Erie Board of Trustees hears home rule charter vision – Boulder Dail…

Home Rule Charter Commission members presented their plan for the future of Erie on Tuesday night.

Commission Chair Ashraf Shaikh and Vice Chair Brian O’Connor presented the proposed home rule charter to the Erie Board of Trustees during a regular meeting. The commission’s nine members were elected to serve in the November 2022 election.

O’Connor said that the driving principles when creating the charter were planning for the future of Erie, maintaining and protecting open space, local control, and residential input. Shaikh added that the commission wanted to provide guidelines of governance while leaving specifics up to Erie residents and elected officials, and while still having guardrails to encourage elected officials to act in the town’s best interest.

“We focused on providing as much local control as possible and leaving as much as possible up to the residents of Erie,” Shaikh said.

Shaikh also specified that the charter does not include any new taxes.

Shaikh said that Erie would remain a town with a town manager. The town would have three districts, with two council members representing each district and a mayor elected at-large. Town elections would be held in even years in November.

Shaikh noted that the town would be required to maintain a fund for the maintenance and purchase of open space. Open space would not be able to be sold or rezoned without voter approval, and a future council would not be able to dissolve the Open Space and Trails Advisory Board.

“We know that Erie loves and covets its open space, and we wanted to honor that,” Shaikh said.

Shaikh emphasized that the charter would allow the town to exempt itself from state statutes on matters of local concern by passing local ordinances. The town would be able to set fines and penalties. The charter also would require all new taxes and council vacancies to be approved through a resident vote.

Shaikh said that all existing laws and ordinances would carry over and that town districts would be drawn by a separate commission for the November 2024 election. The Board of Trustees would become the Town Council and remain seated until the 2024 election.

Shaikh also noted the term of some of the trustees and mayor would be extended from April 2024 to November 2024, until their successors can be selected due to the new election dates. There would then be an election for a town council in November 2024, which Shaikh noted would cut short some terms of current trustees whose terms are supposed to end in April 2026.

The trustees thanked the commission for spending more than 40 hours to put the charter together, and for focusing on the good of the town and the residents.

“You guys (commission) see what would fit us and what would be useful for the future,” Trustee Andrew Sawusch said.

“I’m very proud of the product that was put together,” Mayor Justin Brooks said.

The Home Rule Charter will be on the Nov. 7 ballot. If the charter is not passed, the commission will meet again to amend the charter.