Voters appear to be rejecting a push to ensure every Denver tenant facing eviction has free legal help.
About 60% of Denver voters opposed Initiated Ordinance 305, according to the latest unofficial vote results released at 11:30 p.m.
Organizers with Yes on 305 - No Eviction Without Representation said they were not ready to concede Tuesday night and planned to wait until every vote was counted.
Yes on 305 Communications Director Mary Imgrund described those who opposed the policy as a "Sisyphean opposition" that spent over $500,000 to fight the initiative.
"At the end of the day, regardless of whether this is a win or a loss for us, the fact that we've run this campaign so well, and so professionally, is a testament to the people power that is here and existent in Denver," she said. "We have knocked on thousands of doors. We have made thousands of phone calls, and this is not over. The movement for housing justice will continue into 2023 and beyond, regardless of the results of just one election."
If passed, the program would be funded by a $75 fee on landlords per property they own. In its first year, the program would raise up to $11,986,875. The tax would increase every year, based on the Colorado Consumer Price Index.
The funding would pay for more than just legal representation. It would also pay for a person to coordinate the program and a seven-member tenants' committee, for which members would receive an annual $1,000 stipend.
Why this matters.
Denverite polled more than 100 people about their priorities in upcoming elections, and the number one issue of concern was housing affordability. People are worried about themselves and their fellow Denverites staying sheltered.
Denver's in the middle of a housing crisis, and eviction numbers have been steadily returning to pre-pandemic levels. The City of Denver has a program ensuring anybody making up to 80% of the area median income, or currently or $105,500 for a family of three, has free access to an attorney.
Landlord trade groups opposed this measure, arguing it was an unfair tax on property owners, would hurt mom-and-pop landlords and would ultimately make housing less affordable and eviction more likely.
No Eviction Without Representation advocates said that just like every person facing criminal charges should have the right to an attorney, every person facing eviction should have the same.
Tenants facing eviction with legal representation are much less likely to lose access to housing than those who go through the process without an attorney, advocates argued. Evictions not only lead to people losing shelter but also having permanent marks on their records that make it challenging to rent again. Lawyers can negotiate better deals for clients.
On Tuesday night, opponents of the initiative were comfortable enough with the returns to state that Initiated Ordinance 305 had been defeated.
"The Apartment Association of Metro Denver, many of our members, and our partners in the business community worked to defeat Initiative 305 because it would have made rental housing in Denver more expensive," said Drew Hamrick, the group's senior vice president of government affairs, in a statement. "Access to housing is a serious problem that we continually work on in partnership with the mayor and City Council, nonprofits and the business community. Unfortunately, instead of working on policies to provide more housing in Denver, we had to work against 305. Initiative 305 did not provide solutions to help Denver renters stay in their homes. Instead, it was written to fund more lawyers and more legal actions and to levy a massive new tax on renters that was nearly $10 million per year more than necessary. We are pleased that Denver voters saw through this measure and rejected it on their ballots."
Election results are not final until they are officially certified on Tuesday, November 29.
The proponents of the initiative said no matter what happens with I-305, they would be organizing tenants' unions and educating renters about their rights.
"We want to make sure that people have the resources to organize and to make collective decisions for themselves and their homes," Imgrund said.
"I anticipate that we will not know the full results until tomorrow," she continued. "Our volunteers are still feeling good. The mood is still very positive right now. And I am still filled with the gratitude for everybody who's put in the work, because we have run a campaign far above our weight class, and that is not something to ignore."
CPR's Nathaniel Minor contributed reporting.
