08/09/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the bill be approved and given final passage. The motion carried unanimously, 6:0, and became Ordinance 19629. III. INITIATIVE/REFERENDUM PETITION PROCESS Mr. Biedermann gave the staff report. He said the City Council requested that staff review the City Code concerning initiative and referendum petition processes. That analysis was given to the Council in late May; at that time, the council referred the issue to the Council Committee on Committees. He said the purpose of this work session is to review changes to the City Code proposed by the Council Committee on Committees. Mr. Biedermann said that one proposal is to change the number of signatures required to place initiatives and referendums on the ballot. The Council Committee on Committees proposes to change the number of signatures required for an initiative petition to 15 percent of registered voters in the city, and for a referendum petition to 10 percent of registered voters in the city. Previously, the number of required signatures has been based on the total number of votes in the last mayoral election. The effect of the change is to raise the number of signatures for initiatives and referendums from 7,654 to 9,524 and from 5,103 to 6,349 respectively. Ms. Ehrman asked when the number of registered voters is determined. Mr. Biedermann said the number of registered voters is updated monthly by the e County. Thus, the number of signatures required for a petition would be determined at the time a petition comes in. Ms. Ehrman stated that the number of registered voters is never completely correct, so this method of calculation would still produce an artificial number. Kathy Fieland, City Recorder's Office, said that Lane County Elections has automated its office and is much quicker at processing voter registrations. She added that Lane County Elections purges its records after every general election and every mail election. Mr. Biedermann said the Council Committee on Committees is also proposing a change in the number of votes required to pass a measure. Specifically, the committee is proposing that if there are conflicting measures on a ballot, the one receiving the greater number of affirmative votes will be paramount. Mr. Biedermann said the Council Committee on Committees is also proposing that the council set a period of six months from issuance of ballot title by the City Attorney for the petitioner to begin collecting signatures. If the collection is not started within that time, the ballot title would become void. It is currently possible for a ballot title to be assigned by the City Attorney and then have the sponsors take no action on the collection of signatures. This provision would eliminate that possibility. Mr. Biedermann emphasized that this would not prohibit a party from seeking issuance of the same ballot title. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 9, 1989 Page 3