WHY YOU should Vote YES on Home Rule

..."maximum flexibility to control their own destiny."

VOTE YES on the Centennial Home Rule Charter

Each active Centennial voter will receive a ballot in the mail between May 16 and May 27, 2008.  It will ask one question:  do you approve of making Centennial a home-rule city?

The Home Rule Charter was written by a 21-member Commission made up of Centennial residents elected by Centennial voters in November of 2007.  The Charter Commission had 120 days to complete the charter. Centennial citizens were invited to offer testimony.   The effort resulted in diverse consultation, intense deliberation, long hours of hard work, and presents an opportunity for Centennial -- one of the largest cities in the state -- to join major Colorado cities that have local control and determine their own future!

June 10, 2008: The mail-in ballot must be returned by 7:00 p.m.
The City offices will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Address:  Centennial City Office, 12503 East Euclid Drive, Suite 200

A YES vote will approve the Home Rule Charter and give Centennial voters control of their city.

But, you may have questions.  We have answers:

Why Go Home Rule?  OUR CITY, YOUR RULES!  

 

Endorsement:  The Denver Post:

 

. . . we urge a yes vote for home rule . . . Centennial's future should be decided by the people of Centennial, not state politicians who may have never even visited the city.
Editorial, The Denver Post, May 28, 2008
<http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9395388> www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9395388

Endorsement:  The Centennial Citizen:

. . .  strongly urges a yes vote on the charter, which places the city's destiny squarely where it belongs -- in the hands of the city's residents, and by extension, their elected leaders.
Editorial, Centennial Citizen, May 16, 2008

A home rule charter really is a city constitution.  It lays out the structure of the government and describes the powers of both the city government and the citizens of the city.   If our city¹s voters say YES to our new Home Rule Charter, Centennial will become the 97th home-rule city in Colorado and will join all other south metro cities.

Of the 33 most heavily populated cities in our state -- 10th largest, with more than 100,000 residents -- Centennial is the only city NOT to have our own home rule charter. Currently, Centennial is known as a statutory city, meaning that we a re governed by state statute rather than our own municipal laws. (The next largest statutory city is Erie, with a population of only around 15,000 residents!).

At present, fewer than 10% of all Colorado citizens living in a city or town live under statutory law, as we do.  Most of them live in very small towns with populations of fewer than 2,000 residents.   Thus, Centennial is truly an anomaly in NOT having our own home rule charter.  

We voters can remedy this by voting YES to Home Rule in the June 10 mail-in ballot election.

So, why should we join the other 96 cities in Colorado who are already Home Rule?

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY:
The clock is ticking. Every day that we wait to become a Home Rule City, money is sifting through our fingers. Home Rule cities can audit their own sales tax and find money that is going to the wrong city.  As a statutory city, Centennial can¹t do that. That¹s money that you ha ve already paid at stores that should come back to provide city services to you.

LOCAL CONTROL:
Home Rule is a matter of self-determination. The folks in cities around us have more rights and more power than we do. We deserve local control -- not leaving it to the state legislature in Denver to make decisions about how our city works.

GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY:
This Charter will hold our city officials more accountable. Our Charter requires more agreement among Council Members before they can pass certain kinds of laws. It also provides for more citizen involvement. This Charter actually fixes some of the things that are broken in our city government.

HOME RULE WEBSITE
<http://www.homerule2008.com/> www.homerule2008.com/
<http://www.homerule2008.com/?q=node/2> www.homerule2008.com/?q=n ode/2

READ THE CHARTER:
http://homerule2008.com/files/CentennialHomeRuleCharter.pdf

CENTENNIAL ELECTION WEBSITE
<http://co-centennial.civicplus.com/index.asp?nid=69>

HONORARY CO-CHAIRS:  
Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson
John Brackney, President, South Metro Denver Chamber, Home Rule Charter Commission member, and Founding Father, City of Centennial
Brian Vogt, CEO, Denver Botanic Gardens, Founding Father, City of Centennial

~~~~~~~
In the words of Sam Mamet, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, home rule gives communities <maximum flexibility to control their own dest iny>.
Quoted by Susan Thornton Denver Post Columnist 08/30/2007 Denver Post
<http://www.denverpost.com/thornton/ci_6751782>
www.denverpost.com/thornton/ci_6751782

posted by Vineta Campau
HD37 Arapahoe Dems Chair
303-713-9714
vineta@aol.com
www.hd37dems.org

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