Fayetteville Eyes Local Ballot Measure Rules

FAYETTECILLE -- City Attorney Kit Williams wants aldermen to set specific rules for how local ballot initiatives and referendums are worded.

Williams told the City Council at an agenda-setting session Tuesday his proposal is intended to prevent litigation like city officials faced in a recent case related to a contentious Civil Rights Administration ordinance.

At A Glance

Meeting Info

The Fayetteville City Council is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 219 of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain St.

Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include:

• A “state of the city” address by Mayor Lioneld Jordan

• A set of policy changes that would allow certain types of small-scale manufacturing in commercial areas

Source: Staff Report

"One of my jobs is to avoid litigation, and that's what I tried to do here," Williams said.

An October lawsuit in Washington County Circuit Court claimed the group Repeal 119 included improper ballot language on petitions that sought to put the city's anti-discrimination law to a public vote. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay dismissed the case, but ambiguities remain on how local ballot measures should be worded.

Amendment 7 of the Arkansas Constitution details the form that should be used in county and statewide referendums, but it does not provide guidance for municipal ballot measures.

In the run-up to a Dec. 9 special election on the Civil Rights Administration ordinance, City Council members and Repeal 119 representatives disagreed on how the ordinance should be described on the ballot and whether a "for" vote should be for repeal or for the ordinance.

Williams said following Tuesday's meeting his proposal would eliminate that uncertainty. It would prohibit "for repeal" language on all city ballot measures -- as is the case with county and statewide elections.

His proposal would also mimic state law by giving the city attorney's office two days to approve or change ballot language before groups begin circulating petitions.

Under state law, the Arkansas Attorney General's office has 10 days to review proposed ballot language for statewide initiatives and referendums. If petitioners are unhappy with changes the Attorney General makes, they can appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

With Williams' proposal, local petitioners could challenge the city attorney's ballot language in Washington County Circuit Court.

Alderman John La Tour, who was involved with the Repeal 119 effort before he was elected in November, said he's not in favor of Williams' proposal.

La Tour said it should be up to residents to decide how they want local ballot questions to read.

He cited a section of Amendment 7, which states, "No law shall be passed to prohibit ... the circulation of petitions, nor in any manner interfere with the freedom of the people in procuring petitions."

La Tour said, "What this does is introduce a level of control back to city hall that I don't want."

He added that Williams' proposal has the potential to cut into the time residents have to gather petitions -- even if only by two days.

City code gives residents 31 days after an ordinance's passage to submit petitions to the City Clerk's office.

"Timing is everything when you're trying to get petitions signed," La Tour said Tuesday.

Williams' proposal is up for discussion at next week's City Council meeting but likely won't receive a final vote until members of the council's Ordinance Review Committee have a chance to weigh in on it.

"There's no real rush on this," Williams said.

Joel Walsh can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @nwajoel.

NW News on 01/14/2015

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