The qualified voters of the City shall have power to propose
any ordinance to the Council, except an ordinance appropriating money,
authorizing the levy of taxes, or changing the master zoning ordinance,
if the Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed without any
change in substance, to adopt or reject it at a City election, such
power to be known as the initiative. Any initiated ordinance may be
submitted to the Council by a petition signed by qualified voters
of the City equal in number to at least ten percent (10%) of the total
number of votes cast for the office of Mayor in the last election
for Mayor.
The qualified voters of the City shall have 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 or any emergency ordinance or ordinance
relating to appropriation of money or levy of taxes, such power to
be known as referendum. Within fifteen (15) days after the date on
which the Council has adopted an ordinance which is subject to referendum,
a petition signed by electors of the City equal in number to at least
ten percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast for the office
of Mayor in the last election for Mayor may be filed with the City
Clerk, requesting that such ordinance be either repealed or submitted
to a vote of the electors.
Any officer elected by popular vote may be removed by the electors
qualified to vote for his successor, such power to be known as the
recall. A petition requesting the removal of an incumbent shall be
signed by voters of the City equal in number to twenty percent (20%)
of the registered voters qualified to vote for the office in question
as shown by the registration records at the time of the last regular
municipal election.
All papers comprising an initiative, referendum, or recall petition
shall be assembled and filed with the City Clerk as one (1) instrument.
Every initiative petition shall contain the full text of the measure
proposed, every referendum petition shall contain the full title of
the ordinance referred, and every recall petition shall contain a
general statement of the grounds for removal. Each signer, after his
name, shall designate his residence by street and number, or by any
other description sufficient to identify his place of residence. The
signatures to any petition need not all be appended to one (1) paper.
In addition, there shall be attached to each such paper a signed statement
of the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers of such paper,
that each signature appended thereto was made in his presence and
is the genuine signature of the person it purports to be, and that
he believes each such signer to be a registered voter of the City.
Within ten (10) days after a petition is filed, the City Clerk
shall determine whether each paper of the petition has a proper statement
of the circulator and whether the petition is signed by fewer persons
than the number certified, the signatures shall be accepted unless
void on other grounds. After completing his examination of the petition,
the City Clerk shall certify the result thereof to the Council at
its next regular meeting. If he shall certify that the petition is
insufficient, he shall set forth in his certificate the particulars
in which it is defective, and he shall at once mail a copy of the
certificate to the person filing the petition.
An initiative referendum or recall petition may be amended at
any time within ten (10) days after the notification of insufficiency
has been mailed by the City Clerk, by filing a supplementary petition
executed as provided in the case of an original petition. The City
Clerk shall, within five (5) days, after such an amended petition
is filed, make examination thereof and if it is then found to be sufficient
shall so certify to the Council at its next regular meeting. If the
petition be still insufficient, he shall file his certificate to that
effect and no further action shall be had on such insufficient petition.
The finding of the insufficiency of a petition shall not prejudice
the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
When an initiative petition has been certified to the Council
as sufficient by the City Clerk, the Council shall proceed at once
to consider the proposed ordinance. If the ordinance proposed by the
initiative has not been finally adopted within thirty (30) days after
certification the Council shall call a special election to be held
within ninety (90) days thereafter, unless a general election is to
be held within such period. At such special or general municipal election,
such proposed ordinance shall be submitted without alteration to the
vote of the voters of the City. The enacting clause of such proposed
ordinance shall be: Be it ordained by the people of Bridgeton, Missouri.
When a referendum petition has been certified to the Council
as sufficient by the City Clerk, the ordinance specified in the petition
shall be suspended unless and until approved by the voters as hereinafter
provided. The Council shall proceed at once to reconsider the referred
ordinance. If the ordinance specified in any referendum petition shall
not be finally repealed within thirty (30) days after such certification,
the Council shall call a special election to be held within ninety
(90) days thereafter, unless a general election is to be held within
such period. At such special or general municipal election, such ordinance
shall be submitted without alteration to the vote of the voters of
the City upon the question: Shall the ordinance specified in the referendum
petition be approved?
Ordinances submitted to the electors in accordance with the
initiative and referendum provisions of this Charter shall be submitted
by ballot title which shall be prepared by the City Attorney. The
ballot title may be different from the legal title of any such initiated
or referred ordinance and shall be a clear, concise statement without
argument or prejudice, descriptive of the substance of such ordinance.
The ballot used in voting upon any such ordinance, if a paper ballot,
shall have below the ballot title the following proposition, one (1)
above the other, in the order indicated: "For The Ordinance" and "Against
The Ordinance." Immediately at the left of each proposition there
shall be a square in which, by making a cross (x) the voter may vote
for or against the ordinance. Any number of initiated or referred
ordinances may be voted on at the same election and may be submitted
on the same ballot, but any paper ballot used for voting thereon shall
be for that purpose only. If voting machines are used, the propositions
shall be submitted to the voter for his vote in substantially the
same manner.
If a majority of the electors voting on an initiated ordinance
shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereupon become an ordinance
of the City. No such ordinance shall be amended or repealed by the
Council for at least six (6) months, and for the next twelve (12)
months thereafter only by unanimous vote. If a majority of the electors
voting on a referred ordinance shall vote against the ordinance it
shall thereupon be repealed.
If conflicting ordinances are approved by the electors at the
same election, the one (1) receiving the greatest number of affirmative
votes shall prevail. No election under the initiative or referendum
procedure shall be set aside because of any defect in the petition.
When a recall petition has been certified to the Council as
sufficient by the City Clerk, the Council shall set a date for holding
the election not less than thirty (30) days nor more than forty-five
(45) days thereafter. If such office becomes vacant prior to the election
such election shall be cancelled, and the vacancy shall be filled
as provided in previous Sections of the Charter.
The ballot shall be in the following form:
SHALL (name and title) BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE?
____ Yes
____ No
Voters in favor of the removal place a cross (x) in the square
opposite the word "yes."
Voters opposed to the removal place a cross (x) in the square
opposite the word "no."
If voting machines are used, the proposition shall be submitted
to the elector for his vote in substantially the same manner.
If a majority of the electors voting in such recall election
shall vote in favor of the recall, then a vacancy shall exist, regardless
of any defect in the recall petition. Such vacancy shall be filled
as provided in previous Sections of this Charter. If a majority of
the electors voting in such elections shall vote against the recall,
the officer in question shall continue in office. Any such person
who has been recalled shall be ineligible to serve the City in any
capacity at any time during the remainder of the term for which he
was elected. No elected officer of the City shall be subject to recall
within six (6) months of his induction into office, nor during the
last six (6) months of his term; and if he is retained in office upon
any recall election, he shall not be again subject to recall during
the same term of office.
Notice of initiative, referendum, and recall elections shall
be given, the elections conducted, the returns canvassed and the results
declared in all respects as are other City elections.
