Category: citizen action

(Guest Opinion) Dan Wolford: “Simple, easy — vote Yes on 3B to give citizens a say on open space”

Published in the Longmont Times Call on 10/7/26

Open space plays a significant role in the quality of life we have in Longmont — equally as important as the city’s water rights and certainly as important as our city parks. The intent of 3B is to give Longmont’s taxpayers the right to vote on any sale or transfer of open space, similar to the existing city charter that would require a vote of the public to dispose of or sell our parks or our water resources. The existing city charter requires a public vote on proposals involving parks and water before these assets can be sold or conveyed.

Adding open space to our charter is simple and straightforward. The passage of 3B would include open space as a third city asset that can’t be transferred or sold without the approval of a vote of Longmont citizens. By adding Open Space into the city charter certainly does not prevent City Councils from proposing future ideas for open space lands: It just moves the decision into voters’ hands.

The original concept and idea of acquiring local open space was to preserve lands critical to Longmont’s ecological, economic, recreational, personal and cultural well-being in perpetuity. Longmont residents love and support the city’s open space lands and program.

In 2024 when 75% of Longmont citizens voted positively to extend our open space tax indefinitely, they showed their admiration and approval of the program.

Over the years the open space program has provided nature parks and trails such as Dickens Farm along the St. Vrain, Lake McIntosh and trail around the reservoir, preservation of the St. Vrain Corridor from Main Street to St. Vrain State Park, just to name a few contributions to the Longmont community. Without these open spaces we would be no different than many of the Front Range communities that literally have little to no community identity.

Why now? Locally, one only needs to look at all the development happening to realize the importance of protecting our open space. Purchasing, preserving, maintaining and enhancing open space is essential to the riparian health of our St. Vrain and Lefthand Creeks and other waterways. Wildlife needs habitat to survive. Open space provides this. Pollinators need native plants to thrive. Open space provides this. People need open space for our well-being. Open space provides this.

A vote for 3B shows your further support for trails, wildlife habitat, preservation of our rivers and streams as well as supporting local agriculture; support of all these aspects and at no additional cost to the citizens of Longmont!

I am a member of the Stand with Our St. Vrain, have been a Longmont resident for nearly 40 years as well as being the initial open space manager for the city of Longmont for over 22 years. I understand and greatly appreciate the values of our open space program and the support of the city’s voting public.

Simple, easy — a “Yes” vote on 3B further protects our investment in our open space.

Daniel Wolford is a Longmont resident and former open space manager for the city of Longmont.

(Guest Opinion) Shari Malloy: “The what and why of Longmont open space ballot measure 3B”

Published in the Longmont Times Call on 9/27/26

What is 3B and why vote yes? The purpose of ballot measure 3B is to give Longmont taxpayers the right to vote on any sale or transfer of open space — just like parks and water. Longmont’s city charter requires the public vote on proposals involving parks and water before these assets can be sold or conveyed for some new use. Like our parks and water assets, open space is also an asset, so adding it to our charter makes sense. Including the words “open space” here honors voters’ intent to protect these lands and our investments. Adding open space to our charter is simple and straightforward; it does not raise taxes and has no fiscal impact. Including open space does not prevent City Councils from proposing future ideas for open space lands: It just moves the decision into voters’ hands.

Why is 3B necessary? In 2010, Longmont’s Transportation Department needed a small portion of open space that is now in the Dickens Nature Area to extend Martin Street to Ken Pratt Boulevard. This led, in 2011, to City Council passing an unnecessarily open-ended Open Space Disposition Ordinance (14.52.030), which allows Longmont government to dispose of open space land for virtually any public purpose it thinks is important so long as the sale or exchange “results in a net benefit to the Open Space program.” This means future City Councils can basically do whatever they want, while that ordinance is in effect. This ordinance is very opaque, giving the city virtually “carte blanche” ability to build whatever infrastructure it deems worthy on land purchased as open space, as was demonstrated last year when the city attempted to swap land in the flood-prone Tull property for open space land in the Distel property to build city industrial infrastructure. Hundreds of Longmont residents protested, as this is the antithesis of what they had in mind in 2024 when 75% voted yes to extending our open space tax indefinitely.

Fortunately, our current City Council recognized this potentially problematic situation and proposed a simple fix to allow voters more say on such matters in the future. In June they voted 6-1 in favor of referring a ballot measure asking voters to consider adding open space property to our city charter alongside parks and water. In referring this to voters, our current City Council created an opportunity to rebuild trust in Longmont city government by empowering voters. A Yes vote on 3B says we want our open space lands to be respected and protected.

