Recreation Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2021 01 25

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Other Laws on Citizen Participation in Government Preceding sections of this pamphlet describe Louis- ville's practices intended to further citizen participa- tion in government. Those practices are intended to further dissemination of information and participation in the governing process. Some other laws of interest regarding citizen participation include: Initiative and Referendum The right to petition for municipal legislation is reserved to the citizens by the Colorado Constitution and the City Charter. An initiative is a petition for legislation brought directly by the citizens; a referendum is a petition brought by the citizens to refer to the voters a piece of legislation that has been approved by the City Council. In addition to these two petitioning procedures, the City Council may refer matters directly to the voters in the absence of any petition. Initiative and referendum petitions must con- cern municipal legislation —as opposed to administrative or other non -legislative matters. By law the City Clerk is the official responsible for many of the activities related to a petition process, such as approval of the petition forms, review of the signed petitions, and consideration of protests and other matters. There are minimum signature require- ments for petitions to be moved to the ballot; in Louisville, an initiative petition must be signed by at least five percent of the total number of registered electors. A referendum petition must be signed by at least two and one-half percent of the registered electors. Public Hearings In addition to the opportunity afforded at each regular City Council meeting to comment on items not on the agenda, most City Council actions provide opportunity for public comment through a public hearing process. For example, the City Charter provides that a public hearing shall be held on every ordinance before its adoption. This includes opportunities for public comment prior to initial City Council discussion of the ordinance, as well as after Council's initial discussion but before action. Many actions of the City are required to be taken by ordinance, and thus this device allows for citizen public hearing comments on matters ranging from zoning ordinances to ordinances es- tablishing offenses that are subject to enforcement through the municipal court. Additionally, federal, state, and/or local law requires a public hearing on a number of matters irrespective of whether an ordinance is involved. For example, a public hearing is held on the City budget, the City Comprehen- sive Plan and similar plans, and a variety of site -specific or person -specific activities, such as annexations of land into the city, rezonings, special use permits, variances, and new liquor licenses. Anyone may provide comments during these hearings. Public Records Access to public records is an important aspect of citizen participation in government. Louisville follows the Colo- rado Open Records Act (CORA) and the additional public records provisions in the City Charter. In particular, the Charter promotes the liberal construction of public records law, so as to promote the prompt disclosure of City records to citizens at no cost or no greater cost than the actual costs to the City. The City Clerk is the custodian of the City's public records, except for police records which are handled by the Police Department. The City maintains a public policy on access to public records, which includes a records request form, a statement of fees, and other guidelines. No fee is charged for the inspection of records or for locating or making records available for copying, except in cases of vo- luminous requests or dated records, or when the time spent in locating records exceeds two hours. No fees are charged for the first 25 copies requested or for electronic records. Many records, particularly those related to agenda items for City Council and current Board and Commission meetings, are available directly on the City's website (www. LouisvilleCO.gov). In addition to posting agenda -related material, the City maintains a communication file (email) for the City Council which is available on the City's web - site (www.LouisvilleCO.gov). CORA lists the categories of public records that are not generally open to public inspection. These include, for ex- ample, certain personnel records and information, financial and other information about users of City facilities, privi- leged information, medical records, letters of reference, and other items listed in detail in CORA. When public records are not made available, the custodian will specifically advise the requestor of the reason. Citizens are encouraged to review the City's website (www.LousivilleCo.gov) for information, and to contact the City with any questions regarding City records. Public Involvement Policy ublic participation is an essential element of the City's representative form of government. To promote effec- tive public participation City officials, advisory board mem- bers, staff and participants should all observe the following guiding principles, roles and responsibilities: Guiding Principles for Public Involvement Inclusive not Exclusive - Everyone's participation is welcome. Anyone with a known interest in the issue will be identified, invited and encouraged to be involved early in the process. -7-