(a) 
Initiative. The qualified voters of the City shall have the power to propose ordinances to the Council and, if the Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt or reject it at a City election, provided that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program or any ordinance relating to the appropriation of money, the levy of taxes, zoning or salaries of City officers or employees. A proposed initiative ordinance shall contain only one (1) subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title. An initiative petition may be utilized to repeal any ordinance subject to initiative, including an ordinance for which the referendum time has lapsed. An initiative petition may also be utilized to amend an ordinance subject to initiative by repeal and enactment of same.
(b) 
Referendum. The qualified voters of the City shall have the power to require reconsideration by the Council of any adopted ordinance and, if the Council fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a City election, provided that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program, any emergency ordinance, any ordinance levying a special assessment or providing for the issuance of special tax bills or any ordinance relating to zoning, the appropriation of money or the levy of taxes.
(c) 
Recall. No elected official shall be subject to recall during the first (1st) one hundred twenty (120) days after his or her induction into office. Likewise, no elected official shall be subject to recall during the last one hundred eighty (180) days of his or her term. If the elected official is retained in office upon any recall election, the official shall not be subject to recall during the first (1st) one hundred eighty (180) days after such recall election. Recall of the Mayor shall be by petition and vote of the qualified voters of the City; recall of a Council Member shall be by petition and vote of the qualified voters of that Council Member's electoral district.
The recall question shall be submitted to the voters in substantially the following form:
Shall
Name
Title
be removed from office?
Yes _____          No _____
Any five (5) Ellisville registered voters may commence initiative, referendum or recall proceedings by filing with the City Clerk an affidavit stating that they 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 one address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and setting out the complete text of either the proposed initiative ordinance or the existing ordinance to be reconsidered or the name and City office of the official to be recalled.
Not less than three (3) or more than ten (10) days after the affidavit of the petitioners' committee is filed, the City Clerk shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the petitioners' committee. At such time the City Clerk shall also furnish the committee in writing the total number of persons registered to vote at the last regular City election.
(a) 
Number Of Signatures. An initiative petition or referendum petition shall be signed by a number of Ellisville registered voters equal to at least ten percent (10%) of the total number of persons registered to vote at the last regular City election. A petition for recall of the Mayor shall be signed by a number of Ellisville registered voters equal to at least fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of persons registered to vote at the last regular City election; a petition for recall of a Council Member shall be signed by a number of Ellisville registered voters equal to at least fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of persons registered to vote at the last regular City election in that Council Member's electoral district.
(b) 
Form And Content. All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as one (1) instrument for filing. Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil and shall be followed by the address of the person signing and the date he or she signed the petition. Petitions shall contain, or have attached thereto throughout their circulation, the full text of either the proposed initiative ordinance to be reconsidered or the name and office of the City official to be recalled.
(c) 
Affidavit Of Circulator. Each paper of a petition shall have attached to it when filed an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof stating the following: that he or she personally circulated the paper; the number of signatures and date of each signature thereon; that all the signatures were affixed in his or her presence; that he or she believes them to be the 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 either the proposed initiative ordinance or the existing ordinance to be reconsidered or the recall proposition. Such affidavit shall also state the approximate cost of the election.
(d) 
Time For Filing Referendum Petitions. .Referendum petitions must be filed within thirty (30) days after adoption by the Council of the ordinance to be reconsidered.
(e) 
Time For Filing Recall Petitions. Recall petitions shall be filed within ninety (90) days of the date of the first (1st) signature to the petition.
(f) 
Time Limit For Initiative Petitions. Initiative petitions must be filed within ninety (90) days of the date of the first (1st) signature to the petition.
(a) 
Certification By City Clerk; Amendment Of Petition. Within twenty (20) days after a petition with the apparent number of required signatures is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the reasons it is defective. A copy of the certificate shall promptly be sent 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, within two (2) days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, after receiving the copy of such certificate, the petitioners' committee files with the City Clerk a notice of intention to amend their original petition and files a supplementary petition upon additional papers within ten days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, after receiving the copy of a certificate of insufficiency. All such supplementary petitions shall comply with the requirements of Subsections (b) and (c) of Article IX, Section 9.3, of this Charter. Within ten (10) days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, after a supplementary petition is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the 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 any original petition. If a petition is certified to be insufficient and no timely amended petition is filed, or if an amended petition is certified to be insufficient, no further action shall be had thereon and such determination shall be deemed the final determination.
(b) 
Court Review; New Petition. A final determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to court review in the manner provided by law for review of administrative decisions. A final determination of insufficiency, even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
When a referendum petition is timely filed with the City Clerk, the ordinance to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
(1) 
There is a final determination of insufficiency of the petition, or
(2) 
The petitioners' committee withdraws the petition, or
(3) 
The Council repeals the ordinance, or
(4) 
The election results sustaining the ordinance have been certified.
(a) 
Action By Council. When an initiative or referendum petition has been determined sufficient, the Council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in Article III of this Charter, or reconsider the referred ordinance by voting its repeal. If the Council fails to adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within sixty (60) days or fails to repeal the referred ordinance within thirty (30) 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 Voters. The vote of the City on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held not less than thirty (30) days and not later than one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of the final Council vote thereon. If no regular City election is to be held within the period prescribed in this Subsection, the Council may in its discretion provide for a special election within the prescribed period; otherwise, the vote shall be had at the same time as the next regular election. Copies of the proposed or referred ordinance shall be made available at the polls.
When a recall petition has been certified to the Council as sufficient by the City Clerk, the Council shall at its next meeting after receipt of such certification fix a date for holding the election. The election shall be held at the next available regular or special election date for which timely notice has been given.
An initiative, referendum or recall petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the certification date established by the election authority of the City by filing with the City Clerk a request for withdrawal signed by at least four (4) members of the petitioners' committee. Upon the filing of such request, the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
(a) 
Initiative. If a majority of the voters voting on a proposed initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be deemed adopted. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail. In the event a proposed initiative ordinance fails to receive a majority of the voters' vote, an initiative ordinance on the same subject shall not be resubmitted for at least one (1) year after said vote.
(b) 
Referendum. If a majority of the electors voting on a referred ordinance vote to repeal the ordinance, it shall be deemed repealed. No ordinance on the same subject or with the same purpose shall be passed by the Council before one hundred twenty (120) days after an ordinance has been repealed by referendum.
(c) 
Recall. If a majority of the electors voting at a recall election vote in favor of the proposition to remove an official, a vacancy shall exist in the office and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the procedures established in this Charter. If a majority of the electors voting at a recall election vote against the proposition to remove an official, that official shall remain in office. An official who has been removed from office by recall shall be ineligible to serve as an appointed official at any time during the remainder of the term for which the official was elected.