Comments about: AUGUSTA Charter accord elusive City committee still has many unresolved issues
AUGUSTA -- Five months into their work, Charter Commission members still appear far apart on most substantive...
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catsome of portland, ME
May 16, 2008 6:52 AM
the referenda process should be the same as the state's. Allowing the legislative body ( the city council) to either adopt the petition on their own or send it out to the voters, period.

Doing other wise likley violates the STATE constitution, no matter what the charter says...

Corp counsel should be allowed to simply review the wording( for legal language only) SO LONG AS there is no conflict of interest --like corporation counsel working for the same firm representing the developer.

AND petitioners should hire their own lawyer to write the language and then let the lawyers fight it out the legality of the language NOT the content or substance of the petition request....Of course the City is going to look out for their own best interest and that is NOT always the same thing as best interest of the people of their town... people go to referenda beacause they disagree with the wisdom of their leaders ... that's the whole point of initiative referendas.
Saying the people can't go to initiative referenda is an affront to the most basic of democratic principle and creates the conditions that lead to an "abuse of power". If the initiative referenda is unwise and doesn't reflect the views of the majority, they won't get enoigh signatures or it will get defeated at the polls. It's democracy in action in it's purist undiluted form.report abuse

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