On December 2, 2024, the Richardson City Council appointed eleven members to a Charter Review Commission, as required by law every ten years to review and suggest changes to Richardson's City Charter. Here, in a series of posts, I am presenting my own suggestions.
My second suggestion deals with the powers of initiative and referendum. It reduces the number of signatures required to trigger an election from 10% to 5% of registered voters. Changes to existing language in the charter are noted in bold.
Power of Initiative
Amendment: The people of the City of Richardson reserve the power of direct legislation by initiative, and in the exercise of such power may propose that any ordinance, except those not legally authorized to be considered by initiative by the state constitution or state law, be submitted to the qualified voters of the city council by submitting a petition to the city secretary which shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance, signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to five (5) percent of the total number of qualified voters on the date of the last regular municipal election.
Source: Mark Steger.
Power of Referendum
Amendment: The qualified voters of the city may require that any ordinance enacted by the city council be submitted to the qualified voters of the city for approval or disapproval by filing a petition with the city secretary within forty-five (45) days after passage of said ordinance or within forty-five (45) days after its publication, whichever is later. Said petition shall be signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least five (5) percent of the total number of qualified voters on the date of the last regular municipal election.
Source: Mark Steger.
Why is 10% too high a threshold to put an initiative before the voters? Because it could be that you'd need more signatures on the petition than you'd need votes to win the election, given that local elections frequently suffer from low turnout. In the 2021 Richardson municipal election, turnout was 12.5% of registered voters. That means attracting 6.3% of the registered voters would have been enough to get a referendum passed. If 6.3% is enough to win the election, what is the justification for needing 10% to even get it on the ballot in the first place?
"A steep mountain looms.
Petitions can't climb the peak.
Ballot dreams denied."
—h/t ChatGPT
See also:
Council Recap: Charter Review Commission
City Charter: Single-Member Districts
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