09-24-2007 Ericson Memo to Council re Frivolous Petitions

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Item No: 7B Meeting Date: 09-24-07 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: _______ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Jim Ericson, Interim City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Discuss Resolution 7158 Establishing the Process for Determining the Sufficiency of Petition Pursuant to City Charter Background With the adoption of Ordinance 790 by the City Council on July 23, 2007, the following language was added to the Charter: “Consistent with the provisions of this Charter and the applicable state laws and rules, the Council may prescribe by ordinance or resolution, the definition of a frivolous petition.” At that meeting, the City Attorney provided a draft of a resolution (attached) that would be adopted by the Council in order to provide a definition of a “frivolous” petition. The resolution was reviewed in greater detail at the City Council’s August 6 worksession. Discussion Based upon discussion that occurred at Council meeting on July 23 and August 6, the following characteristics were reviewed and considered by the City Council to define such frivolous petitions: • The apparent number of signatures must match the number of signatures required to have a valid petition. • All signatures used to calculate the necessary number of signatures must be original signatures (i.e. not photo copies). • All signature pages used in the calculation are in the proper form with the petition language clearly stated on each page. • The required information regarding the sponsoring committee members must be present. • That at least eighty percent of the required signatures must be legitimate on their face or upon validation. The final characteristic was discussed at length during the August 6 worksession and relates to those signatures deemed not legitimate either on their face (e.g., cartoon characters, non- living persons, children) or after validation. Based on this final characteristic, a petition could appear valid at first glance and proceed to the sufficiency stage, but if twenty percent (or more) of the signatures are found to be invalid or non-legitimate, the petition would be deemed frivolous rather than insufficient.