Arvada Ballot
Question 3C

Ballot Question 3C- Failed
Council Member Employment Prohibition
Chapter IV, Section 4.3

The current Arvada City Charter states:

"No Councilmember, including the Mayor, shall be a salaried employee of the City nor any other municipality during his/her term of office."

A Yes vote will eliminate the provision that prohibits a person who is a resident of the City of Arvada, and eligible to run for City Council, but an employee of another city, from being not allowed to run for and be elected to the Arvada City Council.

To be allowed to run for City Council a person must:

• Not be employed by the City of Arvada OR any other city

• Be a resident of Arvada for at least 1 year before election day

• Be a registered voter in the City of Arvada

• Be a citizen of the United States

• Be at least 18 years old

(Information from City of Arvada website)

There is no defensible rationale for this outdated provision, and it is probably unconstitutional. Additionally, it denies otherwise qualified persons the opportunity to serve, and it denies Arvada voters the opportunity to vote for otherwise qualified persons.

The fact that the existing Charter language is only applicable to employees of other “municipalities,” and not counties, fire protection districts, parks and recreation districts, school boards or the State government demonstrates that it is Arvada voters who ought to be able to determine if conflicts of interest exist on a case by case basis – not by broadly prohibiting only employees from one kind of governmental entity from running for City Council.

QUESTION NO. 1 - AMENDMENT TO THE CHARTER FOR THE CITY OF ARVADA

Shall Chapter IV, Section 4.3, “Qualifications,” of the Arvada City Charter concerning qualifications to be a candidate for City Council, be amended by deleting language that prohibits an employee from another municipality from holding public office in Arvada?