Group floating impound initiative forced to register

Daniel Hayes ponders his response to a protest of his impound initiative.

LAKEWOOD – A complaint by a citizen watchdog group forced supporters of a citizen-initiated effort requiring police to impound vehicles operated by unlicensed drivers to register with the city as a political issue group.

Colorado Ethics Watch, which filed the complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State Aug. 25, says the Lakewood Safe Streets Committee has registered as an issue committee and filed the required financial disclosure forms.

Safe Streets organized petition drives to get the impound initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot in Lakewood, Denver and Aurora.

“It is disappointing that it takes a legal complaint to get this issue determined, but we are pleased that within days of Ethics Watch filing a complaint, the Lakewood Safe Streets Committee recognized their duty to register … finally providing transparency to the citizens of Lakewood,” said Luis Toro, senior counsel at Colorado Ethics Watch.

Ethics Watch is a nonprofit group formed to make public officials more accountable.

The impound initiative earlier this month was upheld by a hearing officer who found the petitions were in substantial compliance with Lakewood City Charter requirements for citizen initiatives.

The initiative, if approved by voters, would require police to seize the vehicles of every unlicensed driver they stop. Reclaiming the vehicles would be costly, requiring owners of seized vehicles to post a $2,500 bond that would be surrendered to the city if police catch another unlicensed driver at the wheel of the vehicle within a year. It also would impose a $200 impoundment fee. The impound bonds could cost as much as $400 a year.

The petition drive was the idea of Daniel Hayes, a resident of unincorporated Jefferson County. Hayes also headed similar efforts in Aurora and Denver. He enlisted two Lakewood residents to be the “Petitioner’s Committee” in order to get the issue on the city’s ballot.

Hayes ran into roadblocks almost as soon as he submitted his petitions.

Opponents of the impound ordinances launched challenges in all three cities.

Lakewood resident Sigrid Higdon filed the Lakewood challenge, claiming Haye’s petitions failed to conform to the City Charter requirements and that a number of signatures should be thrown out because some petition circulators failed to provide valid mailing addresses to City Clerk Margy Greer.

During the hearing on Higdon’s complaint, Greer said she approves the form, but not the content, of such petitions.

Hearing officer John E. Hayes “reluctantly” upheld the wording of the petitions, saying they met the minimum standards set in the Charter but only by the broadest measure allowed by law. He upheld the challenge of signatures gathered by the petition circulators under question, but said enough valid signatures withstood the challenge to meet the city’s requirements.

Opponents of the impound initiative are appealing the hearing officer’s decision in Jefferson County District Court.

If it withstands that court test, the issue would go to City Council, which can approve the proposal as an ordinance or send it to voters. Council cannot act on the issue while it is under appeal so it most likely will miss the deadline for inclusion on the Nov. 3 ballot, said City Attorney Tim Cox.

Opponents of the measure say it would eliminate the discretion now afforded to police in such cases and could severely punish drivers who simply forgot their license. They also say it would be too costly for many police agencies and could divert officers from more pressing duties.

Colorado Common Cause, Coloradans for Safe Communities and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police and County Sheriffs oppose the proposal.

Daniel Hayes defends his initiative, saying the Lakewood proposal includes safeguards for folks who have a license, but forgot or misplaced it.

 “Getting unlicensed drivers off the road is a big deal because if one hits you, you have to have enough insurance to cover any injuries to your car, because they’re not going to have any,” he said.

Coloradans for Safe Communities said police should have choices when handling such cases.

“This is a measure that we think has a lot of unintended consequences,” said Carolyn Siegel of CSC. “We just think it’s way too broad.”