The citizens of the township are hereby guaranteed the right
to be informed of township actions, the right to be heard by township
officials and the right to participate in township affairs as provided
by this Charter.
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Commentary: This Article attempts
to bring together in one (1) place all of those provisions of the
Charter which are intended to afford various rights to the public.
To a considerable extent, then, this Article repeats other provisions.
However, in some instances matters referred to elsewhere in passing
are fleshed out here (e.g., the annual report). In other instances,
this Article contains provisions, e.g., initiative, referendum and
recall, not found elsewhere. It was felt that principles of such fundamental
importance could bear some repetition. It should be noted that the
present Board of Commissioners, although frequently not required to
do so, now provides a fair number of these rights to the public.
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THE RIGHT TO BE INFORMED
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This Charter provides that the public shall have the right to
be informed of township activities as follows:
B.
By requiring the posting of notice of meetings of the Board and its committees, pursuant to § C402B.
C.
By requiring meetings of the Board and its committees to be open to the public, pursuant to § C402C.
G.
By providing for the right to inspect and to purchase a copy of the codification of ordinances and to receive by subscription copies of changes thereto, pursuant to § C504B.
A.
Any citizen shall have the right to be mailed, contemporaneous with
its posting, a copy of any notice required to be given the public
by this Charter, at a reasonable charge to be fixed by the township.
B.
Any citizen shall have the right to receive by subscription copies
of all ordinances, all ordinances of a particular category or particular
ordinances upon either their proposal or passage or to receive by
mail on request a copy of any specific ordinance, at a reasonable
charge or reasonable charges as fixed by the township.
C.
Any citizen shall have the right to receive by mail on request a
copy of minutes of the Board or its committees at a reasonable charge
to be fixed by the township.
D.
"Reasonable charge" as used in this Charter to refer to charges by
the township for documents or notices shall not exceed the actual
costs, direct and indirect, of preparing and/or disseminating the
described notices or documents.
E.
An inadvertent failure to provide notices or documents as required
by this section shall not impose any liability on the township or
its representatives in favor of third parties, nor shall it invalidate
any official action.
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Commentary: This section affords to
each citizen the right to receive copies of notices, ordinances and
minutes. The Board may pass the cost of such service through to the
citizens requesting it; it is assumed that such charge nonetheless
will not be so prohibitive as unreasonably to discourage or defeat
the utilization by citizens of the rights herein provided.
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The President's report on the state of the township, required by § C602B(1)(b), shall be presented by the President to the Board at a regular Board meeting. Said report shall be made available to the public and press in such manner as to afford it the widest practicable dissemination. Copies shall be available to the public at the office of the township.
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Commentary: A summary of the President's
state of the township message is to be included in the Board's
annual report to the People. See § 1405B.
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At least once in each calendar year, the Board shall make a
report to the citizens. A copy of such report shall be distributed
to each household in the township. The report shall include, at a
minimum:
B.
A summary of the President's message on the state of the township,
in such form as he shall approve.
C.
Information concerning such dates of meetings of the Board, its committees
and of citizens' groups as have been scheduled.
D.
A summary of the operating and capital budgets then in effect.
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Commentary: The Board presently provides
such an annual report to the citizens. This section requires continuation
of the practice and specifies the material which must at a minimum
be included.
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THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD
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A.
Residents and taxpayers of the township shall be provided a reasonable
opportunity to address the Board, its committees and citizens'
groups on matters of general or special concern.
B.
With respect to proposed ordinances or resolutions of a legislative character, other than budget ordinances, such opportunity to address the Board shall be afforded to the public immediately prior to the final action of the Board thereon, unless that opportunity to be heard has theretofore been provided either at a prior public hearing of the Board or a prior meeting of a committee of the Board on that proposed ordinance or resolution, provided that such prior consideration of the proposed ordinance or resolution has been advertised and posted in the same manner as is provided for consideration of ordinances at Board meetings in § C501A, and further provided that a quorum of the Board is present at such hearing or committee meeting.
