"What we need in this country is the remote, stealthy, post-natal
abortion of all criminals in government."
- Richard Miller
On 03/10/2011 10:30 AM, GregfromBoston wrote:
I'm from Massachusetts, where the dem legislature routinely laughs at
initiative petitions.
BINDING petitions!
On Mar 10, 1:19 pm, Jonathan Ashley<[email protected]>
wrote:
Don't you just love it when government officials listen to the people.<g>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
Texas City Ignores Anti-Camera Voter Petition*
/Port Lavaca, Texas attempts to avoid voter referendum on red light
camera program./
Port Lavaca Mayor Jack WhitlowOfficials in Port Lavaca, Texas decided
yesterday that they would ignore an initiative petition calling for the
12,000 residents to decide the fate of the red light cameras in a May
election (view petition<http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/33/3367.asp>).
Signatures on the petition were certified as valid shortly after being
submitted in January and a special city council meeting was scheduled to
place the measure on the ballot, but the city decided against holding
the vote. The group Port Lavaca Citizens Against Red Light Cameras
<http://www.facebook.com/#%21/group.php?gid=352118962300> believes the
city is violating the law.
"We complied with all requirements of the city charter regarding charter
amendments," initiative organizer Dwayne Buehring told TheNewspaper. "We
turned these in three months ago. Apparently, it was an orchestrated
effort on their part to put it off until the last minute so we had no
recourse to get it on the May ballot."
Monday is the deadline for an item to be part of the May elections.
Under Texas and municipal law, the council vote to place a charter
amendment before voters is considered a ministerial duty not subject to
the discretion of individual council members.
"The council shall submit a proposed charter amendment to the voters for
their approval at an election if the submission is supported by a
petition signed by a number of qualified voters of the municipality
equal to at least five percent of the number of qualified voters,"
Section 14.17 of Port Lavaca's city charter states.
Mayor Jack Whitlow explained that he pulled the item on the advice of
the city attorney who argued that "health and safety" matters are not
subject to the initiative process. Whitlow also cited a lawsuit filed
against the city by a front group for Redflex Traffic Systems, the
Australian company in charge of the camera program. Whitlow suggested
the vote might be delayed until November.
"It makes the whole deal look shady," Buehring said. "They know that
these cameras will be overturned, and they're scared of that. They'll be
put in the same place as Houston. So they're just going to run and hide,
violate the charter and violate the law. It's been very clear they love
the money."
Red light cameras and speed cameras have been put to a public vote on
fifteen occasions, including votes in Houston, College Station and
Baytown. Automated enforcement has never survived a vote
<http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2769.asp>.
--
"Why is it so hard to understand that the reason the first ten
Amendments --- commonly known as the Bill of Rights --- are trampled
underfoot by politicos and bureaucrats is that the Founding Fathers
neglected to provide a suitably harsh penalty for it?" --- L. Neil Smith
Learn How To Protect Your Identity And Prevent Identity Theft
<http://8f7ab0ybg8rx5p6mloffi9yw8t.hop.clickbank.net/>
--
"Why is it so hard to understand that the reason the first ten
Amendments --- commonly known as the Bill of Rights --- are trampled
underfoot by politicos and bureaucrats is that the Founding Fathers
neglected to provide a suitably harsh penalty for it?" --- L. Neil Smith
Learn How To Protect Your Identity And Prevent Identity Theft
<http://8f7ab0ybg8rx5p6mloffi9yw8t.hop.clickbank.net/>
--
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