Title
Resolution to Order Election, