TL;DR

* Ranked choice voting could be headed to the November ballot. Council voted 5-2 to direct staff to add a discussion to a future agenda about whether to refer a ranked choice voting charter amendment to voters on November 3rd, 2026. McCoy and Crist opposed. Nothing is on the ballot yet — this just gets the conversation officially moving.

* The Longmont flag might be getting its first redesign in 50 years. Council voted 5-2 to approve a community design process run by the Art in Public Places Commission. Three finalist artists will each receive a $1,000 stipend. About $5,000 from council contingency funds approved. Marsing and Popkin opposed.

* Longmont Police Department received its CALEA accreditation. Presentation only, no vote. CALEA stands for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and is widely considered the gold standard for police accreditation in the US. Only about 15 Colorado agencies have it. The department opted in voluntarily.

* Investment strategy presentation from the city’s new investment advisor. Presentation only, no vote. Government Portfolio Advisors introduced themselves and walked council through changes to how the city’s public funds are being managed. Marsing flagged that he wants a future conversation about values-aligned investing.

* Cannabis dispensary annexations are officially done. Three ordinances passed 6-1, Crist opposed on all three. Two marijuana dispensaries that had been operating in unincorporated Boulder County enclaves are now officially part of Longmont and will pay city sales taxes.

* Additional city appropriations for FY2026 passed unanimously. Includes funding for a major irrigation system upgrade at Sunset Golf Course. Final vote.

* Investment policy update passed 5-2. Crist and Prieto opposed. Adopts the updated investment policy for the city’s new investment advisor.

* DDA annual services agreement passed 6-1. Crist opposed. The city’s annual agreement with the Longmont Downtown Development Authority for services including street maintenance, holiday lights, and police support at events.

* Community satisfaction survey plan approved unanimously. The city’s biennial resident satisfaction survey is coming this summer. Council gave feedback on inclusivity and language before approving.

* Seven Capital Improvement Program amendments approved unanimously. Includes funding for the Sunset Golf Course irrigation upgrade alongside the appropriations ordinance.

* Colorado Communities for Climate Action 2026 policy statement accepted unanimously. Longmont signaled support for the coalition’s proposed policy direction ahead of their annual meeting June 10-12.

* Longmont General Improvement District resolution passed 6-1. Crist opposed. In a procedurally unusual move, council temporarily recessed as city council and reconvened as the LGID Board of Directors to approve an annual agreement with the Downtown Development Authority. Then reconvened as city council.

The Big Ones

Ranked Choice Voting Could Be on the November Ballot

This one has been building for a while. Mayor Hidalgo-Fahring brought a motion before the formal agenda even started, and it passed 5-2.

This is not a vote to implement ranked choice voting. It’s a direction to staff to schedule a general discussion at a future meeting about whether to refer a ranked choice voting charter amendment to Longmont voters on November 3rd, 2026. Voters would ultimately decide whether to change how the city elects its mayor and council members.

Right now, Longmont uses plurality voting (you pick one candidate per race and whoever gets the most votes wins, even if it’s less than a majority).

With ranked choice voting, you’d rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those votes go to each voter’s next choice, continuing until someone has a majority.

The motion referenced two specific methods: instant runoff voting for single-winner races like mayor, and single transferable vote for multi-winner races like the at-large council seats where two people get elected at once.

There’s a legal wrinkle: single transferable vote is not currently permitted under Colorado state law. Marsing flagged this and suggested the language stay flexible rather than naming a specific method that might not be available. The motion was amended accordingly before passing.

McCoy opposed, saying he prefers ballot measures tied to tangible outcomes and raised the idea of expanding council’s structure before changing the voting method. He also noted some communities have seen initial enthusiasm with ranked choice voting followed by declining participation over time. Crist opposed, citing a political science professor who told her ranked choice voting leads to long-term participation declines.

Popkin’s framing was the clearest: this is a referral decision, not a policy decision. Council is deciding whether to ask voters, not whether to implement ranked choice voting.

The November deadline creates urgency. Staff will bring back a general discussion at a future meeting to work through the details before drafting ordinance language. No ordinance yet, no ballot measure yet.

The Flag Might Be Getting a Redesign

Longmont’s current city flag is 50 years old. Councilmember Crist started this conversation back in January after noticing the flag wasn’t even flying at the Civic Center and didn’t have its own pole. At last year’s Fourth of July festival, she said people she handed the flag to didn’t even know Longmont had one.

Longmont City Flag

Council voted 5-2 to approve a community design process run by the Art in Public Places Commission. Here’s how it works:

Longmont residents of any age and artistic ability can submit their work for consideration. A task force selects three semi-finalists, each of whom receives a $1,000 stipend to develop a full flag design. The community then weighs in on what values and symbols they want the flag to represent. The three artists incorporate that feedback into their final designs, and council votes to adopt one.

The current flag will be included as one of four options in the final community survey, so it’s not automatically gone.

Cost: about $5,000 in unbudgeted funds from council’s contingency fund, plus a $1,000 donation from the Rotary Club. The timeline is four to six months, with a campaign kicking off in June and a table at the Fourth of July festival.

Marsing and Popkin voted against. Marsing has a personal connection to the current flag and sees it as a working class symbol. Popkin said he’d support a redesign eventually but felt tight contingency funds should go to more pressing needs right now.

CALEA: The Police Department Got a Big Deal Accreditation

The Longmont Police Department received its CALEA accreditation at this meeting. This is worth understanding because it’s genuinely significant.

