Voters approve charter question

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

Boulder City voters have made it harder to change their City Charter in the future by approving a ballot question that requires subsequent charter changes be approved in two consecutive elections instead of one.

Voters also approved the two other questions on the ballot, clearing the way for the city to spend up to $550,000 on an addition to the city fire station, and amending the charter to make it gender neutral, eliminate obsolete sections and remove grammatical errors.

The change to the charter amendment process makes it similar to the process for amending the state Constitution, which requires approval of proposed amendments in two consecutive elections.

The change was supported by 53.6 percent of the voters and opposed by 46.4 percent, according to complete but unofficial vote totals released by the Clark County Election Department.

Opponents have said the change will take power away from voters by making it harder to change the charter.

But proponents of the change said making it harder to change the charter is good for the city because the charter needs to be better protected from fleeting trends.

"That's our constitution," Mayor Bob Ferraro said of the charter. "It's best to have any changes come before voters twice. It gives people an opportunity to really think it through."

Under the newly approved charter amendment rules, any future amendments must be approved by voters at two consecutive general elections.

In recent years charter amendments that have been passed include one that requires the sale of more than one acre of city land to be approved by the voters.

The other two questions on the ballot were not as controversial and were overwhelmingly supported by the voters.

The first ballot question asked voters to approve spending up to $550,000 on an addition to the fire station. That measure was approved by 71.4 percent of the voters and opposed by 28.6 percent.

The second question asked voters to amend the City Charter to repeal obsolete sections, make the language in the charter gender neutral, clarify that references to the council include the mayor and correct some grammatical errors. That question was supported by 71.5 percent of the voters and opposed by 28.5 percent.