UPDATE: 'We the People of Cheltenham' collects sufficient signatures to place their initiative on the ballot.....

In my July 4 blog entry, I wrote you about .....

"We the People of Cheltenham' (WTPOC) announces the 2010 Petition Campaign to simplify the initiative and referendum process for residents of Cheltenham. "

Just days ago, the group handed in a sufficient number of signatures  - more than 1600 of them - to qualify their initiative for the next election cycle. Now they wait to see if they are challenged. Here's a brief excerpt from one of the campaign coordinator's notes to their volunteers:

"If our task was to get the right amount of signatures, we succeeded. If our task was to keep the conversation about democracy alive, we succeeded. If our task was to learn about our community, I say we were successful. So let's take a deep breath, get some rest, let the hardship of this summer past melt away from our bones and get ourselves ready for whatever comes next."

Here's the Proposed Ballot Title and Plain English Summary:


Proposed Cheltenham Ballot Title and Plain English Statement 

Ballot Title:

Shall the Cheltenham Township Charter be amended to change Article XIV, Section C 1409 (Procedures for Initiative and Referendum), subsection A, the first sentence, to reduce the required number of petition signatures from thirty percent (30%) of registered electors in the Township to seven percent (7%) of the number of registered electors who voted in the preceding gubernatorial election?

The resulting text of the proposed change shall be:

Article XIV

§ C1409. Procedures.

A.   Initiative and referendum procedures shall be initiated upon petition signed by seven percent (7%) of the number of registered electors of the township who voted in the preceding gubernatorial election

Plain English Statement:

Cheltenham is a “home rule” township.  This means it creates its own laws on any topic not exclusively regulated by the state or federal government.  The set of local laws that govern the township are collectively referred to as the Township’s charter.  The charter may be amended either by action of the elected government officials or through a citizen petition.  This ballot question is presented as the result of a citizen petition.  The amendment proposes a change in the procedures for citizens to place an ordinance on the ballot through the initiative petitioning process, or for them to require that an existing ordinance be changed by the Board of Commissioners or put to a vote of the people.

Specifically, this amendment would make it easier for citizens of Cheltenham, through the petitioning process, to propose new ordinances and for registered voters to either accept or reject them, and it would make it easier for citizens of Cheltenham, through the petitioning process, to require the Board of Commissioners to review and change an existing ordinance, or if they refuse to change it, to allow the voters to decide if it should be changed.



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