FAYETTEVILLE -- City Council members will wait on pending state legislation before deciding whether to create new rules for local initiatives and referendums.
Arkansas Code sets procedures for state and county ballot measures, but the process for publicly challenging municipal laws is less clear.
Council Action
Fayetteville’s City Council met Tuesday and:
• Approved a certificate of public convenience and necessity for Ambassador Transportation Services, a company that plans to operate two to six taxicabs in town.
• Certified College Town Limo, allowing the company to operate one to three limousines.
• Vacated a utility easement at 3215 North Hills Blvd., where Washington Regional Medical Center is planning a 105,000-square-foot women’s clinic.
• Made 11 appointments to seven boards and committees.
Source: Staff Report
"Municipalities may provide for the exercise of the initiative and referendum as to their local legislation," according to Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution -- commonly referred to as "Amendment 7."
City code sets a timeline for gathering petitions to call for referendums, but it doesn't describe the form those petitions should take or the way ballots should read.
The lack of guidance came to a head last year in the weeks leading up to a special election on the Civil Rights Administration ordinance. City officials disagreed with a group called Repeal 119 about how the ballot should be structured.
Repeal 119 representatives wanted residents to vote "for repeal" or "against repeal" of the ordinance. The majority of the City Council favored a vote for or against the anti-discrimination law.
After the ordinance was repealed by a 52 to 48 percent vote, City Attorney Kit Williams said it was time to more clearly define how the process will work for future referendums.
His proposal would largely mimic state law.
"For repeal" and "against repeal" language would be prohibited -- as it is with state and county referendums. Instead, voters would cast ballots for or against the ordinance in question.
A more contentious provision would give the city attorney's office two days to approve proposed ballot language before petitioners begin circulating petitions. With statewide referendums, the Arkansas Attorney General has 10 days to approve ballot language.
After sharp criticism from opponents of the Civil Rights Administration ordinance and a bill introduced by state Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, Williams suggested removing the city attorney review provision.
Still, his proposal drew strong rebuke Tuesday.
Several people involved with the Repeal 119 campaign said the provision had potential to delay the petition-gathering process. Fayetteville code gives residents just 31 days to gather petitions calling for a referendum, as opposed to Arkansas, which gives petitioners 90 days after the end of the legislative session for statewide referendums and 60 days after the passage of county laws.
Paul Phaneuf, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for City Council in Ward 1, questioned how objective the city attorney's office could be in a heated exchange with Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
"It defies common sense that a person could be an objective arbiter to something he or she helped craft," Phaneuf said.
Alderman John La Tour said if residents, by way of a petition drive, gather enough signatures to put an ordinance to a public vote, it should be up to them to decide how the ballot measure is worded.
"I'd just like to ensure that when the people rise up and begin a petition process, the authority of the wording of that petition stays with people and their legal representatives -- not the city administration," La Tour said.
If the state bill filed by Ballinger earlier this month passes, there would be no governmental review of ballot language leading up to city or county referendums. Ballot language in those elections would be structured for or against repeal -- not for or against the issue at hand -- so long as the election was called for by petitioners and not the City Council or County Quorum Court. Ballinger's bill doesn't address state referendums.
His bill unanimously cleared the state House of Representatives Friday. It was referred to the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Monday.
Kyle Smith, a supporter of Fayetteville's Civil Rights Administration ordinance, said Tuesday that, regardless of the outcome of Ballinger's or Williams' proposals, residents should be glad to have some sort of guidance going forward.
"This would make sure that everyone knows how to present a petition and ballot language so that we all come in to something like this knowing what to expect," Smith said. "I think that ought to be a comfort to anyone involved in the process: to know the rules."
The City Council is again scheduled to discuss the issue April 7.
NW News on 03/18/2015