Annapolitans for a Better Community
City Manager Referendum Launched.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Under current State law, citizens can petition for a public referendum on an issue by collecting signatures from twenty percent of registered voters. With almost 25,000 voters registered, the petition drive will require fewer than 5,000 people to endorse the petition. ABC Co-chairmen, Bill Kardash and Doug Smith have been anticipating that a petition would be needed, although they hoped the City Council would approve the vote.
“We are disappointed the Council did not approve the much-needed change in the City Charter”, commented Doug Smith, ABC Co-chairman. “As we have talked to voters across Annapolis, we find wide-spread support for this change. With a City Manager we get the best of both worlds - the Mayor and Aldermen will continue to make the policy decisions, and we get the benefit of a trained professional to handle implementation. If community response is any indication, we feel confident we can collect the necessary signatures to get this on the ballot in the fall and let the voters decide”.
Bill Kardash added: “We have made every attempt to meet with all the Aldermen and Alderwomen to elicit their comments and views. We said that, if they wanted to leave a legacy of “good government” for the City, this would be a major step in that direction. But that didn’t happen, so the voters will get a chance to decide. That’s what democracy is all about.” ABC also announced that it has been in contact with several major community and civic groups throughout the City and many have volunteered to help gather signatures for the Charter Amendment.
YOU WILL BE HEARING MORE ABOUT THIS HERE!!!!!!
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9 Comments:
You should hold a special petition signing session some evening at Ahh Coffee...
Andrew//// I should do i? I should do it? I should do it? Do you recall President Kennedy's inauguration speech? "Ask not what your blogger can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your community...."
I should do it? I should do it???????
Hey-more free publicity for Ahh, Coffee!!! DAN DID YOU SEE THIS????
Thanks Andrew.....now, I have a question for you: I should do it?
IS an electronic petition a viable/legal alternative?
I don't know. We shall see..
Bill K. and Doug S. should do it. I just figure with your "in" at the coffee shop you could instigate it, then leave them up to their own devices.
Also, 20 percent of all registered voters have to sign the petition? What kind of law is that? In Ohio, where I'm from, I think the rule is five percent of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election. I think this should be Maryland's motto: "Democracy be damned!!!" It's good news for the mayor, though.
I'd be curious to see the "State law" that enables this. In fact, the only referenda I've ever seen in MD are to overturn laws passed by the legislature, not to create new law.
City law, backed up by state law, allows our council to change the charter--hence the two bills that went down last night. From what I understand, that specific power to a city's deliberative body may be a bit unusual. Therefore, if you can't do it through a council vote--what else other than referendum would work? I have been told that the referendum has been going through a legal review process with at least one outside expert in municipal law and nobody has raised your concern, including Alderman Israel, a former prosecutor, who was also a sponsor of one of the bills. Also, Alderman Paone strongly wants it going to a referendum and he is also a former prosecutor. I think you may be sort of mixing state law and voting and city law and voting, although in my limited understanding of all this, I believe that the charter to be a city is granted by the state and a charter must therefore comply with state law. Some powers are reserved for cities, some for the state. I do not see any reason at least so far, to worry about your question.
Have issues been petitioned to referendum in the city before?
Thanks but...I dunno...but my guess is probably...many times....but why keep asking me? I'm just a poor country blogger. Go research it and report back....next case your honor...
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