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Northglenn City Councilors will take two months to select a temporary replacement for an outgoing councilor, they said March 21.
Northglenn City Councilor Julie Duran Mullica announced her resignation during the a Feb. 28 meeting, noting that she is moving to Thornton.
The council chose to continue with an appointment process over a special election at a March 21 study session. Councilor Nicholas Walker voiced support for a special election.
“I support the election process to let the people speak,” he said.
Mayor Meredith Leighty said she understood Walker’s concerns, but as someone who went through the application process, she thinks councilors have done a thorough job to make the process fair.
She also noted the appointed councilor would serve a shortened term, which is another reason she supported the appointment process. The cost of a special election would have been around $37,300, according to the meeting’s agenda.
The appointment process will take over two months to complete. Postcards were sent to residents of Ward 3 notifying them of the vacancy process between March 24-28.Residents can submit resumes April 4-15 electronically, through the mail or in-person. The application includes seven detailed questions and requests supplemental information such as a resume.
Applications are due April 15 by 4:30 p.m.. Then, the council will interview applicants at a study session on May 2 with 20 minutes allotted for each interview.
The council is scheduled to appoint an individual to fill the Ward 3 vacancy at the May 9 meeting unless more time is needed. In that case, the meeting will carry over to May 21.
Thornton’s Process
The city of Thornton had a much quicker process filing the recent vacancy after former city coun-
cilor Jacque Phillips was voted off. Phillips had purchased a second home in Alamosa. Thornton’s timeline was less than thirty days, and Thornton City Council voted 4-3 to approve the process while Mayor Jan Kulmann was absent from the vote.
Thornton City Clerk Kristen Rosenbaum presented the timeline to council at a special council meeting, citing the charter.
“A vacancy in the office of councilmember shall be filled in accordance with the requirements of section 4.5(b) of the City Charter, by a majority vote of the members of the council in the office at the time within 30 days of the vacancy,” the charter states.
RECYCLING
Priola and two Democrats are leading the “Producers Responsibility” bill in the legislature, which would require the companies whose brand is on the packaging to charge themselves a fee to fund improved local recycling services across Colorado.
Cities or counties without their own recycling services could take the fees to start up a program. Places like Denver or Boulder who run or contract for extensive recycling could use the fees to expand — many apartment dwellers don’t get recycling services, for example. Or they could turn recycling programs over to nonprofits and private companies likely to enter the market.
Giving recycling access to all Colorado consumers and making the sort-and-return systems easier to use would cut deeply into trash across the state, Priola said.
“If you can get 60, 70, 80% of the people to start doing the right thing, that’ll mean less resources being wasted. Less water being wasted. Less air pollution. A more vibrant local economy,” he said.
One reason a Republican like Priola got on board was the effort to be business-friendly: Recycling advocates say a steadier stream of packaging materials like aluminum, glass and cardboard will eventually ease the supply chain woes and inflation plaguing many American companies.
Also, the businesses creating and delivering packaging are in charge of the proposed program. House Bill 1355 would create an industry council to study how much money is needed for a statewide recycling plan and would let the council set the rates needed to raise that money.
“So many of these businesses are getting hit with real disruptions in their ability to get materials, which is directly connected to the fact that we’re throwing so many materials away,” said Kate Bailey, research and policy director at the nonprofit recycler Eco-Cycle.
Businesses who use lots of packaging have gone along with similar programs in Canada and a couple of U.S. states, Bailey said, proving a comprehensive, producer-funded system can work. Businesses with less than $5 million in revenue will be exempt. And closer to home, Bailey said, putting all paint recycling in Colorado under a similar duesfunded nonprofit called Paint Care has increased paint recycling while saving local governments money.
It’s possible the bill is a nohoper this late in a session already crammed with complex issues like how to refund surplus revenue to taxpayers and how to regulate toxic emissions. Advocates, including cities such as Westminster and nonprofits like Eco-Cycle and CoPIRG, expect mofd opposition from small to medium businesses worried about costs and bureaucracy than from giants like Coca-Cola and Molson Coors.
And Gov. Jared Polis has been wary of increasing costs for Colorado residents and businesses given recent inflation pressure.
“It will not be a noticeable price increase to consumers,” Priola said in introducing the bill, along with co-prime sponsors Rep. Lisa Cutter, D-Morrison, and Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver. Advocates say the dues usually amount to fractions of a penny for each package and result in steep increases in recycling. Bailey said average dues in similar Canadian programs are three cents per pound for aluminum cans, with a pound of aluminum making about 30 cans in a pound.
Hearings starting April 7 are likely to be packed with both supporters and business representatives concerned about the potential requirements.
Local governments also plan to raise voices on the bill, many of them in support of a more robust state recycling effort.
“In Clear Creek County and other rural parts of the state, higher costs for recycling services and transportation are forcing hard decisions,” said George Marlin, a Clear Creek County
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