The Council shall protect and promote the right
of the citizens of the City of Coatesville to participate in a positive
and constructive manner in the government of the city. Any qualified
citizen of the city may participate in the government of the city
by:
A. Seeking elective office of the city as prescribed
by this Charter and voting for candidates for elective office.
B. Serving on boards, commissions, authorities or other
agencies of the city government when requested by the appropriate
officials.
C. Attending and being heard at public meetings of the
Council and other boards, commissions, authorities and other agencies
of the city government.
D. Addressing suggestions to the Council and others to
provide guidance for their actions.
E. Exercising the right of initiative, referendum and
recall of elected officials as provided in this Charter or as otherwise
may be provided by law.
The Council shall make every effort to appoint
qualified citizens of the city to boards, commissions, authorities
or other agencies of the city government in order that the greatest
possible use be made of the talents and interests of city citizens
in promoting public interest and welfare of the City of Coatesville.
The qualified voters of the city shall have
the power, subject to the procedures and limitations set forth herein,
to propose the initiation of ordinances or the repeal of ordinances
previously enacted by the Council. The Council shall give consideration
to any matters brought to its attention by the process of initiative;
and, if the Council should fail to act affirmatively in response to
such petition, the action desired by the petitioners shall be submitted
to referendum of the qualified voters of the city under procedures
set forth below:
A. Limitations on initiative and referendum. The following
limitations shall apply to the use of initiative and referendum:
(1) Initiative and referendum may not be used to:
(a)
Alter ordinances enacting or amending the annual
operating and capital budgets of the city; however, such action may
be taken with respect to any ordinance authorizing the establishment
of specific programs or projects.
(b)
Alter the salaries of city officials and employees
unless specifically authorized by law or by the Council.
(c)
Alter or rescind any ordinance providing for
the levy and collection of taxes, special assessments, service charges,
fees, rates or other charges for city services.
(2) No ordinance enacted by referendum which would affect
the revenues or expenditures of the city in the fiscal year in which
the ordinance is adopted shall take effect prior to the start of the
succeeding fiscal year.
(3) No ordinance proposed by initiative shall contain
more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title.
B. Petition. All petition papers for the purpose of initiating
or repealing an ordinance shall:
(1) Bear, in ink, the signatures, addresses and date of
signing of the fewer of 500 or 20% of the number of registered voters
of Coatesville who voted in the most recent presidential election.
(2) Contain the names and addresses of five voters designated
as the Committee of Petitioners and the person designated as Chairperson
of the Committee.
(3) In the case of initiating an ordinance, contain the
full text of the ordinance proposed, and in the case of repealing
an ordinance, identify the title, date and a summation of the significant
substance of the ordinance proposed for repeal.
(4) Contain on each page an affidavit executed by the
circulator of the petition that all signatures thereon are genuine
and were affixed in the presence of the circulator on the date indicated
only after the signer had an opportunity to read the full text prior
to signing.
(5) Be circulated and signed within a period of 30 days
between the date of the first signature and the date at which the
petition papers are submitted to the Manager as provided herein.
(6) Be submitted to the City Manager, who shall immediately
take further action as set forth below.
C. Effect of petition. If the petition calls for the
repeal of an ordinance which was not in effect at the time the petition
was filed with the City Manager, the effective date of the ordinance
will be suspended until final decision has been made under this Article.
If the ordinance was in effect at the time the petition was filed
with the City Manager, the ordinance will remain in effect until repealed
by the Council or by referendum.
D. Action by the City Manager. Upon receipt of a petition
to initiate or repeal an ordinance, the City Manager shall take the
following action:
(1) Within 20 days of receiving the petition, the Manager
shall examine the petition for compliance with the provisions of this
section with respect to the form and sufficiency of signatures and
shall advise the Chairperson of the Committee of Petitioners by registered
mail of the results of such examination.
(2) If the purpose of the petition is to initiate an ordinance,
the Manager shall immediately refer a copy of the ordinance to the
City Solicitor, who shall within five days certify to the Manager
whether or not the proposed ordinance is lawful under general law
or this Charter and whether or not the proposed ordinance is in proper
form or can be so written without changing the substance. If the Solicitor
considers the proposed ordinance to be lawful but defective in form,
the Solicitor shall provide a draft in proper form. The Manager shall
report the findings of the Solicitor in the report to the Chairperson
of the Committee of Petitioners.
(3) Within 10 days of receiving the response of the Manager,
the Chairperson of the Committee of Petitioners may notify the Manager
of the Committee's acceptance of the report and the revised draft,
if any, of the ordinance and shall remedy any minor procedural deficiencies,
if any, cited by the Manager in the report to the Committee. Otherwise,
the matter will be considered to be abandoned, and any further action
must be initiated by a new petition.
(4) If the Manager finds the petition to be sufficient,
the Manager shall, within 20 days after receipt, place the proposed
ordinance on the agenda for consideration at the next regularly scheduled
meeting of the Council, which shall occur at least seven days after
advertisement as provided herein.
(5) The Manager shall advertise the proposed ordinance in the same manner as an ordinance initially approved by the Council under §
2-304 of this Charter.
E. Action by the Council. Unless the petition is rescinded
by action of the Committee of Petitioners as provided below, the Council
must accept or reject the proposed ordinance or repeal of an ordinance
at the advertised meeting. No amendments may be made which materially
change the substance or effect of the proposed ordinance.
