Strong-mayor proposal short of signatures, clock ticking

Despite paying signature gatherers tens of thousands of dollars, a group proposing a strong-mayor form of government for the city of Colorado Springs failed to collect the required number of valid signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot.

The group Citizens for Accountable Leadership needed 25,091 signatures from registered city voters to place the proposed charter change on the ballot, but missed the target by 1,444 signatures, a source said Friday.

But the group, which felt confident it would meet the signature requirement when it submitted more than 36,000 signatures on Aug. 3, is allowed more time to try to meet the requirement.

“It will take a minimum of two days to get additional petition packets ready,” City Clerk Kathryn Young said Friday in an e-mail to Director Kevin Walker.

“You will only have seven days to circulate, and I need at least two days for verification.”

The City Council will have to call a special session to accept the certification.

“All must be completed before September 3,” Young said in the e-mail.

The council has called a special session to accept certification in the past. Most recently, it involved anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce and ballot Issue 300, which voters approved last November.

The city charter gives the mayor the authority to call a special session with 24 hours notice. Three council members can also petition the mayor to call a special session.

Walker, who was attending his daughter’s wedding rehearsal late Friday, could not be reached for comment.

The group’s proposal would ask voters to switch the city’s longstanding council-manager form of government to a strong-mayor system. Under the proposal, the mayor would be paid about $96,000 a year, significantly more than the current annual salary of $6,250.

The mayor would have sweeping powers as the city’s full-time chief executive, and the position of city manager would be eliminated.

The council would become the legislative branch of the city. An at-large council member would be elected to replace the mayor, keeping the council at nine members – and their individual pay at $6,250 a year. The council would elect a president.