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) Water battle may demand legislative change of rules ,-, t" '.:",.;<~. ::# 13)' RUTH HEIDE Alamo,m County Editor ALAMOSA - \Vinning 3nolhersl~Hc\Viue w~ler iniliativc ba[lle mi.))' hinge on changing [he rules of the war. Although the San Luis Valley successfully Lh:fealctlla~l Nuvembt:r's bailor initiatives. the baUle cost thousands of doll:1r~ On both sides. Ch:mging the W:'IY statewide initimives can be p/3ced on the ballot may maKt: i[ l:::.lsier (qr tht: an;:;,l tIl pm!L'L't irself ngainst such ami. VaHey wafer initiatives in the future,lobhyist \V;1lly SIl..'alt:y ltlltllhc Rio Grandt: Water ConserValion Di:.;tTict Board during its quarrerly met:lil1g TlIC~;d:I)'. The 1998 inilhllives solely t:.lrgelcd the Valley w:lIcr ust:rs :.md were backed by Gary Boy".: and Slocknwn's Water who paid people to circulme petilions :10<.1 collect signatures 10 get the iniliatives on Ihe bill lot. Many oflhe ,c;ign:llur~s wert: cullt:r.:led in Ihe DClTvermetroare'a, Stealey ,aid. Many oflhosecollecting Iht: ,')ign:uures ,o,;ere :Jlsu from tlu{'Dfsti,lle. Stealey nOled. "You can't keep people from participmillg in polilj~s," even irthey :Irc (rulll C:.llirorni~l and promoling a Colnrn<.lo bailor illiri:ltive, he said, J1uwevcr, there are several ch:H1ges in the U:IIIOI process which would make it harder [0 get suuewide inili:.uives onto the ballot und ITlake the process morc cquiwbk. "We are frying to work, 011 a billlhalmuy have some teeth in it," Sle;'lley rt:porrctl. He proposc<.llhe following ideas on how Ihe initiative process could be chang:ed: , . "My theory, come up with a licensing system to circulme petitions in neighborhoods and shopping centers," Stealey s<lid. The n~uneS of people who planned to circul:lIe petitions would If..//;, Cd,f,'pr Tc~ de) 1'71<J . Please see Wnterp2ge2 v, ," " iWater : . Continued from pnge 1 ;, be run through a criminal record check. "Most of the people Ihal had circulated ; laslyearin the metro area wouldn't apply fora license, Trust me," Stealey said. :, He added that one of the pelition circulation crew chiefs was a gang member : from Los Angeles who brought two bus loads of his friends from LA to the Denver area "and made a lot of money:' Stealey said he will talk to Senator Gigi Dennis about this proposal. . Adopt the "Michigan system" which Stealey said has not been challenged by Ihe courl. This system would require the ballot initiative process 10 be moved up a year, The proponents would gather Iheir signatures a year ahead of time, and Ihe Olher side could Ihen obtain the lisl of people who signed the pelitions. The opponenls could then contact those people, explain their side, and give Ihe people a chance 10 take their names offlhe petitions. Stealey called this a "counter cure method. t, . Force initiative proponents tocollectsignarures from a brorrderpopulation. Colorado requires 6 percent of the population, or 55.4 I 8, to sign petitions requesting stmewide ballot initirrtives, Srealey said. If Colorado adopted the New York pattern for collecting those signatures, 6 percent of the signatures would have to be collec,ed in each counly, Stealey said. AnOlher version of tha, New York pattern could require 6 percent to be collected in each of the six. Congressional dislricts, he said. . Riu Grande WUler Conservation Dislrict Attorney David Robbins sug- gested another initiative chonge. He suggested that the percentage of "yes" votes required to pass Don initiative could be increased. /<?) .....' -' t~~ 'f ';,: