A special election to fill a vacant seat on the Longmont City Council will be held in November in conjunction with Boulder County’s general election.
City Council members Tuesday night balked at the suggestion to bring in an outside vendor to conduct an election to fill the council seat after July 31 but before Oct. 7 for a cost of $390,000. By contrast, holding the special election November 8 with Boulder County would cost the city $130,000, well within the city’s election budget.
“This is no time to pay three times the amount to put someone on the council for three months,” Councilor Marcia Martin told the council. She said the six-member council has thus far not dealt with any controversial issues that caused a tie vote.
“We are just going to risk going with an even number,” Martin said.
The council seat became vacant when incumbent Joan Peck was elected mayor in the Nov. 2, 2021 election. A special election to fill Peck’s spot in April was scuttled when both Boulder and Weld County election officials said they could not hold a coordinated election for Longmont.
The county said they were too busy implementing redistricting plans, according to a city staff report to the council.
The city also did not get any responses from vendors who specialize in holding elections. The city reached out to vendors and one — Community Resources Services — said it could conduct the election in late May or early June for $350,000. But the vendor said it could not provide signature verification, which is required by statute, a city staff report states.
Boulder County agreed to provide signature verification services at a cost of $40,000, said Longmont City Clerk Dawn Quintanta.
Council members said they were frustrated that county clerks didn’t anticipate that redistricting plans could interfere with municipal elections like Longmont’s.
“This is huge and very frustrating,” Mayor Joan Peck said.
The council also agreed to include several charter amendments on the November ballot as well as a storm drainage revenue bond proposal.
