Council shall protect and promote the right of citizens to participate
in a positive and constructive manner in the government of the Township.
The registered electors of the Township shall have the power
to propose ordinances to the Council. If the Council fails to adopt
an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, the registered
electors shall have the power to adopt or reject it at an election.
The registered electors of the Township shall have the power
to require reconsideration by the Council of any adopted ordinance.
If the Council fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered, the registered
electors shall have the power to approve or reject it at an election.
The powers of initiative and referendum shall not extend to
any ordinances pertaining to the appropriation of monies or the levying
of taxes. An exception to this limitation shall be a referendum on
specific projects of the capital program of an adopted Township Financial
Plan.
Any five registered electors may commence initiative or referendum
proceedings by filing an affidavit with the Township Secretary. The
affidavit shall state that they will constitute the petitioners'
committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing
it in proper form. The affidavit shall contain their names and addresses
and shall specify the address to which all notices to the committee
are to be sent. The affidavit shall contain the full text of the proposed
ordinance or it shall cite the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
After the affidavit is filed, the Secretary shall, within twenty
days, issue the appropriate petition forms to the petitioners'
committee. The Township Secretary shall have the proper form available
which has been approved by the Council for the purpose of filing initiative
and referendum petitions.
A.Â
Number of Signatures. Initiative and referendum petitions must be
signed by registered electors of the Township equal in number to at
least five percent of the registered electors of the Township.
B.Â
Form of Petitions. All papers of a petition shall be assembled as
one instrument for filing. Each signature shall be executed in ink
and followed by the address of the person signing, his election district
and date of signing. Petitions shall contain or have attached thereto
throughout their circulation the full text of the ordinance proposed
or sought to be reconsidered.
C.Â
Affidavit of Circulator. Each paper of a petition shall have attached
to it when filed an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof,
stating that he personally circulated the paper and that he is a registered
elector. Said affidavit shall also state that all the signatures were
affixed in his presence, that he believes them to be 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 the ordinance
proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
D.Â
Period of Circulation of Petitions. The petition must be circulated
and signed within a period of thirty days between the date of the
first signature and the date at which the petition papers are submitted.
The Township Secretary shall, within ten (10) days after a petition
is filed, examine the petition for compliance with the provisions
of this Charter. The Secretary shall submit the petition to the Township
Solicitor for his written opinion as to legality within ten days of
filing. If lawful but defective in form, and in compliance with the
meaning of this Article, the Township Solicitor shall provide a proper
revision of the petition. He shall certify the results of his examination
by registered mail to the Committee of the Petitioners, the Council
Chairman and the Township Secretary not more than twenty (20) days
from the date the Solicitor received the petition.
When an initiative or referendum petition has been certified
by the Solicitor, the Council shall, at its next meeting, consider
the proposed initiative ordinance or reconsider the referred ordinance
in the manner provided by this Charter. If the Council fails to adopt
a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance or
fails to repeal the referred ordinance, it shall submit the proposed
or referred ordinance to the voters of the Township at the next election
provided that said election is held not less than sixty (60) days
from the first presentation of the petition to the Council.
A.Â
Initiative. If a majority of the voters voting on a proposed initiative
ordinance vote in favor, it shall be 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 Council. If conflicting
ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the
greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
B.Â
Referendum. If a majority of the voters voting on a referendum ordinance
vote against it, it shall be repealed upon certification of the election
results.
C.Â
Limitation. Council shall not reverse the substantive results of
an initiative or referendum vote for at least one year following the
certification of such vote.
A.Â
General. Any person holding an elective office of the Township government,
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.
B.Â
Recall Petitions.
1.Â
Number of Signatures: A recall of an incumbent of an elective office
shall be initiated upon petition signed by twenty percent of the registered
electors of the Township who are eligible to vote for said office.
Every recall petition shall name the office and officer against whom
it is directed.
2.Â
Form of Petitions: All papers of a petition shall be assembled as
one instrument for filing. Each signature shall be executed in ink
and followed by the address of the person signing, his election district
and date of signing.
3.Â
Affidavit of Circulator: Each paper of a petition shall have attached
to it when filed an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof,
stating that he personally circulated the paper and that he is a registered
elector. Said affidavit shall also state that all the signatures were
affixed in his presence, that he believes them to be genuine signatures
of the persons whose names they purport to be and that to the best
of the affiant's knowledge and belief, the persons signed with
full knowledge of the contents of the petition.
4.Â
Period of Circulation of Petitions: The recall petition must be circulated
within a period of thirty days between the date of the first signature
and the date at which the petition papers are submitted.
5.Â
Filing with County Board of Elections: A recall petition shall be
tendered for filing to the County Board of Elections. Upon tender
to the Board of Elections, copies of the petition shall be available
(or examination at the Township Building by any interested person.
Within fifteen days after tender of the petition, the Board of Elections
shall pass upon the validity of the petition and the validity and
number of signatures required thereon. The decision of the Board of
Elections shall be subject to review within thirty days by appeal
to the Court of Common Pleas.
C.Â
Notice to the Incumbent. As soon as the County Board of Elections
has received a recall petition for filing and determined its validity
and sufficiency, the Chairman of the Board shall notify the incumbent
named in the petition within twenty days that the petition has been
filed. Upon receipt of such notice, the incumbent may resign from
his office and thereupon the recall proceedings shall terminate.
D.Â
Recall Elections. If the incumbent against whom a recall petition
is directed does not resign 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 to be
held at the next election to be held not less than thirty (30) days
after the ten (10) days have expired. The incumbent against whom a
recall petition is directed may resign at any time prior to the recall
election and thereupon the election shall not be held. The following
question shall be presented to each registered elector in a recall
election: "Shall (name of officer) be recalled and removed from the
office of (name of office)?" The above question shall appear as to
every officer whose recall is to be voted upon and provision shall
be made for the registered elector to vote "Yes" or "No" on the question.
If a majority of the vote on the question at a recall election shall
be "Yes," the incumbent shall be deemed recalled and removed from
office, but if a majority of such vote shall be "No," he shall remain
in office. Should the result of such election be affirmative, 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 the court.
E.Â
Disqualification for Office. No 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 be eligible for election or appointment to any office
of the Township government within two (2) years after his removal
or resignation.
F.Â
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 his office or within nine months after an unsuccessful
recall election against him.
