Dateline:  Tuesday, November 18th 2013 –  Avon’s Grass Roots Citizens ‘Petition for Referendum’ has (for now) stopped the out going Avon Council from taking on millions more in long term DEBT!Their plan was to pay for this Millions in proposed/new DEBT by using the 2% (RETT – Real Estate Transfer Tax) that is attached to all REAL PROPERTY  in the Town of Avon.What next?

Answer:  Avon’s new Council (to be sworn in tonite) – has only (2) legal options they can exercise – now that Avon’s Clerk and Record (Debbie Hoffe) has issued her legal “Certificate of Sufficiency” (based on the Citizens signature Petition) stopping the Avon Council’s plan.

Option 1:  Repeal (read kill) the Avon Ordinance that was used to authorized the new DEBT.

Option 2:  Hold a “special election” and let registered Avon voters make the final decision.

The Nuclear Option?  Yes, there is one other legal possibility that (Avon Finance Manger – Scott Wright – does not support)…the “possibility” that Avon Council could vote to take $3.5 Million (out of Avon’s General Fund) and buy the “Building for Avon Bureaucrats” (also known as the Skier Building) for cash.   The ECT folks agree with Mr. Wright that would be a very bad decision.

How Avon’s Patriot Citizens – did it!

Where Eagle Citizens effort failed with their (months earlier) Referendum…Avon’s Citizens effort – paid off.

The Players in the Referendum effort?  (alphabetical)

Tab Bonidy – Avon Resident/local Architect

Peter Buckley – Avon Resident/Electrical Engineer

Angelo Loria – Avon Resident/Real Estate Appraiser

John Minervini – Avon Resident/Retired, former CFO

Rohn Robbins – Esq. – completed the legal work for the Petition for Referendum

David Scherpf – Avon Resident/Consultant

David Strandjord – Avon Resident/Retired former CEO

233 – Avon Registered Voter – Signatures were acquired by the Petition’s “Circulators”

The legal process:  The original Avon Petition had to contain several pieces of legal information and be “certified for circulation” by Avon Town Clerk – BEFORE it could be legally circulated for Signatures from Registered Avon Voters ONLY.

The minimum number of Signatures required to move the Referendum process forward – was 10% of the number of Avon Voters from the most recent General Election.  The November 4th 2014 General Election had 1,505 Avon Ballots returned to the Eagle County’s – Clerk and Recorders office by Avon Voters.

Petition Circulators turned in 233 Signatures when only 151 Signatures were legally Required – PROVING the more an Avon Voter understood about HOW the Council was going to ATTACH their Real Property to (2) decades of long term DEBT – the more angry Avon Voters became!  And the happier these Avon Property Owners were, to sign that Petition.

by   Clayton Moore

http://eaglecountytimes.com/2014/11/18/citizens-referendum-stops-avon-for-now/