Truth Seeker
New Member
Organizers of a citizen initiative to repeal Fort Collins' ban on medical marijuana dispensaries collected sufficient signatures to place the question on the November ballot, the city clerk's office confirmed Tuesday.
"That was a definite sigh of relief knowing that we had collected the amount of signatures needed," said Kirk Scramstad, who led the charge to place the initiative on the ballot.
A minimum of 4,214 valid signatures were needed to trigger the municipal election.
"We have certified it," said acting City Clerk Rita Harris. "We stopped counting after we had verified 4,302 signatures, and there are 743 more signature lines that were not checked. I don't think anything would have changed the outcome."
"We feel great," Scramstad said. "We're happy that we collected the signatures that we have collected. We feel that shows that here is support for this issue within the city of Fort Collins, and we look forward to giving a larger number of voters a chance to vote on this issue in November."
Among the signatures that were reviewed by the clerk's office, the petition had a failure rate of 51.67 percent.
Organizers of the initiative submitted about 9,000 signatures last week.
"There's nothing wrong with being sure," Scramstad said.
Since the signatures were submitted, employees of the clerk's office worked into the night and part of the weekend.
"We ran into overtime, I would say in excess of 40 hours," Harris said.
The petition signatures are subject to challenge through 5 p.m. Friday.
"Anyone wishing to protest has to file a written protest under oath to show grounds for defects in the petition," Harris said. "They can't say, 'We're not happy that they got enough signatures.' They have to have specific cause — evidence of people not signing their own name, things of that nature."
At the next regular meeting of Fort Collins City Council on July 17, the city attorney's office will draft ballot language.
"Council will likely adopt a resolution to put it on the ballot in November," Harris said.
Last year Fort Collins voters passed a city ordinance placed on the ballot by citizen initiative that bans medical marijuana dispensaries. It was the first election cycle after a state law was passed allowing communities to ban dispensaries.
The proposed repeal of the ban would still prohibit dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school or a playground and within 500 feet of a church, child-care center or recreation site. The number of dispensaries would be limited to one for every 500 registered medical marijuana patients.
The reinstatement of medical marijuana businesses in Fort Collins appears poised to share the ballot with a statewide question calling for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Colorado ballot measures require a simple 50 percent majority to pass.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Patrick Malone
"That was a definite sigh of relief knowing that we had collected the amount of signatures needed," said Kirk Scramstad, who led the charge to place the initiative on the ballot.
A minimum of 4,214 valid signatures were needed to trigger the municipal election.
"We have certified it," said acting City Clerk Rita Harris. "We stopped counting after we had verified 4,302 signatures, and there are 743 more signature lines that were not checked. I don't think anything would have changed the outcome."
"We feel great," Scramstad said. "We're happy that we collected the signatures that we have collected. We feel that shows that here is support for this issue within the city of Fort Collins, and we look forward to giving a larger number of voters a chance to vote on this issue in November."
Among the signatures that were reviewed by the clerk's office, the petition had a failure rate of 51.67 percent.
Organizers of the initiative submitted about 9,000 signatures last week.
"There's nothing wrong with being sure," Scramstad said.
Since the signatures were submitted, employees of the clerk's office worked into the night and part of the weekend.
"We ran into overtime, I would say in excess of 40 hours," Harris said.
The petition signatures are subject to challenge through 5 p.m. Friday.
"Anyone wishing to protest has to file a written protest under oath to show grounds for defects in the petition," Harris said. "They can't say, 'We're not happy that they got enough signatures.' They have to have specific cause — evidence of people not signing their own name, things of that nature."
At the next regular meeting of Fort Collins City Council on July 17, the city attorney's office will draft ballot language.
"Council will likely adopt a resolution to put it on the ballot in November," Harris said.
Last year Fort Collins voters passed a city ordinance placed on the ballot by citizen initiative that bans medical marijuana dispensaries. It was the first election cycle after a state law was passed allowing communities to ban dispensaries.
The proposed repeal of the ban would still prohibit dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school or a playground and within 500 feet of a church, child-care center or recreation site. The number of dispensaries would be limited to one for every 500 registered medical marijuana patients.
The reinstatement of medical marijuana businesses in Fort Collins appears poised to share the ballot with a statewide question calling for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Colorado ballot measures require a simple 50 percent majority to pass.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Patrick Malone
