Beauprez switches Amendment 38 stand

Change of heart revives nickname 'Both Ways Bob'

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 1, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Airlines & Aerospace

More stories »

Congressman Bob Beauprez withdrew his support Friday for a controversial ballot measure that is opposed by much of the business community, prompting a leading supporter to accuse him of betrayal.

Beauprez, the presumed Republican candidate for governor, announced Friday that he will not support Amendment 38, a so-called "petition rights" constitutional amendment that would make it easier for citizens to challenge local government decisions through initiative campaigns. Beauprez endorsed Amendment 38 in April.

His change of heart outraged Douglas Bruce, the anti-tax crusader who endorsed Beauprez earlier this year. Bruce said Beauprez was earning the "Both Ways Bob" label given him by former primary opponent Marc Holtzman.

"He certainly is living up to his reputation," said Bruce, a prominent backer of Amendment 38. "I'm shocked somebody with that reputation put on his shoulders would casually throw away a written promise."

Bruce said he agreed to endorse Beauprez only after the congressman publicly signed a statement of support for the ballot measure.

In a letter to Bruce released Friday, Beauprez said he had changed his mind after studying the amendment closely. "I would not be supportive of any measure that doesn't protect private property rights," Beauprez wrote.

In the letter, Beauprez says he has been approached by many people concerned about Amendment 38's potential impact on business. Many business organizations have said they fear the proposal could shut down development by making it easy to challenge local zoning decisions, and Beauprez wrote that he feared the measure could encourage actions that might harm property rights.

"It's never fun to admit when you're wrong," said John Marshall, a spokesman for Beauprez. "He's not trying to have it both ways; he changed his mind."

But Beauprez's about-face on the matter led to immediate claims of hypocrisy.

"Without question, Congressman Beauprez earned his 'Both Ways Bob' nickname today," said Greg Kolomitz, campaign manager for Bill Ritter, the Democratic candidate for governor. "It was politically expedient for him to support Amendment 38 when he faced a Republican primary. Now, he doesn't have a primary fight, so he's changing his position based on the political tide."

Both Ritter and Beauprez have sought the support of the business community, which tends to favor Republicans. Ritter has criticized Beauprez constantly before business audiences for his support of Amendment 38, and there are signs that criticism was having an impact.

In June, Ritter raised more than $360,000 for his campaign. Beauprez won't release his fundraising numbers until Monday, but a source within the campaign said Ritter had outraised them by more than 2 to 1. Ritter has now collected almost $1.9 million for his campaign, nearly catching up to Beauprez's $2 million.

The business community is already gearing up to oppose Amendment 38.

William Mutch, executive director of Colorado Concern, a lobby made up of many of the state's leading business executives, said that many members had contacted Beauprez to express their alarm.

"People called Bob Beauprez and said 'We just found out how bad this is. Why are you supporting it?' Mutch said.

Holtzman, who dropped out of the Republican contest last week, had endorsed Amendment 38 but now says he agrees with Beauprez.

"Upon reflection, I thought it was bad public policy," Holtzman said. "I think Bob is doing the right thing."

Amendment 38

• Allows circulators 12 months, not the current six, to collect signatures for the ballot.

• Establishes the state standard for signatures (5 percent of the last vote for secretary of state) as the maximum for initiatives on local governments' ballots. Cities currently are allowed to set their own standards.

• Extends the initiative process to county governments and special districts. Cities already do it.

• Allows any sort of initiative to be considered even on odd-year ballots, which the state Supreme Court has ruled can now only feature TABOR-related issues.

• Makes it much tougher to disqualify signatures by giving the benefit of the doubt to the sponsors in every case.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News