CALEA stands for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. It’s a voluntary national accreditation program widely considered the gold standard for law enforcement. There are roughly 18,000 to 20,000 law enforcement agencies in the US. About 15 in Colorado are currently CALEA accredited.

The process is rigorous. The department undergoes a 100% review of every single policy, a web-based external assessment, and then an in-person assessment where outside evaluators interview officers, staff, and community members to verify that what’s written on paper is actually what’s happening. The CALEA Board of Commissioners then votes. Longmont was granted its initial accreditation on March 13, 2026, and the award was presented at the May 26 meeting by Colonel Matt Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol and current CALEA commission chairman.

The department has to maintain the accreditation through ongoing annual reviews.

The Rest, Quickly

Investment strategy presentation — The city’s new investment advisor, Government Portfolio Advisors (GPA), came to introduce themselves and walk Council through changes to how Longmont’s public funds are being managed. GPA manages over $35.5 billion in public fund assets across 11 states. Since taking over in December, the portfolio yield has improved from 3.58% to 3.73%.

Councilmember Marsing asked whether Longmont’s investment policy could incorporate values-aligned or ESG investing, directing public dollars toward investments that reflect community values. GPA confirmed they have experience with this. Current policy has no ESG (Environmental, social and governance) screens, but Marsing put it on the record as a future conversation.

Cannabis dispensaries done — Two marijuana dispensaries that had been operating in county enclaves surrounded by Longmont are now officially part of the city. They used city roads and the greenway but paid no Longmont sales taxes. Three ordinances finalized the annexation. All three passed 6-1, Crist opposed on each. She has previously explained she will not vote for anything that conflicts with federal law.

Golf course irrigation — Council approved funding for a major irrigation system upgrade at Sunset Golf Course as part of the additional city appropriations vote and the CIP amendments. The irrigation system is nearly 60 years old. Staff estimated the upgrade could save 30 to 37% of water use at that course, consistent with results seen at Twin Peaks after a similar upgrade. One of the Longmont golf courses is also classified as a bird sanctuary by the Audubon Society. Both votes passed unanimously.

Consent items that passed without much drama — The utility rebate ordinance (first reading, back June 9) closes a gap that allowed the city to disconnect someone for nonpayment during the window between when they are approved for a utility rebate and when it actually hits their account. The farmland lease renewal (first reading, back June 9) keeps a local family farm that has worked city-owned land for over 25 years going for another five years.

DDA agreement — The city’s annual services agreement with the Longmont Downtown Development Authority passed 6-1, Crist opposed. She raised the question of whether DDA-associated events should start covering the cost of police overtime rather than pulling from the Public Safety Fund, given that the department has only grown from 61 officers to 62 despite significant city growth. The DDA noted they already use private security to reduce police needs. No change to this year’s agreement, but Crist flagged it for future discussion.

Community satisfaction survey — The city’s biennial resident satisfaction survey is coming this summer. Council approved the plan unanimously with feedback: more inclusive language for youth and young adults, questions about noise, bilingual facilitation, and tracking who starts but doesn’t finish the survey.

CC4CA climate policy — Longmont accepted the Colorado Communities for Climate Action proposed 2026 policy statement unanimously. CC4CA is a coalition of 48 local governments that lobbies at the state level on climate legislation. Longmont has been a member since 2019.

The LGID situation — Council formally recessed as city council, reconvened as the Board of Directors of the Longmont General Improvement District No. 1, approved an annual administrative services agreement with the Downtown Development Authority, and then reconvened as city council. The LGID is a separate special district that exists in the downtown area. The same seven council members serve as its board, but they are legally a different entity when they do. Passed 6-1, Crist opposed. Marsing jokingly voted against reconvening as city council because he wanted to stay as the LGID.

Public comment — Lance returned. National Paper Airplane Day and National Blueberry Cheesecake Day. A resident came with complaints about a car that hasn’t moved from her street in years and airport noise over her neighborhood. She also said that she loves the senior center, the parks, the library, and the lending library on her front porch with chalk and lollipops for neighborhood kids.

No council comments — For the second meeting in a row, the meeting ended without council comments, city manager remarks, or city attorney remarks. The mayor could barely believe it. Neither could anyone else.

Timestamps

00:00 May 26 Recap Setup

01:40 Ranked Choice Voting Debate

05:43 City Investment Advisor Intro

06:51 Police Accreditation Spotlight

10:34 New Longmont Flag Proposal

16:04 Public Comment Highlights

17:08 Consent Agenda And Pulls

18:41 Cannabis Annexations Vote

20:45 Budget And Golf Irrigation

23:11 Consent Agenda Pulled Items

28:53 Climate Coalition Policy

30:22 Weird District Switcheroo

31:51 Wrap Up

Links

Ranked Choice Voting for Longmont:

https://www.rcvforlongmont.org/

CALEA — Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies:

https://www.calea.org/

Art in Public Places Commission: https://longmontcolorado.gov/museum/art-in-public-places/

Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA):

https://www.cc4ca.org/

Longmont City Council Meetings: https://longmontcolorado.gov/government/city-council-meetings/

Coffee with Council: https://longmontcolorado.gov/government/coffee-with-council/

Mayor and City Council Members: https://longmontcolorado.gov/government/mayor-city-council-members

Finding Your Council Representative: https://longmontcolorado.gov/government/mayor-city-council-members/mayor-or-city-council-representative/

This is an independent recap. We do our best but we are not the official record. Please see links to official documents, meeting minutes, and other resources above. Our research, podcast, and newsletter are created and edited by our team - we thoughtfully use Claude to support our efforts.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longmontcitycouncilrecap.substack.com