The submission to the vote of the people of any proposed ordinance or of any ordinance enacted by the city council and which has not yet gone into effect, may be accomplished by the presentation of a petition therefor to the city council in the manner hereinafter provided. Any 10 qualified voters of the City of Old Town may originate a petition putting in operation the initiative or the referendum, by signing such petition at the office of the city clerk. Whenever requested by 10 such voters, the city clerk shall prepare the proper petition with a copy of the ordinance to be submitted attached thereto and upon its being signed by 10 voters, the city clerk shall file the petition and shall issue petition blanks to the petitioners and any other registered voters who may wish to circulate them. Petition forms may be filed with the city clerk at any time during the city clerk's normal office hours within 30 business days after the date the original petition was filed with the city clerk. The clerk shall note the date of filing of each form. At the expiration of said 30 days, the city clerk shall declare the petition closed, and shall, at the first regular meeting of the city council thereafter, present to that body the petition with verification of the number of valid signatures thereto attached. If the number of valid signatures to said petition shall amount to 500 or more, the city council shall immediately take the necessary steps to submit to the voters of the city the question proposed in said petition; provided that in case of the referendum, the entire repeal of the ordinance sought to be referred, and in the case of the initiative, the passage by the city council of the desired ordinance shall put an end to all proceedings under said petition.
(Amendment of 11-4-2003)
The petition used to originate the initiative or the referendum shall be substantially in the following form:
PETITION TO THE CITY COUNCIL
For the submission to the people of the question:
Shall the proposed ordinance, a copy of which is hereto attached, be adopted?
We, the undersigned, under oath, depose and say: That we are fully qualified voters of the City of Old Town, residing respectively at the addresses placed opposite our names, and we hereby petition the city council to submit the foregoing question to the voters of the City of Old Town at the next regular municipal election (or at a special election.)
Names
Residence
Date
I, __________, a registered voter of the City of Old Town, do solemnly affirm that I witnessed the signing of each of the above signatures and that, at the time of said signing, I made certain that the person affixing his name thereto had reasonable knowledge of the purpose of the petition.
Registered Voter
Date
Whenever there has been originated as aforesaid, a petition for the reference to the people of any ordinance passed by the city council, which ordinance has not yet gone into effect, the same shall be suspended from going into operation until it has been submitted to a vote of the people and has received the affirmative vote of a majority of the voters voting on said question.
Within 10 days after an initiative or referendum petition with the required number of valid signatures is presented by the city clerk, the city council shall set a time for the holding of a special election, at which the proposed or suspended ordinance shall be submitted to the voters of the city, which special election shall be held not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after such presentation; provided, that if a petition shall be so presented within four months next preceding a regular municipal election, no special election shall be called, but the question shall be submitted at said regular election.
Whenever any ordinance is required by the provisions of this charter to be submitted to the voters of the city at any election, the city council shall order one publication of the complete text thereof to be made in one or more newspapers of Penobscot County, such publication to be made not less than 10 days nor more than 15 days prior to the election, or in lieu of such publication, the city council may cause the ordinance to be printed and mailed with a sample ballot to each voter at least five days prior to the election.
The ballots used when voting upon such proposed ordinance shall set forth the title thereof in full and state its general nature, and shall contain the words: "For the Ordinance," and "Against the Ordinance".
If a majority of the qualified voters voting on said proposed initiative ordinance, or said referred ordinance, shall vote in favor thereof, such ordinance shall take effect five days after the declaration of the official canvass of the return of such election.
Any number of proposed or referred ordinances may be voted upon at the same election. In the event that two or more ordinances adopted at the same election shall contain conflicting provisions, the ordinance receiving the highest number of votes at such election shall be paramount and all questions of construction shall be determined accordingly.
In the event that two or more ordinances are submitted at the same election, they shall be placed upon the ballot in order of the priority of the filing of the respective petitions and shall be given precedence upon the ballot over any and all questions submitted by the city council on its own initiative.
The city council may submit, on its own initiative, a proposition for the enactment, repeal or amendment of any ordinance except as herein otherwise provided, to be voted upon at any municipal election and should such proposition receive a majority of the votes cast thereon at any election such ordinance shall be enacted, repealed, or amended accordingly. An ordinance adopted by a vote of the people shall not be repealed or amended except by a vote of the people, unless such ordinance shall otherwise expressly provide.
The city council shall by ordinance, make such further regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.