initiative petitions.
BINDING petitions!
On Mar 10, 1:19 pm, Jonathan Ashley <jonathanashle...@lavabit.com>
wrote:
> Don't you just love it when government officials listen to the people.<g>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *
> Texas City Ignores Anti-Camera Voter Petition*
> /Port Lavaca, Texas attempts to avoid voter referendum on red light
> camera program./
>
> Port Lavaca Mayor Jack WhitlowOfficials in Port Lavaca, Texas decided
> yesterday that they would ignore an initiative petition calling for the
> 12,000 residents to decide the fate of the red light cameras in a May
> election (view petition <http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/33/3367.asp>).
> Signatures on the petition were certified as valid shortly after being
> submitted in January and a special city council meeting was scheduled to
> place the measure on the ballot, but the city decided against holding
> the vote. The group Port Lavaca Citizens Against Red Light Cameras
> <http://www.facebook.com/#%21/group.php?gid=352118962300> believes the
> city is violating the law.
>
> "We complied with all requirements of the city charter regarding charter
> amendments," initiative organizer Dwayne Buehring told TheNewspaper. "We
> turned these in three months ago. Apparently, it was an orchestrated
> effort on their part to put it off until the last minute so we had no
> recourse to get it on the May ballot."
>
> Monday is the deadline for an item to be part of the May elections.
> Under Texas and municipal law, the council vote to place a charter
> amendment before voters is considered a ministerial duty not subject to
> the discretion of individual council members.
>
> "The council shall submit a proposed charter amendment to the voters for
> their approval at an election if the submission is supported by a
> petition signed by a number of qualified voters of the municipality
> equal to at least five percent of the number of qualified voters,"
> Section 14.17 of Port Lavaca's city charter states.
>
> Mayor Jack Whitlow explained that he pulled the item on the advice of
> the city attorney who argued that "health and safety" matters are not
> subject to the initiative process. Whitlow also cited a lawsuit filed
> against the city by a front group for Redflex Traffic Systems, the
> Australian company in charge of the camera program. Whitlow suggested
> the vote might be delayed until November.
>
> "It makes the whole deal look shady," Buehring said. "They know that
> these cameras will be overturned, and they're scared of that. They'll be
> put in the same place as Houston. So they're just going to run and hide,
> violate the charter and violate the law. It's been very clear they love
> the money."
>
> Red light cameras and speed cameras have been put to a public vote on
> fifteen occasions, including votes in Houston, College Station and
> Baytown. Automated enforcement has never survived a vote
> <http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2769.asp>.
> --
> "Why is it so hard to understand that the reason the first ten
> Amendments --- commonly known as the Bill of Rights --- are trampled
> underfoot by politicos and bureaucrats is that the Founding Fathers
> neglected to provide a suitably harsh penalty for it?" --- L. Neil Smith
>
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--
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