets of Englewood, knocking on doors to collect signatures for the referendum petition.

“ is is important to our city,” McCloskey said. “I put my life on hold to make sure this was taken care of.”

Williams and Kozacek raised concerns that if the hearing o cer rules that the city clerk’s o ce was incorrect and the referendum petition is invalid, it would “disenfranchise 1,700 people that signed the petition that don’t want this,” Williams said, referring to the proposed development.

The hearing o cer’s findings

In her ruling, Brown said that a “long list” of petition entries were deemed invalid because the signer was not a registered elector at the time of signing.

Brown found additional signatures were invalid due to reasons such as an illegible entry, a duplicate signature by the same person, missing information, and/or because the information listed does not match voter records.

Regarding the testimony of omas Riley, the forensic document examiner, Brown wrote, “While his testimony was helpful as to the duplicate signature lines, and likely necessary for the record, the duplication of handwriting on multiple signature lines is quite obvious.

“As the statutes and case law prohibit one person from making entries on multiple signature lines, any such duplication will render all such signatures invalid.”

In reference to Peters’ claim that evidence suggested some of the signed petition packets had been disassembled, Brown deemed one packet invalid, referred to as “petition packet 40.” e page containing signatures 3640 has been torn from the original packet which is strong evidence of disassembly,” Brown wrote. “As such, Petition packet 40 is deemed to be invalid in its entirety. No signature thereon will be counted as valid.”

“ e Circulator’s A davit contains multiple staple marks (not so for the other pages of the packet).

According to the document, there were 50 signatures in petition packet 40.

Regarding the testimony of the four Englewood residents who circulated petition packets, Brown determined that it appeared each of them had read and understood the laws related to petition circulation.

“Each of these four witnesses testi ed that they read over the rst page of the Referendum Petition, and that they generally understood the requirements of petition circulation,” Brown wrote, adding that the law does not require that a circulator read all applicable statutory provisions.

“While I have determined a fair number of signatures to be invalid, I do not nd that the proponents or circulators acted in bad faith or with a conscious decision to mislead the electorate,” Brown wrote.

How to take up running, from starting out to marathons

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Roxane Geisler started running in high school as a new challenge — somebody told her she should run cross country.

“I didn’t even know how to run a mile,” said Geisler, who is now president of the Highlands Ranch Running Club.

Getting into running “just gradually happened for me,” said Geisler, who is 54. “Suddenly, I was like, ‘Oh, I really do enjoy it, and I love getting out and seeing the views.’”

For people who are inexperienced at running but want to improve, it’s key not to be intimidated, Geisler said.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, I can’t join the running club because I’m not a real runner.’ And that’s totally silly,” Geisler said. “If you run, you’re a runner.”

Ryan Marker, an assistant professor who teaches exercise physiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, said it’s important for beginners to start slow. “Setting appropriate expectations, I think, is really important,” Geisler said. “So if someone’s never run before, you’re not going to get o the couch and do a marathon.”

But with the right plan, even beginners can work their way up to a marathon within months. (Here’s a tip: You don’t have to run the whole thing.)

Here’s some advice on how to start running or take your training to the next level.

Part of the group

One thing that can help you get into running: nding a group of runners to keep you moving.

When Geisler moved to Highlands Ranch in 2003, she noted how many people were out running by themselves.

She learned about the Highlands Ranch Race Series, and part of the idea behind starting her running club was to get some runners to train together.

“It makes running so much easier, training so much easier, when you have people to train with,” Geisler said.

And the people she’s met through her club “were a tremendous in uence on me — just people who really push themselves and try to get the best out of themselves,” said Geisler, who has run marathons.

e club provides a communal atmosphere: