The Council shall protect and promote the right of the citizens
of the City of Coatesville to participate in a positive and constructive
manner in the government of the city. Any qualified citizen of the
city may participate in the government of the city by:
A. Seeking elective office of the city as prescribed by this Charter
and voting for candidates for elective office.
B. Serving on boards, commissions, authorities or other agencies of
the city government when requested by the appropriate officials.
C. Attending and being heard at public meetings of the Council and other
boards, commissions, authorities and other agencies of the city government.
D. Addressing suggestions to the Council and others to provide guidance
for their actions.
E. Exercising the right of initiative, referendum and recall of elected
officials as provided in this Charter or as otherwise may be provided
by law.
The Council shall make every effort to appoint qualified citizens
of the city to boards, commissions, authorities or other agencies
of the city government in order that the greatest possible use be
made of the talents and interests of city citizens in promoting public
interest and welfare of the City of Coatesville.
The qualified voters of the city shall have the power, subject
to the procedures and limitations set forth herein, to propose the
initiation of ordinances or the repeal of ordinances previously enacted
by the Council. The Council shall give consideration to any matters
brought to its attention by the process of initiative; and, if the
Council should fail to act affirmatively in response to such petition,
the action desired by the petitioners shall be submitted to referendum
of the qualified voters of the city under procedures set forth below:
A. Limitations on initiative and referendum. The following limitations
shall apply to the use of initiative and referendum:
(1) Initiative and referendum may not be used to:
(a)
Alter ordinances enacting or amending the annual operating and
capital budgets of the city; however, such action may be taken with
respect to any ordinance authorizing the establishment of specific
programs or projects.
(b)
Alter the salaries of city officials and employees unless specifically
authorized by law or by the Council.
(c)
Alter or rescind any ordinance providing for the levy and collection
of taxes, special assessments, service charges, fees, rates or other
charges for city services.
(2) No ordinance enacted by referendum which would affect the revenues
or expenditures of the city in the fiscal year in which the ordinance
is adopted shall take effect prior to the start of the succeeding
fiscal year.
(3) No ordinance proposed by initiative shall contain more than one subject,
which shall be clearly expressed in its title.
B. Petition. All petition papers for the purpose of initiating or repealing
an ordinance shall:
(1) Bear, in ink, the signatures, addresses and date of signing of the
fewer of 500 or 20% of the number of registered voters of Coatesville
who voted in the most recent presidential election.
(2) Contain the names and addresses of five voters designated as the
Committee of Petitioners and the person designated as Chairperson
of the Committee.
(3) In the case of initiating an ordinance, contain the full text of
the ordinance proposed, and in the case of repealing an ordinance,
identify the title, date and a summation of the significant substance
of the ordinance proposed for repeal.
(4) Contain on each page an affidavit executed by the circulator of the
petition that all signatures thereon are genuine and were affixed
in the presence of the circulator on the date indicated only after
the signer had an opportunity to read the full text prior to signing.
(5) Be circulated and signed within a period of 30 days between the date
of the first signature and the date at which the petition papers are
submitted to the Manager as provided herein.
(6) Be submitted to the City Manager, who shall immediately take further
action as set forth below.
C. Effect of petition. If the petition calls for the repeal of an ordinance
which was not in effect at the time the petition was filed with the
City Manager, the effective date of the ordinance will be suspended
until final decision has been made under this Article. If the ordinance
was in effect at the time the petition was filed with the City Manager,
the ordinance will remain in effect until repealed by the Council
or by referendum.
D. Action by the City Manager. Upon receipt of a petition to initiate
or repeal an ordinance, the City Manager shall take the following
action:
(1) Within 20 days of receiving the petition, the Manager shall examine
the petition for compliance with the provisions of this section with
respect to the form and sufficiency of signatures and shall advise
the Chairperson of the Committee of Petitioners by registered mail
of the results of such examination.
(2) If the purpose of the petition is to initiate an ordinance, the Manager
shall immediately refer a copy of the ordinance to the City Solicitor,
who shall within five days certify to the Manager whether or not the
proposed ordinance is lawful under general law or this Charter and
whether or not the proposed ordinance is in proper form or can be
so written without changing the substance. If the Solicitor considers
the proposed ordinance to be lawful but defective in form, the Solicitor
shall provide a draft in proper form. The Manager shall report the
findings of the Solicitor in the report to the Chairperson of the
Committee of Petitioners.
(3) Within 10 days of receiving the response of the Manager, the Chairperson
of the Committee of Petitioners may notify the Manager of the Committee's
acceptance of the report and the revised draft, if any, of the ordinance
and shall remedy any minor procedural deficiencies, if any, cited
by the Manager in the report to the Committee. Otherwise, the matter
will be considered to be abandoned, and any further action must be
initiated by a new petition.
(4) If the Manager finds the petition to be sufficient, the Manager shall,
within 20 days after receipt, place the proposed ordinance on the
agenda for consideration at the next regularly scheduled meeting of
the Council, which shall occur at least seven days after advertisement
as provided herein.
(5) The Manager shall advertise the proposed ordinance in the same manner
as an ordinance initially approved by the Council under § 2-304
of this Charter.
E. Action by the Council. Unless the petition is rescinded by action
of the Committee of Petitioners as provided below, the Council must
accept or reject the proposed ordinance or repeal of an ordinance
at the advertised meeting. No amendments may be made which materially
change the substance or effect of the proposed ordinance.