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Commentary: Presently, the Board does
generally provide the opportunity for interested citizens to address
the Board or its committees. This section requires that this practice
be continued uniformly.
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It is important that members of the public receive
an opportunity to present their varying points of view to the Board
before it acts; similarly, the members of the Board will gain by knowing
the views held by at least those persons who care to present them.
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A.
The Manager shall designate an employee of the township to act as
Information and Complaint Officer.
B.
It shall be the duty of such officer to receive all complaints and
to supervise, under the Manager's direction, the response thereto
by the appropriate township official or employee and to inform the
Board, on a regular basis, of such complaints and their disposition.
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Commentary: The purpose of this section
is to streamline the procedures for receiving questions and complaints
from the public. The assignment of a specific employee to act as an
entry point for complaints and requests should eliminate duplicative
effort required when a citizen inquires of a number of employees before
finding the right one. This procedure should be more efficient and
should provide a better response to the citizens at a lower cost.
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Although not required by this section, it is assumed
that the Manager may designate other employees of the township to
assist the Information and Complaint Officer if this be deemed necessary.
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The requirement that the Board be informed on a regular
basis of the complaints made and the disposition provided will keep
the members of the Board abreast of problems or concerns of the residents
and will also permit them to assure that such problems or complaints
are being handled in a satisfactory manner.
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RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN TOWNSHIP AFFAIRS INITIATIVE AND
REFERENDUM
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Citizens shall have the right to propose ordinances by an initiative
procedure and the right to require reconsideration by the Board of
an adopted ordinance by a referendum procedure, as is hereafter provided.
A.
Initiative. The registered electors of the township shall have power
to propose ordinances to the Board, and, if the Board fails to adopt
an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt
or reject it at a primary, municipal or general election. No such
proposed initiative ordinance shall contain more than one (1) subject
which shall be clearly expressed in its title.
B.
Referendum. The registered electors of the township shall have power
to require reconsideration by the Board of any adopted ordinance and,
if the Board fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered, to approve
or reject it at a primary, municipal or general election.
C.
Exceptions. The powers of initiative and referendum set forth in
this section shall not extend to the budget, zoning, any emergency
ordinance, any ordinance levying an assessment or providing for the
issuance of special tax bills or any ordinance appropriating money,
levying taxes or fixing salaries of municipal officers or employees.
A.
Initiative and referendum procedures shall be initiated upon petition
signed by thirty percent (30%) of the registered electors of the township.
All initiative and referendum petitions shall contain or have attached
thereto (throughout their circulation) the full text of the ordinance
proposed or sought to be reconsidered. Each elector signing such petition
shall add to his signature his occupation, residence, election district
and the date of signing. Signatures on an initiative or referendum
petition may be on separate sheets, but each sheet shall have appended
to it the affidavit of its circulator, 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 township, that they signed with full knowledge of
the contents of the petition and their residences are correctly given.
B.
Such petition shall be tendered for filing to the County Board of
Elections. No signature shall be counted as valid which is dated more
than sixty (60) days prior to the date the petition is tendered for
filing. Upon tender to the County Board of Elections, the petition
shall be available for examination by any interested person. Within
fifteen (15) days after tender of the petition, the County Board of
Elections shall determine the validity and sufficiency of the petition,
including the validity and number of signatures required thereon;
in the absence of any such action by the County Board of Elections
the petition shall be deemed valid and sufficient. The result of the
action or inaction by the County Board of Elections shall be subject
to immediate review on appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.
A.
When an initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined
to be valid and sufficient, the Board shall promptly consider the
subject ordinance by voting on its adoption or repeal. If the Board
fails to adopt without substantive change in the case of initiative,
or fails to repeal in the case of referendum, within sixty (60) days
after the date the petition was finally determined valid and sufficient,
the Board shall submit the subject ordinance to the electors of the
township.
B.
