JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 93-94

 DECLARING THE GRAND JUNCTION CITY COUNCIL'S OPPOSITION

 TO AMENDMENT 12, WHICH WILL APPEAR ON THE

 NOVEMBER 8, 1994 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT

 ADOPTED JOINTLY WITH THE CITY OF FRUITA,

 TOWN OF PALISADE, TOWN OF COLLBRAN,

 TOWN OF DE BEQUE, CITY OF DELTA,

 AND CITY OF MONTROSE

 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Grand Junction, Colorado, a home-rule municipality, wishes to officially oppose Colorado's Amendment 12 which will be before the voters of the state in the November 1994 election; and

 WHEREAS, the City of Fruita, the Town of Palisade, the Town of Collbran, the Town of De Beque, the City of Delta and the City of Montrose are expected to adopt this joint resolution as a common statement of opposition to Amendment 12; and

 WHEREAS, the City of Grand Junction firmly believes in representative democracy and citizen participation in all forms of government; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 would open the initiative, referendum and recall petition process to widespread fraud by making signature validation on such petitions virtually unworkable; and

 WHEREAS, by removing critical voter identification and anti-fraud requirements, thus permitting non-residents to sign petitions, Amendment 12 would impair local voters control of their initiative, referendum and recall processes; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 suppresses the public's right to know by its numerous provisions designed to prevent voters from receiving any objective information concerning the fiscal or other impacts of ballot issues from their local governments; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 will divert millions of tax dollars away from public purposes and into the pockets of ballot issue promoters and political candidates via a campaign contributors tax credit scheme; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 could potentially open every governmental action, including bid awards, personnel matters and permit decisions to petition, expensive delays and endless elections; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 mandates new and extra costs to taxpayers for printing and delivery of initiative petitions upon request of a single petitioner, no matter how trivial, outlandish, or disruptive the proposal; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 is so ambiguous and badly written that thousands of taxpayer dollars in attorney fees and court time will be required to determine what it actually means; and

 WHEREAS, the Amendment's reduced signature and anti-fraud requirements, combined with mandated delays of effective dates would provide a potent tool to small political cliques that want to frustrate or delay public projects; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 deals with a multitude of issues which conceal various provisions from public understanding and scrutiny; and

 WHEREAS, Amendment 12 will further reduce the pool of qualified and competent citizens running for elected office due to the excessive personal fines for elected officials if they are sued for giving out information to citizens on critical community ballot issues.

 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GRAND JUNCTION CITY COUNCIL:

 1. Amendment 12 is hereby opposed because it would be

 severely detrimental to the City and its citizens.

 2. Citizens are encouraged to become fully informed about all

 of the details of the Amendment and its effects on them, their

 community and their state before voting on November 8.

 3. The Citizens of Grand Junction are encouraged to vote "NO"

 on Amendment 12.

   READ, PASSED, and ADOPTED THIS 19th day of OCTOBER, 1994.

ATTEST:

               /s/ R.T. Mantlo

               President of the Council

/s/ Stephanie Nye

City Clerk