Main Street Buena Vista, ColoradoMany of you are probably aware that the question of home rule in Buena Vista has become a popular topic in recent months.

What is home rule? According to the Silverthorne, Colorado town website:

Municipal home rule is based upon the theory that the citizens of a municipality should have the right to decide how their local problems should be solved. The powers of home rule are limited by their charters, federal laws, the state constitution, court decisions and legislation enacted by the General Assembly.

If you type in the keywords “home rule Colorado” on a Google search you will be greeted with links to home rule charters belonging to many of the 59 cities and 28 towns in the State of Colorado who are home rule municipalities. Here are a few links to get you started in learning more about this topic:

  • Wikipedia entry describing the 5 types of Colorado municipal government
  • Study by NWCCOG on the costs and benefits of home rule for the Town of Grand Lake. Click on this link to go to a page where this PDF is available. Click on the link entitled, Costs/Benefits of Home Rule Status (2000). The link is about 3/4 down on the page.
  • Why Home Rule? - article on The Community Environmental Defense Fund website
  • Additional links listed on the CELDF website

Also, Sam Mamet, Executive Director of Colorado Municipal League (CML) came and spoke to the town trustees and citizens of Buena Vista on January 22, 2008. The meeting was strictly educational, explaining some of the intricacies of adopting home rule status. If you missed the meeting, there is a copy a the Buena Vista Public Library. Ask for the title “Home Rule Lecture.”

Going to home rule status in Buena Vista would involve a tremendous community effort and would have the potential to greatly impact the organization and structure of town government, taxation, land use, etc. There are certainly both pros and cons that may come of this idea and over the coming months ChannelBV would like to encourage our readers to explore what those potential impacts are and discuss whether home rule is right for our town. Please consider posting your thoughts on this topic and links to other resources here on this post or on the discussion forums.

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