The question of the adoption or repeal of the subject ordinance shall be placed on the ballot for an election to be held not less than thirty (30) days and not later than one (1) year from the date of the final Board vote thereon or the termination of the sixty-day period referred to in § C1410A, whichever shall first occur. Copies of the subject ordinance shall be made available at the polls and to the public.
C.
An initiative or referendum petition may be withdrawn at any time
prior to the fifteenth day preceding the day scheduled for a vote
of the township by filing with the County Board of Elections a request
for withdrawal signed by a majority of the petitioners. Upon 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 qualified electors voting on a proposed
initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted
upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in
all respects in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind adopted
by the Board. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election,
the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail
to the extent of such conflict.
B.
Referendum. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a referred
ordinance vote against it, it shall be considered repealed upon certification
of the election results.
C.
The Board may not rescind or repeal an ordinance approved at such
initiative election, nor may it enact an ordinance which has been
repealed or rescinded at such referendum election, for at least two
(2) years following certification of the vote thereon, unless the
Board shall determine that such official action is required by a substantial
change in circumstances.
A.
Five percent (5%) of the registered electors of the township may
sign a petition to require Board consideration of a proposed ordinance,
administrative directive or resolution. All signatures on said petition
must be collected within one hundred twenty (120) days prior to its
presentation to the Board. The proposed ordinance, administrative
directive or resolution shall be voted upon by the Board within sixty
(60) days of the receipt of the petition in the same manner as if
it had been proposed by a member of the Board and a roll call vote
requested.
B.
The same subject shall not be presented to the Board by petition
pursuant to this section more often than one (1) time in any one-year
period.
Any person holding an elective office in the township who, following
the date of his election to his then term, has pleaded nolo contendere
or guilty to, or has been sentenced by a court of plenary jurisdiction
for, the crime of extortion, embezzlement, bribery, fraudulent conversion
of public moneys or property or malfeasance, misfeasance or misdemeanor
in office, or conspiracy to commit any of the above crimes, shall
be subject to removal from office at a recall election in the manner
hereinafter set forth.
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Commentary: See Commentary to § C308.
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A recall of any person holding elective office in the township shall be initiated upon petition signed by thirty percent (30%) of the registered electors of the township or, in the case of a Commissioner, by thirty percent (30%) of the registered electors of the ward he represents. Every recall petition shall name the office and officer against whom it is directed and shall state with specificity the grounds on which it is based. The procedure for the circulation of such petitions, filing, validation and judicial review shall be the same as that provided as to initiative and referendum petitions in § C1409.
Upon the final determination of the validity and sufficiency
of a recall petition, the President of the Board shall notify the
incumbent named in the petition that the petition has been filed.
A.
If the incumbent against whom a recall petition is directed has not
resigned from his office within ten (10) days after notice of the
filing of such petition shall have been given to him, the County Board
of Elections shall arrange a recall election. If a regular or special
election is to be held not less than thirty (30) days nor more than
ninety (90) days after the ten (10) days have expired, the recall
question shall be placed before the electors at such an election.
Otherwise a special recall election shall be fixed by such Board for
a date not earlier than thirty (30) days nor later than ninety (90)
days after the ten (10) days have expired.
B.
The following question shall be presented to each elector in a recall
election: "Shall __________ (name) be recalled and removed from the
office of __________ (office)?"
C.
The above question shall appear as to every officer whose recall
is voted upon, and provision shall be made for the elector to vote
"Yes" or "No" on the question.
D.
If a majority of the registered electors who vote on the question
at a recall petition shall vote "no," the incumbent shall remain in
office. If such majority shall vote "yes", the date of the removal
and vacancy in the office shall be seven (7) days subsequent to 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.
All recall procedures shall terminate in the event that the
subject incumbent resigns from office.
A person who has been removed from an elective office by a recall
election or who has resigned from such an elective office after a
recall petition directed to him has been filed shall not be eligible
for appointment to any office of the township within the two-year
period following his removal or resignation except in the event of
reversal of his conviction or a pardon.
A plea or conviction which was the basis of the filing of a
recall petition shall not be the basis for a subsequent recall petition
against such official.
