One Colorado city that doesn't have wards moves forward with ballot measure that could create them

Despite a growing and diverse community, Westminster remains one of the few big Colorado cities to have a council comprised of only at-large members.  

"Westminster is a very unique city and we're very proud of who we are in the city, and I think the at-large system has worked for us for a very long time," said Claire Carmelia, City Councilor for Westminster.

That is until a 2023 ballot question posed to voters in the community suggested it was time for a change in the city's governing body.

"We're considering the creation of wards to better represent the city. There are pockets of the city that feel a bit under-represented at the moment, and there are many in the city that believe that the creation of wards would allow more direct representation of their area and the population," said Carmelia.

On May 20, 2024, the Westminster City Council approved Councilor's Bill 15, establishing a Wards Advisory Committee, in which members of the board would create recommendations for what they wanted a ward system in the city of Westminster to look like: the number of wards and councilors that would represent each ward, and additional at large positions.

"It is my belief that wards provide a bit more equity in their government. Therefore, certain populations can be better represented," said Carmelia.

Carmelia said the final outcome was a proposed ordinance creating a hybrid form of governance: three geographical wards, each represented by two councilors, two at large councilors that represent the city as whole, and an at large mayor.

Residents would be asked to vote during the upcoming November election if they want to approve this change.

"The two councilors per ward would rotate," said Carmelia. "So that ensures that every two years there is nobody brand new in one entire ward. We always have somebody that knows what they're doing, somebody to run the ropes, and it also ensures strong representation for each ward ensuring that there's two councilors per ward."

Carmelia says many constituents have been waiting for the opportunity to have better representation.

"For example, in south Westminster, we have a more heavily Spanish speaking population, and then we also have a Vietnamese and an Imam community, and we want to make sure that all the populations in the city are represented," she said. "If we ever want to get someone who is bilingual for example into the council, it is my belief that it will take wards to get them there."

Westminster residents like Nathan Harrison say they would be curious to see how a system like that could work.

"I'd probably want to, at least, try it," he said. "I'd probably have to do a little bit more research on what the other cities do."

However, he does raise some concerns about the fact that this councilors bill would increase the council from seven members to nine.  

"I think there are pros and cons. I think we might have more direct influence with someone. The con would be maybe again putting too many politicians in charge of things," said Harrison.

That was a con raised by council leaders Monday night during the first reading of this proposed ordinance. While some council members say having the additional two at-large positions is important, others worry voters will shoot it down if its included in the language of the ballot measure.

"Those extra voices would dilute those voices of the two from historic Westminster, which would eliminate the benefit, in my opinion, of having wards in the first place," said Councilor Obi Ezeadi.

Ultimately, the council chose to go with a different version of the bill language that would only require voters to decide if they want to create three wards in the city, with two councilors representing each ward, and an at large mayor. No ward can differ from any other ward in terms of population by more that 10%.

If this bill passes in the November election, next year, the council will ask voters if they want to add those two extra at-large seats in a new ballot question.

The city would begin work on establishing a ward map in 2025.

"Ultimately, it really is up to the constituents. They're the ones that are going to be voting on this measure. Whether this takes place is entirely up to them. we are simply deciding what that might look like," said Carmelia.