F. Failure to act. If, within 60 days of submission of
the petition to the Manager, the Council shall fail to adopt the proposed
ordinance or repeal of an ordinance without any change in substance,
the Manager shall, within 10 days thereafter, file the petition with
the election officers of Chester County and request that the proposed
ordinance or repeal of an ordinance be submitted for referendum to
the voters of Coatesville at the next election, municipal, general
or primary, which shall occur not less than 60 days from the date
of certification of the petition to the county election officers.
Prior to the election, the proposed ordinance or description of the
ordinance to be repealed shall be published as required by the Pennsylvania
Election Code. No referendum shall be taken under this Article at
a special election other than at the time of a regularly scheduled
election.
G. Results of election.
(1) If a proposed ordinance or repeal of an ordinance
is rejected in the referendum, no further action may be initiated
by petition on the same subject within two years from the date of
the election at which the proposal was defeated. However, the Council
will retain the option of adopting a similar ordinance or repealing
previous ordinances at its discretion.
(2) If a majority of the qualified electors voting on
the question favor the adoption of a proposed ordinance or repeal
of an ordinance previously enacted, the new ordinance shall become
effective or the repealed ordinance shall become void upon certification
of the election results. The Manager shall add new ordinances to or
delete repealed ordinances from the record book and the Code of ordinances.
The Council shall take no action to repeal or significantly modify
an ordinance adopted by initiative and referendum within a period
of two years from the date of the election at which the ordinance
was approved.
H. Neglect of duty. Should any city officer fail to carry
out the duties of implementing actions required by this Article or
should the Committee of Petitioners be dissatisfied with any action
of the Manager in rejecting a petition, the Committee of Petitioners
may institute action with the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County
to enforce compliance. If the matter deals with the repeal of an ordinance
which was not in effect at the time the petition was submitted to
the Manager, the effective date of the ordinance shall be suspended
until final decision has been made under this Article.
I. Rescinding petition. Before final action is taken
by the Council or by the county election officers if the matter has
been certified to them for referendum, the Committee of Petitioners
may, by majority vote of its members, elect to rescind the petition
and thereupon notify in writing the Manager and, if necessary, the
county election officers of such decision. If such action is taken,
the matter will be closed, and any further action may be taken only
by a new petition.
Any person holding an elective office in the
government of the City of Coatesville, whether by election, succession
or appointment to fill a vacancy, shall be subject to removal from
office at a recall election in the manner provided in this Charter
or as may otherwise be required by general law.
A. Recall petition.
(1) A recall of an incumbent of an elective office shall
be initiated upon petition signed by 40% of the registered electors
voting at the last gubernatorial election in the city. Every recall
petition shall name the office and officer against whom it is directed.
Each elector signing a recall petition shall add to the signature
of the elector the residence of the elector and the date of signing.
(2) Signatures on a recall petition may be on separate
sheets, but each sheet shall show the name of the person whose recall
is sought and have appended to it the affidavit of some person, not
necessarily a signer of the petition, that to the best of the affiant's
knowledge and belief the persons whose signatures appear on the sheet
are registered electors of the City of Coatesville.
B. Filing of petition. A recall petition shall be tendered
for filing to the election officers of Chester County. No signature
shall be counted as valid which is dated more than 60 days prior to
the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender to the election
officers, the petition shall be available for examination by any interested
person. Within 15 days after tender of the petition, the election
officers shall have authority to pass upon the validity of the petition
and the validity and number of signatures required thereon. The decision
of the election officers shall be subject to immediate review on appeal
to the Court of Common Pleas.
C. Notice to incumbent. As soon as the election officers
have received a recall petition for filing and determined its validity
and sufficiency, the appropriate officer shall notify the incumbent
named in the petition that the petition has been filed, upon receipt
of such notice the incumbent may resign from office and thereupon
the recall proceedings shall terminate.
D. Recall election. If the incumbent against whom the
recall petition is directed does not resign from office within 10
days after notice of filing of such petition shall have been given
to the incumbent, the election officers shall arrange a recall election.
The recall election shall be held at a special election conducted
at the first regularly scheduled election, municipal, general or primary,
which shall occur not less than 40 days after the incumbent has been
notified as provided above. The incumbent against whom a recall petition
is directed may resign at any time prior to a recall election, and
thereupon the election for this purpose shall not be held.
E. Recall question.
(1) The following question shall be presented to each
elector entitled to vote on the recall question:
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"Shall (name of officer) be recalled and removed
from the office of (name of office)?"
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(2) The above question shall appear as to every officer
whose recall is to be voted upon, and provision shall be made for
the elector to vote "yes" or "no" to the question.
F. Results of election. If a majority of the registered
electors who vote on the question at a recall election shall vote
"yes," the incumbent shall be deemed recalled and removed from office,
but if a majority of such registered electors shall vote "no," the
incumbent shall remain in office. Should the result of such election
be affirmative, the date of the removal and vacancy in the office
shall be effective seven days after the date when the results of the
election are certified by the County Board of Elections, unless such
date is further postponed by order of a court.
G. Filling of vacancy. The filling of a vacancy created
by the recall of an elected official shall be in accordance with the
provisions of this Charter with respect to filling vacancies in the
office involved.
H. Disqualification for office. No person who has been
removed from an elective office by a recall election or has resigned
from such an elective office after a recall petition directed to such
person has been filed shall be eligible for election or appointment
to any office of the city government within two years after removal
from office or resignation.
I. Limitations. No recall petition shall be filed against
any incumbent of an elective office within the first year or the last
nine months of the term of office or within nine months after an unsuccessful
recall election against such officer, and no officer who has been
reelected for a successive term shall be subject to recall during
the first year of such term.