Open Boulder Supports the Ballot Measure to Vote Directly for Boulder’s Mayor

Key to Open Boulder’s governance vision is a city that harnesses the ideas and concerns of people who are often too busy with life to engage politically and is responsive to what the majority of its residents want. Open Boulder has committed to an open source, citizen-centric approach that emphasizes government transparency, collaboration and accessibility. This election year, a local group of concerned citizens are proposing a Charter amendment so that Boulder residents would vote to elect their mayor.

This measure is nonpartisan and non-slate; it is pro-democracy and in support of good governance. Many community members that would generally be opponents on other positional issues agree that this is a great idea. What does the measure propose?

  • That the citizens of Boulder directly elect our mayor rather than the current system where the mayor is elected by and selected from the nine member council. This gives us a voice in our mayoral election.

  • That the mayoral election uses the Ranked Choice Voting system (RCV). RCV allows voters to rank their choices and ensures that the mayor is chosen by a majority (>50%) of voters rather than a plurality (<50%).

  • That the mayor be elected every four years on an even non-presidential year. This increases turnout and engages a broader range of voters.

Good Governance Is the Goal

This ballot measure will be followed by other initiatives. Possible future steps include:

  • Ranked Choice Voting to elect city council members

  • Improving council member pay

  • District or ward voting

Like the idea of voting for your mayor? Here’s what to do: