Golden, Colo., Residents to Consider Three Citizen Initiatives.

Byline: Ann Schrader

Oct. 10--GOLDEN, Colo. -- This small town likes to celebrate its Western heritage, from holding Buffalo Bill Days each July to being the home of 17,000 people with strong opinions.

The November ballot with its three citizen initiatives is the result of a shootout between a small group of community activists and city hall.

And this will be the first time that the 7,998 active voters will decide who will be mayor. Previously, the City Council chose the mayor from among its ranks.

The ballot measures would abolish the Golden Urban Renewal Authority and transfer its powers and debt to the city; require supervisors and new employees to move into the city; and restore the 1 percent annual growth limit retroactively to Nov. 7, 1995.

Under the urban renewal authority question, "the city assumes the debts but doesn't say what the debt is," said City Manager Mike Bestor.

If the residency rule is approved, all city employees eventually would have to move into the city. Bestor worries that he won't find city employees such as snowplow operators, lifeguards and water plant workers who will be able to afford to live in Golden.

As for the 1 percent growth limit, Bestor said the rule was imposed through a citizen-initiated ordinance passed in 1995 with the City Council passing several implementing ordinances.

Bestor said a lottery system decides who gets to build, which "has functioned very well and is very fair."

A small group led by Marian Olson, publisher of The Voice of Golden newsletter, gathered the nearly 800 signatures to get the three issues on the ballot.

She believes the urban renewal authority is not accountable and that its responsibilities could be taken over by…