Colorado Towns That Already Incorporated
Every meeting the committee held this summer had the same shape: our numbers, our maps, our answers.
This one was different.
The committee invited two people who helped build Colorado towns from scratch, and handed them the room. Neither lives in Niwot and neither votes here — whatever they told us about how it went for them, they have nothing at stake in how Niwot votes on November 3.
Who spoke
- Maureen Shul — founder and first mayor of Castle Pines, which incorporated in 2008.
- John Brackney — one of the five founders of Centennial, which incorporated in 2001.
Their remarks are their own. Nothing either of them said is the position of the Niwot Incorporation Committee, and neither has any role in this campaign.
Why these towns
Neither is a stand-in for Niwot. Castle Pines is eighteen years past its incorporation and Centennial twenty-five, and Centennial is many times Niwot’s size. That distance is what makes them worth hearing rather than what disqualifies them: a town that has lived with the decision for two decades can speak to what the transition cost, how the roads and the county handoff went, and how much of what came afterward was theirs to decide — which is the question underneath most of the ones Niwot has been asking.
The committee asked them about the first few years: what the transition took, what caught them off guard, and what they would do differently. What they said is theirs to say — the committee did not script it and does not vouch for it.
Where things stand
On May 21, 2026, the Boulder County District Court determined that the incorporation petition satisfies all requirements of Colorado law and ordered that the question be placed on the November 3, 2026 ballot. On that date, Niwot voters will decide whether to incorporate and, if approved, who will serve as the nine charter commissioners responsible for drafting a proposed home rule charter.
However you end up voting, we would rather you decided it with the facts in hand.
Keep going
- Home Rule Community Briefing — the July 28 briefing with Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League, recording and deck.
- Governance & your seat at the table — why the structural question sits underneath every other issue.
- What it would cost — the mill levy, the sales and use tax, and what a household would actually pay.
- Updates & notices — committee notices, meeting materials, and press coverage.
- niwotelection.org — the Election Commission’s own site: meeting notices and the ballot questions.
- Ask a question — the committee answers publicly.