Republican-backed initiatives shot down

The Denver Republican Party suffered major losses Tuesday with all three party-backed city initiatives failing at the ballot, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office.

The initiatives — 303, 304 and 2F — would have required the city to enforce its urban camping ban more aggressively, lowered the cap on Denver’s aggregate sales and use tax rate and repealed the city’s group living ordinance, respectively.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, 54.94% of voters had voted against 303, 61.57% voted against 304 and 68.05% voted against 2F, according to the unofficial results.

Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who called the initiatives an “unprecedented conservative attack on our city,” applauded the results Tuesday.

“I’m grateful to be a part of this community,” Kniech said.

The results come after a September proclamation from the City Council urged residents to vote against 303 and 304. The City Attorney’s Office in October also filed a lawsuit against the proponents of measure 303, arguing that it “exceeds the legislative authority of voter initiatives.”

A judge ruled in favor of the city Sunday, removing the initiative’s deadline for the city to enforce its urban camping ban.

Prior to that ruling, Initiative 303 could have required the city to take action against reported illegal camps within 72 hours and allow citizens to sue if the city fails to do so. The initiative would also require the city to establish four authorized camping locations with running water, restrooms and lighting.

Initiatives 303 and 304 were proposed by Garrett Flicker, chair of the Denver Republican Party.

Flicker declined to comment until the final results of the election were released; however, on Monday, he said he was concerned over how the ruling might influence voters.

“They’re essentially saying, don’t vote for this because now it’s bogged down in the courts and it’s actively turning off voters,” Flicker said. “It’s an incredibly sad thing to see. ... It’s very disingenuous. Anything to try to circumvent the will of the voter is not OK.”

Initiative 304 faced similar scrutiny from the city. The initiative would have lowered the cap for Denver’s aggregate sales and use tax rate from 4.81% down to 4.5% and required the city to reduce any other new sales and use taxes if voters approve new ones above that 4.5% cap.

That cap would have resulted in $4 million to $8 million in cuts to the city’s 2021 budget in the weeks after it is passed, according to city data. For the city’s 2022 budget, it would result in cuts of $50 million to $80 million.

During the proclamation against Initiative 304, Kniech said it is “clearly motivated to eliminate the city’s tools” to take care of residents and would result in immediate cuts to housing and homelessness services, in contrast to the stated goals of Initiative 303.

Initiative 2F would have overturned the City Council’s decision to allow up to five unrelated adults to live together in a single home, up from two adults. The council passed the new zoning code in February in an 11-2 vote and expanded it citywide unanimously in April.

Thanks to the ordinance, Denver resident Jack Teter said he currently lives in a house in Denver Square with his wife, child and another married couple.

“We are so glad that Denver voters had the good sense to reject this discriminatory initiative,” Teter said. “We are sleeping well tonight in the knowledge that our family can legally continue living together.”

The group living ordinance also increased the number of unrelated adults allowed to live together in duplexes, apartments and condos to five from four. Households can have unlimited people as long as everyone is related. Households with five unrelated adults cannot have any additional adult relatives.

Safe and Sound Denver, which led Initiative 2F, advocated against the group living ordinance since it was first introduced, arguing that increasing the number of people allowed to live in households would lead to noise, parking and safety issues.

“Safe and Sound Denver is disappointed in the election results,” the organization said. “We thank the thousands of Denver neighbors who recognized the need for course-correction and who worked hard to communicate the important details of the massive and complex ordinance.”

Opponents to the group living ordinance also criticized it for permitting residential care facilities and congregate housing to operate based on number of residents, rather than type of use. This change expanded the amount of territory in Denver where community corrections facilities, or halfway houses, can locate.