[HISTORY: Adopted by the City of Bangor 11-6-1990
by Referendum, Ord. No. 89-395 (Ch.
I, Art. 10). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any proposed ordinance, order or resolve dealing
with legislative matters or municipal affairs, except as provided
hereunder, on the written petition of a number of voters equal to
at least 20% of the number of votes cast in the City of Bangor at
the last gubernatorial election, within 10 days after any such ordinance,
order or resolve has been enacted by the City Council, may be submitted
to the voters in accordance with the procedures established under
this chapter. The right of initiative or referendum provided herein
shall not apply to ordinances, orders or resolves providing for the
appropriation of money, the municipal budget, the levy of taxes or
the wages or hours of City employees.
A. Any 10 registered voters of the City of Bangor may
file with the City Clerk an affidavit stating:
(1) That the 10 registered voters will constitute the
Petitioners' Committee;
(2) The names and addresses of the 10 registered voters;
(3) The addresses to which all notices to the Committee
are to be sent; and
(4) The initiative proposal or referendum item for which
voter consideration is sought.
B. Promptly after the affidavit is filed, the Clerk shall
file a copy with the City Solicitor. Within 10 calendar days thereafter,
the City Solicitor shall issue an opinion to the Clerk and to the
Petitioners' Committee as to the validity of the initiative proposal
or referendum under the Bangor City Charter and the Constitutions
and laws of the United States and the State of Maine. Said opinion
shall not be binding upon the petitioners and shall include reasons
for the conclusions reached and possible remedies if the Solicitor
concludes the initiative proposal or referendum to be invalid. Promptly
after the opinion is received, the Clerk shall issue petition blanks
to the Committee and any other registered voters who may wish to circulate
them.
The City Clerk shall prepare the petition forms
at the City's expense. The petition forms shall be printed on paper
of uniform size and may consist of as many individual sheets as are
reasonably necessary.
A. The petition forms shall carry the following legend
in bold lettering at the top of each form on the face thereof:
PETITION TO THE BANGOR CITY COUNCIL
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For the Submission to the People of the Question
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Shall the ordinance, order or resolve, a copy
of which is hereto attached, be adopted?
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B. Each signature to a petition must be in ink or other
indelible instrument and must be followed by the place of residence
of the voter, with street and number, if any.
C. The City Clerk shall note the date each petition form
is issued. All petitions must be filed within 30 business days after
the date of the original issuance of the petition forms. Any petitions
filed after said 30 business days shall be void.
D. Each petition form shall have printed on its back
an affidavit to be executed by the circulator stating:
(1) That the circulator personally circulated the form;
(2) The number of signatures on the form;
(3) That all the signatures were signed in the circulator's
presence;
(4) That the circulator believes them to be genuine signatures
of the persons whose names they purport to be;
(5) That each signer has signed no more than one petition;
and
(6) That each signer had an opportunity to read the petition
before signing.
E. The petition forms may be filed at any time within
said thirty-business-day period with the City Clerk. The Clerk shall
note the date of filing on each form.
[Amended 9-14-1998 by Ord. No. 98-339]
At the end of said thirty-business-day period,
and within 20 calendar days thereafter, the City Clerk shall complete
a certificate as to the petition's sufficiency, specifying, if it
is insufficient, the particulars which render it defective. The Clerk
shall promptly send a copy of the certificate to the Petitioners'
Committee by mail and shall file a copy with the City Council.
A. A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may be amended once, if all petitions filed contain a total equal to the number of signatures required under §
18-1 of this chapter and if the Petitioners' Committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the Clerk within two days after receiving the copy of the Clerk's certificate. Within 10 days after this notice of intention is filed, the Committee may file a supplementary petition to correct the deficiencies in the original. Such supplementary petition, in form and content, must comply with the requirements for an original petition under §
18-3.
B. Within five days after a supplementary petition is
filed, the Clerk shall complete and file a certificate as to its sufficiency
in the manner provided for in an original petition.
C. When an original or supplementary petition has been
certified insufficient, the Committee, within two days after receiving
the copy of the Clerk's certificate, may file a request with the City
Council for review.
