HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 76ORDINANCE
An ordinance providing for a certain deposit of money with
the City Clerk of the City of Colu~bia Heights by the sign-
ers of a recall petition, in the case of the recall of any
elective officer of the City of Columbia Heights, to protect
the City of Columbia Heights against unnecessary election
expenditures.
The ~'.~'~-_--,~. ~.-~_-_~_2--~J-~'~.~..~ City of Columbia Heights
does ordain as follows:
This ordinance ~=__ to the Provision in One City
Charter known as Recall, relating to Sections ~7, ~8 and &~,
which are as follows:
"Section ~7. The Recall. Any five electors may fomm
themselves into a committee for the purpose of bringing about
the recall of any elected officer of the city. The committee
shall certify to the city clerk the n~ue of the officer whose re-
moval is sought, a statement of ~he grounds for removal in not
more than two hundred and fifty words and %heir intention to
bring about his recall. A copy of this certificate shall be
attached to each signature paper and no signature paper shall be
put into circulation previous to such certification."
"Section ~8. Recall Petitions. The petition for
the recall of any official shall consist of a certificate iden-
tical wi~h that filed with the city Clerk together with all the
signature papers and affidavits thereto attached. All the sig-
natures need not be on one signature paper, but the circulator
of every such paper shall make an affidavit that each signature
appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person
whose na~ne it purports to be. Each signature paper shall be in
substantially the following form:
RECALL PETITION
proposing the recall of from his office as
which recall is sought for the reasons
set forth in the attached certificate. This movement is spon-
sored by the following committee of electors:
ADDRESS
1
2
3
4
5
The undersigned electors, understanding the nature
of the charges against the o££icer herein sought to be recalled,
desire the holding of a recall election for that purpose:
NAME ADDRESS
1
2
3
At the end of the list of signatures shall be app-
ended the affidavit o£ the circulator, mentioned above."
,Section 49. Filing of Petition. Within thirty
days after the filing of the original certificate, the committee
shall file the completed petition in the office of the city
clerk. The city clerk shall examine the same within the next
five days and if he finds it irregular in any way, or finds
that the number of signers is less than twenty-five per cent of
the total number of electors who cast their votes at the last
preceding regular municipal election, he shall so notify one or
more members of the committee. The committee shall then be
given ten days in which to file additional signature pa~ers and
to correct the petition in all other respects, but they may not
change the statement of the grounds upon which the recall is
sought. If at the end of that time the city clerk finds the
peiition still insufficient or irregular he shall notify all of
the members of the committee to that effect and shall file the
petition in his office. No further action shall be taken there-
II.
At the time of t_ae filing of the completed petition
in the office of theCity Clerk as provided in Section 49 of
the Charter of the City of Columbia Heights, the electors fil-
ing such completed petition shall deposit with the City Clerk
of the City of Colu~nbia Heights, Five hundred Dollars (4500.00)
which shall be kept by said City Clerk to awai~ ~he outcome
of said election. In the event that said recall is unsuccess-
ful and fails to receive a majority of the votes cast at said
election, as provided by law, then the said Five hundred Doll-
ars ($500.00) shall be appliea to re-imburse the City of Col-
umbia Heights for any and all expenses incurred in the conduct
and holding of said election.
!ii.
In the event that said election is successful in
the removal of the officers sought to be recalled, then the
sum so deposited shall be returned to ~he electors who depos-
ited the same.
IV.
In the event that the electors signing the recall
petition are unsuccessful and in the event that the entire
amou~t of Five hundred Dollars (~00.00) shall not be necessary
to defray the cost of the election, then tae balance shall be
refunded to the persons depositing the same.
This ordinance is in~ended to regulate ~ne holding
and conduct of recall elections in accordance with the provis-
ions made therefor in the City Charter, and to restrain the
indiscriminate use of the recall peZition of Zhe City Charter
and the unnecessary financial expenditures by the City of
Columbia Heights.
X' VI.
This ~ shall take effect thirty (30)
days after its passage, in adcordance with the provisions of the
City Charter.
Yeas: