Commission discusses citizen‑initiative thresholds; leans toward retaining 5% petition and 10% passage bars

The commission reviewed Section 4.08, which sets thresholds for citizens to place ordinances on the ballot and for such measures to become effective. Commissioners compared Simsbury's proposed thresholds with other Connecticut communities and discussed the policy tradeoffs between enabling citizen initiatives and protecting against low‑turnout overrides.

Why it matters: petition and passage thresholds determine how easy it is for a small, organized group to place an ordinance before voters and how many affirmative votes are required for it to become law. The standards balance direct democracy against protecting policy stability.

Commissioners and staff discussed three numeric elements: the percentage of electors needed to file a petition to place an ordinance on the ballot (the commission reviewed a 5% figure), the majority requirement, and whether an absolute minimum number of affirmative votes should be required to enact an ordinance.

Research staff noted other municipalities' approaches: Ridgefield has a 2% petition threshold; some towns set no affirmative turnout requirement, others set a floor such as 5% or 10% of electors in favor. Commissioners observed that a 10% affirmative threshold would be a notably high bar in Simsbury: in the meeting discussion staff estimated Simsbury has roughly 17,000 registered electors, making 10% an absolute number on the order of 1,700 affirmative votes.

After discussion the group signaled support to retain a 5% petition threshold to place an ordinance on the ballot and to keep a substantially higher affirmative‑vote requirement for enactment (the commission informally favored the 10% affirmative‑vote floor cited in existing language). No formal vote was recorded at the meeting; commissioners agreed to carry the item forward to a future meeting for formal recommendation.

Ending: The commission closed the topic after deciding to keep the issue on the agenda for the next meeting and to accept written public comment before taking a formal recommendation.