F. Failure to act. If, within 60 days of submission of the petition
to the Manager, the Council shall fail to adopt the proposed ordinance
or repeal of an ordinance without any change in substance, the Manager
shall, within 10 days thereafter, file the petition with the election
officers of Chester County and request that the proposed ordinance
or repeal of an ordinance be submitted for referendum to the voters
of Coatesville at the next election, municipal, general or primary,
which shall occur not less than 60 days from the date of certification
of the petition to the county election officers. Prior to the election,
the proposed ordinance or description of the ordinance to be repealed
shall be published as required by the Pennsylvania Election Code.
No referendum shall be taken under this Article at a special election
other than at the time of a regularly scheduled election.
G. Results of election.
(1) If a proposed ordinance or repeal of an ordinance is rejected in
the referendum, no further action may be initiated by petition on
the same subject within two years from the date of the election at
which the proposal was defeated. However, the Council will retain
the option of adopting a similar ordinance or repealing previous ordinances
at its discretion.
(2) If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the question favor
the adoption of a proposed ordinance or repeal of an ordinance previously
enacted, the new ordinance shall become effective or the repealed
ordinance shall become void upon certification of the election results.
The Manager shall add new ordinances to or delete repealed ordinances
from the record book and the Code of ordinances. The Council shall
take no action to repeal or significantly modify an ordinance adopted
by initiative and referendum within a period of two years from the
date of the election at which the ordinance was approved.
H. Neglect of duty. Should any city officer fail to carry out the duties
of implementing actions required by this Article or should the Committee
of Petitioners be dissatisfied with any action of the Manager in rejecting
a petition, the Committee of Petitioners may institute action with
the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County to enforce compliance.
If the matter deals with the repeal of an ordinance which was not
in effect at the time the petition was submitted to the Manager, the
effective date of the ordinance shall be suspended until final decision
has been made under this Article.
I. Rescinding petition. Before final action is taken by the Council
or by the county election officers if the matter has been certified
to them for referendum, the Committee of Petitioners may, by majority
vote of its members, elect to rescind the petition and thereupon notify
in writing the Manager and, if necessary, the county election officers
of such decision. If such action is taken, the matter will be closed,
and any further action may be taken only by a new petition.
Any person holding an elective office in the government of the
City of Coatesville, whether by election, succession or appointment
to fill a vacancy, shall be subject to removal from office at a recall
election in the manner provided in this Charter or as may otherwise
be required by general law.
A. Recall petition.
(1) A recall of an incumbent of an elective office shall be initiated
upon petition signed by 40% of the registered electors voting at the
last gubernatorial election in the city. Every recall petition shall
name the office and officer against whom it is directed. Each elector
signing a recall petition shall add to the signature of the elector
the residence of the elector and the date of signing.
(2) Signatures on a recall petition may be on separate sheets, but each
sheet shall show the name of the person whose recall is sought and
have appended to it the affidavit of some person, not necessarily
a signer of the petition, that to the best of the affiant's knowledge
and belief the persons whose signatures appear on the sheet are registered
electors of the City of Coatesville.
B. Filing of petition. A recall petition shall be tendered for filing
to the election officers of Chester County. No signature shall be
counted as valid which is dated more than 60 days prior to the date
the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender to the election officers,
the petition shall be available for examination by any interested
person. Within 15 days after tender of the petition, the election
officers shall have authority to pass upon the validity of the petition
and the validity and number of signatures required thereon. The decision
of the election officers shall be subject to immediate review on appeal
to the Court of Common Pleas.
C. Notice to incumbent. As soon as the election officers have received
a recall petition for filing and determined its validity and sufficiency,
the appropriate officer shall notify the incumbent named in the petition
that the petition has been filed, upon receipt of such notice the
incumbent may resign from office and thereupon the recall proceedings
shall terminate.
D. Recall election. If the incumbent against whom the recall petition
is directed does not resign from office within 10 days after notice
of filing of such petition shall have been given to the incumbent,
the election officers shall arrange a recall election. The recall
election shall be held at a special election conducted at the first
regularly scheduled election, municipal, general or primary, which
shall occur not less than 40 days after the incumbent has been notified
as provided above. The incumbent against whom a recall petition is
directed may resign at any time prior to a recall election, and thereupon
the election for this purpose shall not be held.
E. Recall question.
(1) The following question shall be presented to each elector entitled
to vote on the recall question:
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"Shall (name of officer) be recalled and removed from the office
of (name of office)?"
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(2) The above question shall appear as to every officer whose recall
is to be voted upon, and provision shall be made for the elector to
vote "yes" or "no" to the question.
F. Results of election. If a majority of the registered electors who
vote on the question at a recall election shall vote "yes," the incumbent
shall be deemed recalled and removed from office, but if a majority
of such registered electors shall vote "no," the incumbent shall remain
in office. Should the result of such election be affirmative, the
date of the removal and vacancy in the office shall be effective seven
days after the date when the results of the election are certified
by the County Board of Elections, unless such date is further postponed
by order of a court.
G. Filling of vacancy. The filling of a vacancy created by the recall
of an elected official shall be in accordance with the provisions
of this Charter with respect to filling vacancies in the office involved.
H. Disqualification for office. No person who has been removed from
an elective office by a recall election or has resigned from such
an elective office after a recall petition directed to such person
has been filed shall be eligible for election or appointment to any
office of the city government within two years after removal from
office or resignation.
I. Limitations. No recall petition shall be filed against any incumbent
of an elective office within the first year or the last nine months
of the term of office or within nine months after an unsuccessful
recall election against such officer, and no officer who has been
reelected for a successive term shall be subject to recall during
the first year of such term.