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The Pitkin County commissioners have listened to a pitch by a group that wants them to place a question about the airport on the ballot this November, but the board is far from signing off, according to chairman Greg Poschman.
Citizens Against Bigger Planes provided proposed language for a ballot question that was reviewed by the commissioners in a two-hour, closed session on Tuesday. The executive session was labeled “ASE (Pitkin County Airport) proposed ballot measure for the purpose of receiving legal advice from counsel.”
Poschman said he asked before they went behind closed doors if the meeting actually needed to be closed to the public. He said he was told by the attorney’s office that there were legal issues that needed to be addressed in private. The commissioners honored that direction.
“We all want to come out and speak publicly but that’s not possible yet,” Poschman said.
He summarized the results of the meeting when questioned by the Aspen Daily News but was cautious not to dive into details. Citizens Against Bigger Planes provided a letter with proposed ballot language the day of the closed session, he said. The letter asked the commissioners to refer a question to the November ballot.
“That’s the obvious logical first step, ‘Hey, you should put this on the ballot.’” Poschman said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the best step to do.”
The issue is difficult for the commissioners, he said, because they are trying to understand specifically what the citizens’ group wants to accomplish. Second, the issue is extremely complex because it is dealing with the federal government and huge sums of money, he said, so the language of the ballot question needs to be carefully crafted to make sure all implications are understood.
The commissioners directed their staff to gather additional information on a number of issues that were raised during Tuesday’s session, according to Poschman. He guessed it would take at least a couple of weeks before the answers were available and the commissioners could give a definitive answer on whether they would place a question on the ballot.
“It’s much too soon for us to make that call,” Poschman said.
Citizens Against Bigger Planes is opposed to runway improvements that would allow larger commercial and private aircraft to land at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. Opponents have said it is a quality of life issue because a wider runway would allegedly spur greater levels of tourism.
The group has an alternative path if the commissioners don’t refer a question to the ballot. They can collect signatures on an initiative petition and, if they meet a threshold, they can force the county to pop the question.
Chuck Butler, an organizer of Citizens Against Bigger Planes, said Wednesday he remains confident that an airport question will be on the ballot in November, one way or another.
“I think there’s a little bit more to unpack,” he said.
If a petition drive is needed, the group would have to collect the necessary number of signatures of qualified county electors within 45 days of launching the effort, according to the Pitkin County Home Rule Charter. The clerk and recorder’s office would have 15 days from when the petition was submitted to check the validity of signatures. The petition circulators would have 15 days to cure any shortcoming by collecting more signatures. The clerk’s staff would then have five days to certify the petition as sufficient or insufficient. Ballot language must be finalized by Sept. 6.
Butler said the group doesn’t necessarily want to launch a petition drive during a sleepy offseason. Collecting signatures would be easier when more locals are present in June and July.
“We have a lot of people ready to hit the streets,” he said.
The number of signatures required would depend on the type of question crafted — an issue that is yet to play out.
Neither the county nor the citizens’ group was entirely transparent on Wednesday about the proposed ballot question wording proposed on Tuesday. The Aspen Daily News filed a Colorado Open Records Act request with Pitkin County on Wednesday afternoon to try to obtain the letter presented to the county on Tuesday by an attorney for Citizens Against Bigger Planes. There was no reply, but the county legally has three working days to respond. Efforts to reach assistant county attorney Richard Neiley to request the letter were unsuccessful. Neiley met with the commissioners in the executive session.