[Ord. No. 12-2005, 9-6-2005, elec. 11-8-2005]
a.
Initiative. The registered voters of the City of Belfast shall have
the power to propose ordinances, motions and resolves to the City
Council and, if the City Council fails to adopt such so proposed without
any change in substance, to adopt or reject it in a City election.
Such power shall not extend to the budget or capital improvement program
or any other ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of
taxes or salaries of City officers or employees.
b.
Referendum. The registered voters of the City shall have the power
to require reconsideration by the City Council of any adopted ordinance,
motion, or resolve, and if the City Council fails to repeal such as
was reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a City election. Such
power shall not extend to the budget or capital improvement program
or any emergency or ordinance relating to appropriation of money or
levy of taxes.
c.
Recall. Any member of the Belfast City Council, School Board Director
elected from Belfast to MSAD #34 or any other elected City official
may be recalled and removed from elected office by the voters of the
City as herein provided.
d.
Procedure. Any petition for the reconsideration of any adopted ordinance,
motion, or resolve shall be filed within 20 business days after the
enactment or passage of such ordinance, motion, or resolve.
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[e.]
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Exceptions. The powers and procedures described herein in Article VII shall not extend to any Land Use Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance nor Comprehensive Plan, Policy or Procedure. All land use, zoning and comprehensive plan ordinances, policies and procedures shall be adopted, amended and reconsidered, solely pursuant to the procedures and authority of Title 30-A M.R.S.A., as amended from time to time.
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Any five registered voters may commence initiative, referendum
or recall proceedings by filing with the City Clerk an affidavit stating
that those voters will constitute the Petitioners' Committee
and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper
form, stating their names and addresses and specifying the address
to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and setting
out in full the proposed initiative to be considered or reconsidered,
the proposed ordinance, motion, or resolve, to be approved or repealed,
or the City Councilor or official to be recalled.
Promptly after the affidavit of the Petitioners' Committee
if filed, the City Clerk shall issue the appropriate petition blanks
to the Petitioners' Committee.
a.
Number of signatures. Initiative, referendum or recall petitions
must be signed by at least 20% of the registered voters in the City
of Belfast at the time the petition is taken out.
b.
Form and content. All petition papers shall be printed, assembled,
and completed in accordance with the provisions of the M.R.S.A. Title
30-A M.R.S.A. § 2102(b) [excluding (B)(1) and (2)] and including
(B), (3), and (c) as amended from time to time.
c.
Affidavit of circulator. Each paper of a petition shall have attached
to it when filed an affidavit executed by the person circulating it
stating that said person has personally circulated the paper, the
number of signatures thereon, that all signatures were affixed in
that circulator's presence, the circulator believes them to be
genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and
that each signer had an opportunity before signing to read the full
text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
d.
Time for filing referendum petitions. Referendum petitions must be
filed in the City Clerk's office within 20 business days after
adoption by the City Council of the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
a.
Certificate of City Clerk; sufficiency of petition. Within 20 business days after the petition is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall promptly send a copy of the certificate to the Petitioners' Committee by certified mail, return receipt requested. A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the Petitioners' Committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the City Clerk within three business days after receiving the copy of the City Clerk's certificate and files a supplementary petition upon additional papers within 10 business days after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Section 3 [of Article VII] above, and within five business days after it is filed the City Clerk shall complete a supplemental certificate as to the sufficiency of the supplementary petition as amended and promptly send a copy of such certificate to the Petitioners' Committee by certified mail, return receipt requested as in the case of the original petition. If a petition or amended petition is certified sufficient, or if a petition or amended petition is certified insufficient and the Petitioners' Committee does not elect to amend or request City Council review under subsection (b) of this section within the time required, the City Clerk shall promptly present the certificate to the City Council and the certificate shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
b.
Council review. If a petition has been certified insufficient and
the Petitioners' Committee does not file notice of intention
to amend it or if an amended petition has been certified insufficient,
the Committee may, within two business days after receiving the copy
of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the City.
The City Council shall review the certificate at its next regular
meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove
it, and the City Council's determination shall be the final determination
as to the sufficiency of the petition.
c.
Court review; new petition. The final determination as to the sufficiency
of a petition shall be subject to court review. A final determination
of insufficiency, even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice
the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
a.
When a referendum petition is certified as sufficient by the City
Clerk, the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended
from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
b.
Upon a certified petition application, the City Clerk will immediately
notify, in writing, the City Council, the ordinance-initiating board,
committee or department, and all applicants and all landowners with
land abutting, concerned or affected by that contested prohibitive
or enabling ordinance, that such a petition process is being initiated.
This notification shall advise all concerned that activities conducted
within the period of certification and ultimate public vote will be
at their own risk and subject to cancellation or removal should a
referendum either repeal or approve the contested ordinance. Failure
of the City to give this notice shall not invalidate the results of
the City election.
a.
Action by the City Council. When an initiative, referendum or recall petition has been finally determined sufficient, the City Council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in Article II of this Charter or reconsider the referred ordinance, motion, or resolve, by voting its repeal. If the City Council fails to adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within 40 business days or fails to repeal the referred ordinance within 20 business days after the date the petition was finally determined sufficient, it shall submit the proposed or referred ordinance to the voters of the City.
b.
Submission to the voters. The vote of the City on a proposed or referred
ordinance, motion, or resolve, shall be held not less than 20 business
days and not later than 130 business days from the date of the final
City Council vote thereon. If no regular City election is held within
the period prescribed in this subsection, the City Council shall provide
for a special election; otherwise the vote shall be held at the same
time as such regular election, except that the City Council may in
its discretion provide for a special election at an earlier date within
the prescribed period. Copies of the proposed or referred ordinance
shall be made available at the polls.
The vote of the City on a recall petition shall be held not
less than 20 business days and not later than 130 business days from
the date that the recall petition has been finally determined sufficient.
If no regular City election is held within the period prescribed in
this subsection, then the City Council shall provide for a special
election in the same manner set forth above for an initiative or referendum
upon a petition.
c.
Withdrawal of petitions. An initiative or referendum petition may
be withdrawn at any time prior to the fifteenth-day preceding the
day scheduled for a vote of the City by filing with the City Clerk
a request for withdrawal signed by at least four members of the Petitioners'
Committee. Upon filing of such request the petition shall have no
further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
a.
Initiative. If a plurality of the registered voters voting on a proposed
ordinance, motion, or resolve vote in its favor, it shall be considered
adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated
in all respects in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind
adopted by the City Council. If conflicting ordinances are approved
at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative
votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.
b.
Referendum. If a plurality of the registered voters voting on a proposed
ordinance, motion, or resolve, vote against it, it shall be considered
repealed upon certification of the election results.
c.
Recall. Effective immediately, if a plurality of the registered voters
in a recall election vote in favor of recalling such City councilor,
school board director, or other elected official, that City councilor,
school board director, or other elected official shall be removed
from office. If such City councilor, school board director, or other
elected official has had less than six months remaining in the term
of office to which same has been elected, the office shall be unfilled
until the next municipal election. If the recalled City councilor,
school board director, or other elected official has more than six
months remaining in the term of office, the candidate to replace the
recalled City councilor for the balance of the unexpired term shall
be provided as determined in State Election Laws.
