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Council adopts emergency ordinance to require single-subject initiative petitions
Summary
Assistant City Attorney Josh Myers presented Emergency Ordinance 26‑05 to establish pre-petition procedures and an Initiative Review Committee (IRC) to verify single-subject and legislative nature of citizen petitions; council adopted the ordinance on a roll-call vote after brief debate about IRC composition.
Assistant City Attorney Josh Myers presented Emergency Ordinance 26‑05, proposing administrative pre‑petition procedures and creation of an Initiative Review Committee (IRC) composed of the city clerk, city manager and city attorney (or their designees). Myers said the ordinance applies the single‑subject limitation to citizen initiative petitions at the municipal level by creating a screening process and a petition title-setting step before state statutory processes are triggered.
"A single subject limitation does not limit the number of initiative petitions that a citizen can submit at any given time," Myers said, explaining the IRC's role is not to decide merits but to determine whether a petition meets single‑subject and legislative action requirements; petitioners disappointed by an IRC decision may seek review in district court. After council discussion about IRC composition and a proposed six‑month check‑in, a council member moved to adopt the emergency ordinance and the motion passed on roll call.
