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Council agrees to lower referendum threshold to 10% but rejects cut to recalls
Summary
After deliberation the council agreed to reduce the referendum petition threshold from 15% to 10% to match the initiative threshold, but members rejected the CRC proposal to lower recall from 10% to 5%; the decision will be included in the draft charter language.
Councilors reviewed CRC recommendations to standardize citizen petition thresholds and debated the policy trade‑offs.
Councilor Prince framed the question as two linked changes: lowering the initiative/referral thresholds to 10% and dropping recall thresholds from 10% to 5%. Several councilors opposed reducing the recall threshold to 5%, cautioning that a low recall threshold can be weaponized and has produced litigation and governance dysfunction in other cities. One councilor recalled a near‑recall episode that would have achieved success at a 5% level but failed under the current 10% standard.
The council coalesced around leaving recall at 10% while accepting the CRC’s approach to reduce referendum from 15% to 10% so that initiative and referendum thresholds align. Mayor (role) and several councilors nodded to that compromise; the change will be reflected in the redraft for voters’ review.
What’s next: staff and the city attorney will incorporate the threshold edits into the draft charter and prepare plain‑language informational materials for voters.
