Dear Ms. Garza,I was very disturbed when I opened my ballot and found no D-49 School Board Race! I have since done some calling, researching and emailing and have discovered these truths:1) I called the clerk and recorder and was told the district was “so large” it had to be divided up into 5 zones and my area was not included in the vote. I called my candidate, Ivy Liu, and she said she didn’t understand it fully either and that many of her supporters had called asking the same questions as to why they couldn’t vote for her.2) I sent an email to the school board and the administration asking by what authority had some of us been left out of the school board election. Surprisingly, I received an answer from Brett Ridgeway, Chief Business dude at D-49, stating the voters had approved the redistricting on a 2015 ballot measure 3A. The seats were no longer ìat large” in D-49, rather they are now under a ìdirector district model.î ((Whatever that means). I am still following up and trying to find the actual verbiage on that ballot measure from 2015 and the actual criteria used to disenfranchise two-fifths of the voters in D-49.3) Sharing the ballot with the Nov. 3, 2015, Falcon School District 49 school board elections was a question that would change the structure of the Falcon 49 school board from members elected at-large to election by district.[21] According to the district’s page,”Under the Plan, only eligible electors who reside within the boundaries of a director district will be permitted to cast a vote for a candidate running in an election to represent that particular director district.î [21] The length of member terms and the number of members on the board would remain unchanged.4) A huge swath of El Paso County is left out of this School Board Election. District 2 and 3 of the districts within the District make up the largest portion of the area and are being completely disenfranchised in this election cycle and most voters donít even know it. Map Board of Education / 2021 BOE Election (d49.org)My questions for you are?1) WHY?2) Who wrote the 2015 3A Ballot Measure which came from the District, not the citizens.3) Do you have a copy of that 2015 Ballot measure 3A that I may share with the media? If not thatís ok as Iíll get it from the Clerk and Recorder.I have been a voter and taxpayer for 45 years in this county and have never seen such blatant theft of my money, and now my vote.Disheartened with this D-49 Administration,Cathy GardinoColorado Parents for Education Options
