Westminster to take slower approach to overhauling structure of City Council

The Westminster City Council took a staggered approach to revamping its structure Monday night, proposing to split the city into three wards in the near term with the potential to expand the governing body — with the addition of two new at-large council members — later.

If the council gives final approval to the plan on Aug. 26, voters will decide this November whether to switch from decades of citywide elections of council members to a ward-based approach. Westminster would have two council members per ward while the mayor would continue to be elected at-large.

Then, in the 2025 election, voters would decide whether to grow the council from seven to nine members, adding two new members to represent the entire city rather than just part of it.

The latest plan came together Monday night, scuttling a proposal the council had moved forward last week to give voters a single vote this fall to create a hybrid council with both citywide and ward-based representatives. Some council members in favor of creating wards in the city felt more local representation could give a louder voice to people living in south Westminster, an older and less affluent section of town.

Westminster, with a population of around 115,000, is one of the last large metro-area cities that still elects its entire council — minus the mayor — in an at-large fashion. Boulder also runs exclusively citywide elections for its council.

The state’s three largest cities — Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora — use a blended approach of district and at-large representation on their city councils, as do Pueblo, Greeley and Grand Junction.

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