Any ten registered voters may commence initiative, referendum,
or recall proceedings by filing with the City Clerk an affidavit stating
they will constitute the petitioners' committee and be responsible
for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form. The affidavit
shall also contain the following information which may be in separate
documents attached to the affidavit and incorporated by reference:
(i) The names and addresses of each committee member.
(ii)
The address to which all notices to the committee should be
sent.
(iii)
The ordinance, in full, which the committee desires to be adopted
or reconsidered, or the name and office of the official sought to
be recalled.
The City Clerk shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to
the petitioners' committee promptly after its affidavit is filed.
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.
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When a referendum petition is timely filed with the City Clerk,
the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking
effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
(a) There is a final determination of insufficiency of the petition,
or
(b) The petitioners' committee withdraws the petition, or
(c) The council repeals the ordinance, or
(d) The election results sustaining the ordinance have been certified.
When a recall petition has been certified to the city council
as sufficient by the City Clerk, the city 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 may be given.
An initiative, referendum, or recall petition may be withdrawn
at any time prior to the fifteenth day preceding the day scheduled
for a vote of the city, by filing with the City Clerk a request for
withdrawal signed by at least eight 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.