Colorado Constitutional Amendment S: Vote Yes

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Amendment S

Yes

No

Since
we are highly sensitive to measures that weaken the protections
offered by the state personnel system, which was created to buffer
state employees from the political motivations of the governor and
other elected officials who wanted to hire their buddies, this is a
tough one.

After all,
Amendment S would exempt 330 more staffers from the classified
personnel system, making them at-will employees and subject to the whim
of politics and the governor’s appointed henchmen (and henchwomen).
Plus, it would weaken the State Personnel Board in favor of a
governor-appointed director and weaken the testing-based hiring system
used by the state, all in the name of increased “flexibility.”

But
in the end, given that this measure does have some positives, and
since it was part of a package that included a bill last spring giving
state employees a legitimate pay-raise system for the first time in
about a decade, it deserves a reserved, reluctant “yes” vote. The fact
that employee union representatives say the governor compromised
greatly on his original proposal speaks volumes. If we don’t approve
this, the next iteration could be much worse.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com