Maes stays in race, local voters face lengthy ballot

The Friday deadline for setting the November ballot may have lost a dose of drama when GOP gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes decided to stay in the race, but it left voters here with a full plate of issues to mull, ranging from tax proposals to bans on medical marijuana businesses.

(See The Gazette's voter guide here.)

Sixteen local measures will be decided by voters in El Paso County, in addition to races for local, state and federal offices. Who will fill the GOP’s gubernatorial slot on local ballots was in question for much of Friday morning.

Top Republicans including Senate contender Ken Buck pulled support from Maes, who faces Denver’s Democratic Mayor John Hickenlooper and third-party candidate Tom Tancredo in the general election. But as Friday’s ballot-setting deadline neared, Maes refused to make way for another Republican.

“After speaking with, and hearing from, numerous Coloradans — from former Senators to family farmers — I’ve determined that I cannot turn my back on the 200,000 voters who nominated me to run for this office,” Maes said in a statement.

Maes came under fire this week for allegedly embellishing his accomplishments as a Kansas police officer, leading  a number of prominent Republicans including former Sen. Hank Brown to revoke earlier endorsements of his campaign. GOP leaders said that prominent candidates including former lieutenant governor Jane Norton were waiting in the wings if Maes chose to withdraw.

Maes, though, announced an hour before the state’s ballot setting deadline that he will stick with his campaign.

His top Colorado Springs supporter, Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis said that Maes will emerge from the trouble as a stronger candidate.

“I think it’s a lot of spin and mud that’s being thrown based on partial information,” said Schultheis. “It’s keeping attention away from the issues that he stands for.”

While the governor’s race grabbed attention Friday, the biggest local issue on the November ballot is likely to be medical marijuana.

The municipalities of Fountain and Ramah will ask voters whether medical marijuana businesses should be banned. El Paso County commissioners approved a ballot measure asking a similar question for unincorporated areas.

An effort to get a marijuana business ban on the ballot for Colorado Springs fell short.
Local bans were authorized by the General Assembly in May as part of a measure to regulate the fast-growing industry. Ban supporters say the businesses make the drug too easily available and could drive crime. Ban opponents say making medical marijuana easily available cuts crime and helps fill local coffers with tax revenue.

In Colorado Springs, voters will decide whether the city should keep or refund $600,000 in tax money it received in excess of a budget cap. Voters also will decide whether to give the mayor broad new powers and whether money now dedicated to trails and open space should be spent on park maintenance.

All voters in the county will vote on whether commissioners and other countywide officials can seek a third four-year term in office.

In Fountain, voters will have three measures to decide in addition to the marijuana question. Voters will decide on a hotel tax increase and a pair of measures that would allow the city to keep money in excess of revenue caps.

Two school districts in El Paso County will go to voters with bond questions. Falcon School District 49 and Peyton School District 23-JT want to borrow money for facilities.

STATWIDE BALLOT QUESTIONS
Colorado voters will see these measures at the polls in November:

Amendment P: Would move regulation of games including bingo and raffles to a state licensing authority.

Amendment Q: Would allow the General Assembly to meet outside Denver during emergencies.

Amendment R : Would add a property tax exemption that applies to fractional ownership, giving those with less than $6,000 in property interest a break.

Amendment 60: Would roll back school-related property taxes and reimpose spending and revenue limits in districts and other jurisdictions where voters have chosen to waive them.

Amendment 61: Would forbid the state from borrowing money for projects and would limit how much money local governments can borrow while setting a 10-year-limit on local government borrowing.

Amendment 62: Would define a fetus as a person for purposes of state law. The definition could wind up outlawing abortion.

Amendment 63: Would try to thwart federal health care reform measures by declaring them invalid in Colorado, a move that would lead to a federal court battle.

Proposition 101: Would cut car tabs, the state income tax and fees that show up on phone bills.

Proposition 102: Would require judges to set bail in some cases where defendants can now leave jail on their own recognizance.