D. The City Council shall inspect the petitions in substantially
the same form, manner and time as an election recount hearing and
shall make due certificate of that inspection. The City Council shall
file a copy of that certificate with the City Clerk and mail a copy
to the Committee. The certificate of the City Council is a final determination
of the sufficiency of the petitions.
E. Any petition finally determined to be insufficient
is void. The Clerk shall stamp the petition void and seal and retain
it in the manner required for secret ballots.
The following procedure shall be followed upon
receipt of a petition certified to be sufficient:
A. Within 10 days of receipt of a report that a petition
is sufficient, the City Council shall by order provide for a public
hearing on the question proposed in the petition. Notice of the hearing
shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the
City of Bangor at least seven days prior to the hearing and shall
contain the text of the item and a brief explanation thereof. The
hearing shall be conducted by the City Council.
B. Within seven days after the public hearing, the City
Council shall file with the Municipal Clerk a report containing the
proposed question and a written opinion by an attorney admitted to
the bar of this state as to whether the proposal contains any provision
prohibited by the Bangor City Charter, the general laws, the United
States Constitution or the Constitution of Maine.
C. Whenever there has been originated as aforesaid a
petition for the reference to the people of any such ordinance, order
or resolve passed by the City Council and the required number of valid
signatures have been obtained, the same shall be suspended from going
into operation from the date of said public hearing until it has been
submitted to a vote of the people. Within 10 days after the completion
of said public hearing, the Council shall set a date for the holding
of a special election at which the proposed or suspended ordinance,
order or resolve shall be submitted to the voters of the City, which
special election shall not be held less than 60 days after said public
hearing. The Council, in its discretion, may submit the matter at
the next regular municipal election held not less than 60 days after
said public hearing. Prior to the date of said election, all proceedings
under said petitions shall terminate in the event of either of the
following:
(1) In the case of a referendum, the entire repeal of
the ordinance, order or resolve sought to be referred; and
(2) In the case of an initiative, the passage by the City
Council of the desired ordinance, order or resolve.
A. The method of voting at municipal elections under
this chapter shall be in the same manner otherwise prescribed for
municipal elections by law. The ballots used when voting on such proposed
ordinance, order or resolve shall set forth the title thereof in full
and state its general nature and shall contain the words "For the
ordinance, order or resolve" and "Against the ordinance, order or
resolve."
B. Voter information. A copy of the petition for any
proposed ordinance, order or resolve submitted pursuant to this chapter
shall be posted in the City Clerk's office at least two weeks prior
to the date of the election.
Whenever any ordinance, order or resolve is
required by the provisions of this chapter to be submitted to the
voters of the City at an election, the City Council must order one
publication of the complete text to be made in a newspaper of general
circulation in the City of Bangor, such publication to be made no
less than 10 days nor more than 15 days prior to the election.
Any number of proposed or referred ordinances,
orders or resolves may be voted upon at the same election. In the
event that two or more ordinances, orders or resolves adopted at the
same election shall contain conflicting provisions, the ordinance,
order or resolve receiving the highest number of votes at such election
shall be paramount, and all question of construction shall be determined
accordingly.
In the event that two or more ordinances, orders
or resolves are submitted at the same election, they shall be placed
upon the ballot in order of the priority of the filing of the respective
petitions and shall be given precedence upon the ballot over any and
all questions submitted by the City Council on its own initiative.
The City Council may submit, on its own initiative,
a proposition for the enactment, repeal or amendment of any ordinance,
order or resolve, except as herein otherwise provided, to be voted
upon at any municipal election, and should such proposition receive
a majority of the votes cast thereon at such election, such ordinance,
order or resolve shall be enacted, repealed or amended accordingly.
If a majority of the voters voting on said proposed
ordinance, order or resolve or said referred ordinance, order or resolve
shall vote in favor thereof, such ordinance, order or resolve shall
take effect five days after the declaration of the official canvass
of the return of said election.
No ordinance, order or resolve proposed by petition
and adopted by vote of the electors shall be subject to amendment
or repeal by the City Council for a period of three years from the
date of enactment without ratification by the voters.