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.