Council tables call for vote on Charter amendment

LAKEWOOD – City Council late Monday decided to table a plan to ask voters to approve a City Charter amendment that could delay ballot-box decisions on citizen initiatives and referendums by a year or more.

The plan, touted as a cost-saving measure would eliminate virtually all special elections in Lakewood.

But council, acting on the suggestion of Mayor Bob Murphy, unanimously agreed to place the controversial issue on the back burner, delaying any public discussion on the matter until a March 15, 2010 study session. Why Murphy had that date in mind is unclear, but the seven-month delay would enable council to thoroughly re-examine the proposal and, hopefully, confer with citizens before the November 2010 election.

The proposal, originally pitched to council by City Clerk Margy Greer at a July 27 City Council meeting, was accompanied by an “emergency declaration” allowing it to go into effect immediately. Ordinances generally go into effect 30 days after approval, allowing time for citizens to protest by filing referendum petitions.

In proposing the delay of the Charter-election proposal, Murphy said he was concerned about it’s companion emergency clause.

“I think the legal foundation – state statute, case law – is sound in terms of making this an emergency ordinance,” Murphy said. “But having said that, I simply don’t consider this an emergency in this particular case,” It’s a matter we have discretion over.”

Councilman Doug Anderson raised a similar objection when the proposal was before council on first reading two weeks ago.

“We are putting this forward with a declaration of emergency. What is the emergency,” Anderson asked when the proposal came up on its initial public reading. “Why could this not have been brought to the public two months ago? … There was certainly time to do this without an emergency ordinance attached to it.”

Anderson’s question about the emergency declaration went unanswered at the time.

The Charter amendment proposal, pitched by City Clerk Margy Greer, would eliminate the current requirement for special elections to be held within 90 days of council reviews of referendums and initiatives challenging City Council decisions unless the next general election is within that 90-day window.

Instead, it would require those issues to go before voters in a November general election no matter when the citizen petitions were filed. The only exception would allow City Council to fast-track votes by setting special elections on issues they choose.

That would include those cases that could adversely affect development projects, City Manager Mike Rock said.

In those cases Council could call a special election at any time.

The proposed Charter amendment also would allow 120 days for scheduling those special elections, stretching out the current 90-day window to allow Greer’s staff more time to get their work done.

“We have had more registered voters. Over the years it grows and grows and grows,” Greer said at the July meeting. “So when we have our mail ballot elections, the printing time takes longer, the mailing time, there’s tighter constraints on the election calendar than ever before.”

The proposal tabled by Council would ask voters to change Sections 13.1 and 13.2 of the City Charter, which was approved by voters in 1983 after a lengthy series of meetings by a 20-member Charter Commission of Lakewood citizens. The Charter since has been amended four times