Open Boulder congratulates Our Mayor, Our Choice whose members aimed to bring direct election of the mayor using Ranked Choice Voting. That's exactly what Boulder voters wanted! With an astounding 78% of the vote, a supermajority of Boulder support a grassroots democracy that ensures the winner gets a majority of the votes to win. With more voice and more choice, voters will be inoculated from so many of the pitfalls we are currently seeing in our national elections.

Open Boulder's combined board launched the Our Mayor, Our Choice initiative and formed the separate election committee required by the city. Open Boulder board members active in the initiative included Matt Benjamin, Jan Burton, Mark McIntyre, Shelley Dunbar, and Buzz Burrell. In addition, we integrated other key members onto the committee, including Alli Fronzaglia, Gala Orba, and our friends at RCV Colorado. The OMOC committee is very grateful to our community for their support. The support from such a broad cross section of our community is something to be hopeful of as we strive to break down the polarization in our town. In the time of a pandemic you made it clear that it is not the time to be complacent, nor satisfied with the status quo.

The work is not done. This new voting system will take three years to implement and during that time, Boulder voters need to become comfortable with RCV. Voter education is going to be a big priority. Open Boulder will continue to hold City Council accountable to the will of the people and to their own promises. We will also continue our work around voter education and involvement in local issues.

Open Boulder has been building momentum around successful “better governance” initiatives, including term limits for council members, increased board and commission participation, and now direct election of the mayor. If you’d like to join our efforts, please contact one of our board members.