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Home My WebLink AboutCHC 1990 CORRESPONDENCE HAWAII CHARTER AMEND 2 1 . AMENDMENT HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER As a result of a charter amendment proposal approved by the voters of the County of Hawaii at the General Election held on November 2, 1982, Article XI, Initiative and Referendum has been revised to delete Section 11-2. The Revised full text of Article XI is attached and is now part of the 1980 Edition of the County Charter, County of Hawaii ® R. B. Legaspi COUNTY CLERK ARTICLE XI INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Section 11-1 . The Powers of Initiative and Referendum. (a ) The power of voters to propose ordinances (except as provided in Section 11-2 ) shall be the initiative power . (b) The power of voters to approve or reject ordinances by election (except as provided in Section 11-2) shall be the referendum power . SECTION 11-2 DELETED (Charter Amendment Approved at the November 2, 1982 .General Election) Section 11-3. Submission Requirements . (a) Voters seeking to propose an ordinance by initiative shall submit an initiative petition council addressed to the and containing aining the full II text of the proposed ordinance. The - initiative petition shall' be filed with the clerk of the council at least forty-eight hours prior to. any regular council meeting . (b ) Voters seeking referendum on an ordinance shall submit a referendum petition addressed to. • the council , identifying the particular ordinance and requesting that it be either repealed or referred to the voters of .the county. �... (c) Each initiative petition and each referendum petition must be signed by qualified voters of the county equal in number to at least fifteen percent of the total number of persons who voted in the county for:.the office of mayor in the last preceding general election . Section 11-4. Petitioners ' Committee. For each initiative or referendum petition there shall be a petitioners ' committee representing all the petitioners, which committee shall be composed of five members who shall beualifi voters of the county and signers of the ed petition. The committee shall be responsible for circulation of the petition and for assembling and filing the petition in proper form. The committee shall have the power to amend or withdraw the petition as provided in this charter . Section 11-5 . Initiative and Referendum • Petitions: Forms and Sufficiency. Initiative and referendum n um petitions shall be governed by , the rules regarding form and sufficiency set forth in this section, as well as by such other rules as the oounty council may impose by ordinance, consistent with the provisions and with the spirit and purpose of this charter . - 22 - • (a ) For immediate acceptance of petition:. , the clerk of the council shall require • (1 ) The petitions indicate by name and address, the five signers who constitute the petitioners ' committee for that petition. (2) The petitions indicate the address , . to which all notices for petitioners ' committee are to be sent. ( 3) The signatures to petitions •be filed on papers of . uniform size and style and assembled as one instrument . Upon presentation, petitions which reasonanly comply _with this subsection (a ) shall :;e accepted bythe clerk rk without delay; • petitions shall be rejected for • . non-compliance. (4) Each elector ' signing such petition • shall print his name, add his signature , • his residence address, his social security number and the date of signing on said petition . • (b) For purposes of certification , any petition shall be found insufficient which: • • (1 ) Is signed by less than the required- number of qualified votes of the county . ( 2) Proposes , or requests repeal of , an ordinance not subject to the owners of initiative or referendum. (c) Signatures are invalid and petitions insufficient: • 1 ( ) If signers are not given an . opportunity to read the full text of the • proposed ordinance under an initiative petition , or the designation and description of the ordinance in question under a referendum petition and if the full text of a proposed ordinance or ordinance under question is not contained in or attached to each signature paper or set of signature papers of an initiative • or referendum petition respectively, throughout circulation. • (2) If affidavits (executed by the circulators for each set of signature papers) are not attached to the papers• at the time of filing of petition with the clerk of. the 'council . Each affidavit shall attest to the effect that: a particular individual i ual personally circulated an identifiable set of pap-rs; each paper bears a stated number of signatures; each signature on a paper was • - 23 s affixed in the circulator 's presence; each . signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be . (d ) Individual signatures may be withdrawn within fifteen days after the filing of an initiative or referendum petition with the clerk of the council by the filing of a written request therefor , by the