boulderweekly.com/briefs
Vote by mail only?
Boulder County Clerk & Recorder Hillary Hall is seeking written public comment regarding whether to conduct the 2010 Primary Election as a mail ballot-only election. The Boulder County Commissioners and Hall will make a final decision at a public hearing at 4 p.m. on March 30.
Colorado lawmakers passed legislation effective this year that allows counties to hold a primary election by mail ballot only.
Members of the public can submit written comments to the Boulder County Clerk & Recorder’s Office from March 9 to March 23 by e-mail (jcornelius@bouldercounty.org), fax (303-413-7750) or mail ( Jessie Cornelius, Boulder County Elections Division, 1750 33rd Street, Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80301).
In addition, the commissioners will hear public testimony at the March 30 meeting, which will be held in the Commissioners Hearing Room on the third floor of the Boulder County Courthouse.
Visit www.VoteBoulder.org for more elections details.
Help lure Google network
City of Boulder officials recently announced that they will pursue an opportunity to serve as a trial location for Google’s planned broadband network that could provide Internet speeds 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
Google, which issued a request for information from interested municipalities, will choose one or more trial locations across the country to test the ultra-fast fiber-to-home connections.
The city and its Google project partners are asking for the community’s help in securing the new Internet technology. To help bring Google Fiber to Boulder, visit www.boulderfiber.com, and help spread the information by retweeting on Twitter and posting on Facebook. Become a fan of the “Bring Google Fiber to the City of Boulder” Facebook page, and use the hashtag #boulderfiber on Twitter so the project team can track and report community enthusiasm to Google.
In addition, supporters are being asked to upload original videos to www.youtube.com/boulderfiber to showcase their excitement, creativity and support for the project. The best daily video submission will be featured on www.boulderfiber.com.
Heath hosts town hall
Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, is hosting a town hall meeting about education on Saturday, March 13, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Chautauqua Community House Grand Assembly Room, at 900 Baseline Road.
Chris King, superintendent of the Boulder Valley School District and former principal of Boulder High School, will be the guest speaker.
Heath will also talk about other key state issues and will take comments and questions from the audience afterwards.
City wants budget input
City officials are holding two public meetings this month to gather input on the 2011 budget-setting process.
The meetings are designed to help city officials build a budget that reflects community values and identify priorities for a safe and vibrant city. Residents will be asked to identify the most important services they want from their city, as well as the outcomes those services and programs should generate.
“The city has limited resources and indications are that economic recovery will continue to be slow,” City Manager Jane Brautigam said. “The poor economic climate combined with the long-range budget gaps identified in 2008, require a very focused and strategic approach to fund the community’s highest priorities and ensure core services are delivered in the most efficient manner.”
The public meetings will be held on Thursday, March 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the East Boulder Community Center, and on Monday, March 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the West Senior Center.
Weigh in on housing code
As part of the SmartRegs project, the City of Boulder launched a survey on March 8 to collect feedback on proposed changes to the city’s housing code and rental licensing program.
Under the draft Rental Licensing and Housing Code Changes, the International Property Maintenance Code would replace the city’s existing housing code.
The survey is available on the SmartRegs website, the city Facebook page and the SmartRegs Community Google Groups pages through March 18.
For more information and links to the groups, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bouldercolorado. gov and look under the “SmartRegs” tab.
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