In order to preserve voter participation in the Town government
of Westerly and to provide legislative checks and balances, there
are hereby established procedures whereby the qualified voters may,
by petition, initiate legislative proposals for consideration by the
Town Council and the Town electorate. The process shall permit the
voters to enact and/or rescind Town laws, regulations, ordinances
and resolutions. The right of voter initiative and referendum shall
provide the electorate with all the legislative powers now vested
in the Town Council by this Charter.
However, any proposed legislation which is prohibited by State
Constitution, Federal Constitution, state laws, federal laws or recognized
judicial decisions interpreting state or federal law, is excepted
from this chapter.
Each petition shall be limited to one issue.
All proposed legislation shall be submitted to the Town Council
by petition signed by qualified electors of the Town of Westerly equal
in number to at least 12% of the number of voters in the last regularly
scheduled general election in the Town of Westerly; however, in no
event shall the required number of signatures be less than 750.
When the Town Council receives a petition, duly certified, as
provided in the next section (Filing of Petitions) hereof, the accompanying
proposed legislation shall be placed on the council agenda for a final
vote within 45 days following the council's receipt of said petition.
If within this time, the Council fails to act upon said legislation,
rejects said legislation, or enacts said legislation in materially
different form, said legislation, as originally proposed, shall be
submitted to the electorate of the Town of Westerly on referendum
ballot at the next regularly-scheduled general election.
The Town Clerk shall receive all voter-initiated petitions for
certification. A true copy of each petition shall be filed with the
Town Clerk and shall be stamped "Filed" with the time and date of
filing indicated.
The Town Clerk shall thereupon immediately forward a copy of
each petition to the Town Solicitor for legal review. Within 14 days
of the date of filing, the Town Solicitor shall forward to the Town
Council a written opinion as to the legality of the proposed petition.
At the next regularly-scheduled Town Council meeting, the Town Council
will make a determination as to the validity of the petition. If the
Council determines that the proposed petition is invalid because it
conflicts with the Federal or State Constitutions, federal or state
law or recognized judicial decisions interpreting federal or state
law, the said petition shall be marked "INVALID" by the Town Clerk.
If the Town Council shall determine that the proposed petition is
valid, then the Town Clerk shall stamp the petition "ACCEPTED" with
the time and date of acceptance noted thereupon.
In the event a petition is marked invalid, the remedy of the
petition's authors shall be through the filing of a complaint
for judicial relief.
Any properly certified voter-initiated petition which the Town
Council has failed to act upon, rejected, or passed in a materially
altered form shall be submitted to the electorate on referendum ballot
at the next regularly-scheduled general election. The ballot shall
contain the language of the proposed legislation, as originally presented
with provision for voter approval or rejection by the choice of words
"YES" or "NO". The full text of the proposed legislation shall be
posted for public examination for a minimum period of 14 days and
shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town
of Westerly at least twice prior to the scheduled election.
Any law, resolution, ordinance, amendment or other action enacted
by the initiative process shall only be repealed or amended by the
initiative process.