Longmont residents shouldn’t take it for granted that we will always have mostly reasonable people in charge of and on City Council. The “net benefit” term in the current ordinance is a dangerous slippery slope! Until we supersede the current Open Space Disposition Ordinance through this simple city charter change, our open space program remains in jeopardy.

Why does it matter? Preserving our open space land is critical to Longmont’s ecological, economic, recreational, personal and cultural well-being. Longmont residents love our open space lands and program. In addition to the overwhelming support to tax ourselves, every city satisfaction survey demonstrates residents place high value on our open space.

Why now? Locally, one only need look at all the development happening to realize the importance of protecting our open space. Purchasing, preserving, maintaining and enhancing Open Space is essential to the riparian health of our St. Vrain and Lefthand Creeks and other waterways. Wildlife needs habitat to survive. Open space provides this. Pollinators need native plants to thrive. Open space provides this. People need open space for our well-being. Open space provides this.

Trust in government is abysmal these days. A yes vote on 3B helps us to have faith in our Longmont government. In a time of political discourse where many people feel frustrated and helpless, the practice of granting voters’ agency and participatory decision-making merits commendation.

Shari is a member of Longmont Friends of Open Space and retired Special Ed teacher with SVVSD.

Our Wildlife and Natural Areas Are Under Attack

In 1983, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and environmentalist Wallace Stegner coined the phrase “America’s Best Idea” to refer to the United States’ national park system. Stemming out of the democratic ideals of the Republic and the belief that all people should be able to benefit from and enjoy public lands, the very first national park in the world was established in 1872 with the creation of Yellowstone National Park. Today, 840 million acres of land is public land, which includes not just national parks but also BLM land, national forests, and national wildlife refuges.

Unfortunately, our public lands as well as the wildlife living on them are currently under attack. On May 7, House Republicans voted to authorize the sale of public lands in Utah and Nevada and the increase in leasing of public lands for resource extraction. https://apnews.com/article/public-lands-sale-nevada-utah-housing-republicans-98184c59528a92eca51ca6ab89e751cc

Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would remove the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act so that entities would no longer be held accountable for actions that do not directly impact endangered species. This effectively guts the Act–which was overwhelmingly passed in 1973 by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by Richard Nixon, a Republican president–by removing any habitat protections for wildlife, limiting penalties only to those entities directly poaching, harassing, killing, trapping, or otherwise hurting endangered species. 

If you love wildlife and nature, please contact your representatives and tell them you oppose the sale of our nation’s public lands, and comment on the proposed rule regarding the Endangered Species Act.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act

First Reading of City Ordinance Putting Longmont’s Open Space Sales Tax Extension on the Ballot

We’re in the home stretch thanks to all of you! This Tuesday, August 13th, Longmont City Council will be reviewing the text of an ordinance that would put the permanent extension of the City’s Open Space Sales Tax on the ballot this November. The Council will then vote to either approve the ordinance, amend the ordinance, or not approve the ordinance.

Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek is asking that City Council approve the ordinance. We’ll be attending the meeting and speaking during Public Invited to Be Heard urging them to do so. 

If you value Open Space and want the City to be able to fund new acquisitions and, more importantly, maintain its natural areas, please consider attending Tuesday’s City Council meeting and wearing green to show your support for the ballot measure.

We want all Longmont citizens to have the chance to vote on this issue.

Action Alert: July 23rd City Council Meeting

City Council has voted to add the Open Space Sales Tax permanent extension to the November 2024 ballot! Thank you to everyone who signed our appeal and/or showed up to City Council to show your support for the measure.

We’re looking for people to show up at City Council on Tuesday, July 23rd wearing green to show your continued support. The Longmont Natural Resources department will be making a presentation tomorrow regarding the Open Space program and future acquisitions/maintenance costs in response to a City Council request for such information. You will only need to remain for the public invited to be heard portion of the meeting.

We will also have Open Space Yes! owl yard signs for you if you’d like to take one for this election season.

The Big Ask!

This Tuesday, June 25th, Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek will be presenting to Longmont City Council YOUR appeal asking that making Longmont’s Open Space Sales Tax permanent be put on November’s ballot. 

If you remember, Longmont residents overwhelmingly supported an Open Space sales tax and it was passed in 2000 and extended in 2007. The tax, which anyone who purchases anything in Longmont is already paying, is 2 cents for every $10 you spend and goes toward acquiring and maintaining our Open Space properties. If not extended or made permanent, the tax will expire and money for our Open Spaces would have to come from the City’s general fund. 

We’re asking supporters of Open Space to come to the June 25th City Council meeting at 7pm at the Longmont Civic Center and dress in green.