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Deadline to vote is Tuesday, November 3rd! Please Vote!

 If you have not yet received a ballot or still need to register to vote, please do so ASAP! Go to the local county clerk's office on 317 South 2nd Street, across from the library.

Here is a quick Voter Guide to help with all the ballot measures!

Usually, conservatives vote NO! on many issues, but this year, conservatives stepped up, got great measures on the ballot, and now we need to help get them across the finish line! Let's take a STAND for getting our Colorado back!

Thank you for caring about Montrose and Colorado!

Vote YES on ALL 4!

Read the Amendments, Not the Rumors

By Michael J. Badagliacco

There is a lot of loose talk in town about the proposed Charter amendments on the November 3 coordinated election ballot. Council passed them on September 1. That put them on the ballot. It did not decide them. You will.

The official red-line version is here:

Read the above linked document. Then decide. Here is what each measure does, from my view.

1. Moving municipal elections from April to November in even years

Shall Article I and III of the Charter of the City of Montrose, Colorado be amended to move the general municipal election from April of even-numbered years to November of even-numbered years?

April city elections draw a thin slice of the city. The City of Montrose elections page shows the participation rates:

- 2026: 35%

- 2024: 25%

- 2022: 26%

- 2020: 41%

- 2018: 28%

November even-year elections in Montrose County are a different picture. Colorado Secretary of State shows:

- 2020 general: 87%

- 2022 general: 71%

- 2024 general: 82%

Those November numbers are countywide, not city-only. But, the pattern is hard to miss. More people vote in November.

Cost:

Stand-alone city elections have run about $30,000. Coordinated elections run about $5,000 to $10,000, depending on the number of measures, candidates, and other jurisdictions on the same ballot. Under C.R.S. 1-5-505.5(1)(a), the state reimburses counties 45% of the cost of a coordinated election when the state certifies ballot content. The city’s share drops. Savings can reach as much as $25,000 per election.

Critics say:

- November will make city races partisan. People are partisan, the calendar is not.

- Local issues will get lost under national and state races. I trust you to consider local questions the same in November as you would in April.

- This will extend each of the sitting councilor’s term by 7 months: True, a necessity of the move, not a reason for it.

Only you know what drives your vote. I look at participation and cost.

2. Lifetime term limits

Shall Article I and III of the Charter of the City of Montrose, Colorado be amended to restrict council members to serve eight years of elected service in that person’s lifetime with such eight years occurring through any combination of consecutive or nonconsecutive terms of office, and shall this requirement apply to any candidate after November 3, 2026?

The proposal sets an eight-year lifetime cap across all Council seats, consecutive or not. It applies to candidates after November 3, 2026. It does not cut short anyone now serving who might later pass eight years, however, those who exceed eight years will not be eligible to run again, if the measure passes.

Opponents say the city already has term limits. What we have now is a consecutive-year limit, not a lifetime limit. After eight years, or six in the two-year at-large seat, a person can sit out four years and come back. That is a gap, not a ceiling. A lifetime cap closes it.

YOU will have the opportunity to decide along with every other voter on November 3rd if this makes sense to you. Regular turnover of ideas is the point.

3. and 4. Council approval to hire or discharge the Police Chief and the City Clerk

Shall Article VIII of the Charter of the City of Montrose, Colorado be amended to allow City Council the right to approve or disapprove the City Manager’s decision to appoint and discharge the Police Chief of the Montrose Police Department?

Shall Article VIII of the Charter of the City of Montrose, Colorado be amended to allow City Council the right to

 approve or disapprove of the City Manager’s decision to appoint and discharge the City Clerk?

Today the city manager alone hires and fires both. Council has no vote. These two amendments would require Council approval for appointment and for discharge. That is all.

- The city manager still oversees these departments day to day.

- Council would not supervise officers, set shifts, or manage the Clerk’s office.

- Council would not bring the candidates; the City Manager does.

- Council would only confirm who is hired and who is removed.

Opponents call that bureaucracy; I see it as proper elective oversight.

- A return of Council’s role that was taken off the books in 2014.

- More eyes on two of the most sensitive positions in the city.

- Less room for a single appointed official to punish someone in those roles.

- A shorter line from those offices back to the people who elect the Council.

This is not red tape. It is a simple check. Do your fellow citizens a favor. Open the red-line. Read the four questions. Ignore the version of the story that never quotes the text. VOTE. I trust the voters of Montrose with that work.

This November!

Spread the word!

April 2026 Conservative City Council

Election Results!