Newswire
The Boulder County Jail burns through a lot of electricity. There are about 500 people living in the jail, which sits just north of Valmont Road in east Boulder. That translates to a lot of laundry — the washers and dryers are tumbling and spinning up to 16 hours a day — a lot of hot showers and a lot of light bulbs.
At their next meeting, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, town councilors are expected to discuss two ballot referendum questions that, if passed, will have a significant impact on local government and services. The proposed initiatives are LD 974, “An Act to Decrease the Automobile Excise Tax and Promote Energy Efficiency,” and LD 976, the so-called “Taxpayer Bill of Rights II” or “TABOR II,” which would limit state and local government spending and require voter approval ”” by referendum ”” for any spending over those limits, or to increase state taxes. Both will appear on the November ballot.
Patterson’s city attorney this week released his title and summary of an initiative designed to allow the Del Puerto Health Center to move to the Keystone Pacific Business Park. The title and summary give the green light for initiative proponents to begin gathering the signatures of at least 10 percent of registered voters in Patterson ”” or about 700 signatures ”” which they would need before presenting the initiative to the City Council for approval. Should the council deny the initiative, it would be placed on a ballot in a special election.
Snoqualmie’s City Council will consider approving a resolution opposing Initiative 1033 on Oct. 12.Initiative 1033 seeks to limit the growth of city, county and state governments by prohibiting general fund revenues from increasing faster than the rate of inflation and population growth. The initiative requires any revenue collected by the state, county or city in excess of the rate of inflation and population growth to be used to reduce property taxes.
The Pitkin County ballot measure that would create a voluntary loan program for residential and commercial property owners interested in making energy upgrades won easy endorsement Tuesday from the Aspen Chamber Resort Association board of directors. “It would be a catastrophic failure if this didn’t pass,” said Auden Schendler, environmental affairs director for the Aspen Skiing Co., urging ACRA board members to push Referendum 1A’s passage among their various constituencies.
In a statement dated 22 Sep 09, Dennis Peron announced his opposition to The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, describing it as “fatally flawed”. The official proponents of this initiative are Richard Lee and Jeff Jones. It is backed by Oaksterdamn U and the four medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the city of Oakland who have announced they intend to spend at least $1 million to gather signatures.
With the census coming around again next year, a small group of concerned residents gathered at the South Branch Library, last Thursday, to push forward a Fair Boundaries initiative. The Fair Boundaries project is looking to form an independent commission to oversee the redistricting process, rather than keeping it in the hands of the Legislature as it is now. Redistricting takes place after a census is completed.
The Tacoma Public Library and the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County will sponsor a public forum on several ballot measures tonight. News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan will moderate a discussion of the following issues: Initiative 1033, which would cap the growth of state and local government general fund revenue, based on an annual rate of inflation and population growth.
Though some members expressed reservations about a new $45 million police station, the Salinas City Council unanimously passed a nonbinding spending plan for Measure K revenue Tuesday. The Nov. 3 ballot initiative would raise the sales tax 1 cent per dollar. If passed, it’s expected to generate $18 million or more annually.
State Sen. George Runner is suing California Attorney General Jerry Brown for crafting what Runner calls an “overtly biased” summary of a ballot measure the senator created to prevent voter fraud. “I believe he has misrepresented what this initiative does,” said Runner, R-Lancaster, in an interview Monday. “That’s a tremendous disservice to the citizens of California.”