individual, with the clerk of the council . Section 11-6 . Initiative and Referendum: Procedure after Filing. (a ) Within twenty days after the filing of an initiative or referendum petition, the clerk of the council shall complete a certificate aso t the sufficiency of the petition . As soon as a certificate is completed, the clerk shall notify the petitioners ' committee of the contents of the certificate. If a petition is certified sufficient, the clerk shall present his certificate to the county council at it next meeting . If the clerk certifies a petition insufficient his certificate shall show the particulars wherein the petition Is defective. A majority of the petitioners' committee may • elect to amend petition certified insufficient • and must so notify the clerk, but if a majority does not elect to amend a petition , the clerk ! shall present his certificate to the county �.,.:... council at its next meeting. A petition is approved for consideration through council action upon the clerk 's certificate of sufficiency. - (b ) If a majority of the petitioners ' • committee elects to amend its petition, then within ten days after receipt of the clerk 's certificate, the committee shall file a supplementary petition upon additional papers. • The supplementary petition shall be governed by the same requirements as for an original petition. Within five days after the filing of a supplemental petition, the clerk shall complete a second certificate as to the sufficiency of the original petition as amended by the supplementary petition . Thereafter , the procedural requirements for the petition as amended shall be the same as that for the original petition as provided in subsection (a ) , this section. • - 24 - A • (c) A majority of the petitioners ' cr,7- ittee may request the county council to review r..he clerk 's certificate , at or before the meeting at which the clerk presents the certificate to the council . The council shall review the latest clerk 's certificate, upon the committee 's request , and shall approve or reject the certificate or may substitute its own determination of sufficiency of the petition by resolution . The review actions of the •council. shall be final but shall not preclude the filing of a new petition for the same purpose'. Section 11-7 . County Council Action on Petitions. (a ) The county council shall proceed immediately to consider an • initiative or referendum petition which has been determined sufficient in accordance with the' provisions of this article. If .an initiar_ i•;e • petition is concerned , the ordinance it proposes shall at once be introduced subject to the procedures required for ordinances under Sections 3-9 and 3-11 of this charter; however , not more than sixty days shall elapse between . the time of first reading of the initia•ti•:e. • proposal' as a bill and completion of consideration to adopt, amend, or reject the . • same. If a referendum petition is concerned , the ordinance to which that petition is directed shall .be reconsidered by the council; and not • later than thirty days after the date on which the petition was determined sufficient , the council shall be resolution repeal or sustain the ordinance . (b ) If the council fails to adopt an initiative proposal or adopts a proposal with an amendment unfavorable to a majority of the petitioners ' committee, or if the council fails to repeal an ordinance reconsidered pursuant to a referendum petition, it shall submit the originally proposed initiative ordinance or refer the reconsidered ordinance concerned to the voters of the county at the next general election. The ballot for such measures snail contain an objective summary of the substance of the measure and shall have below the hz.11ot title designated spaces in which to mark the ballot FOR or AGAINST the measure . Section 11-8 . Withdrawal of Petitions . A petitioners ' committee may withdraw its petition at any time but not later than the thirtieth day immediately preceding the day scheduled frr a vote in the county on the measure concerned . A petitioners ' committee shall be requested to - 25 - • • I � e withdraw its petition and the committee rt:i::; t • comply, if the aims of the petition are resolved by intermediate council action to the satisfaction of the committee such that the initiative proposal is adopted as an• ordin=ince , or that the ordinance reconsidered by the referendum petition is repealed . A written request for petition withdrawal must be si'lned • • by four of the five members of the petitioners ' committee and filed with the council clerk . • The filing of a withdrawal immediately cancels the • petition and ceases all further action for the accommodation of the petition by the county . Section 11-9 . Results of Election . . If a majority of the voters voting upon a proposed initiative ordinance shall vote in favor of it, the ordinance involved shall thereupon be an ordinance of the county. A referred ordinance which is not approved by a majority of the . voters voting on it shall thereupon be repealed . • • • • • - 26 - • •