Remarks by Judge Juan Villaseñor, 8th Judicial District, about the Hughes Citizens’ Initiative

“In the end, all political power is vested in and is derived from the people. And all government originates from the people.

So, that’s what undergirds everything, from the court’s perspective.

And as the supreme court noted there, this is a right that people have reserved for themselves.

It is a right of first order. And I think it lies at the heart of our representative democracy.”

Remarks in February 2, 2021 legal proceedings that affirmed the right of Fort Collins voters to make the zoning change and land acquisition directives described in this ballot measure to protect Hughes Open Space as Public Open Lands: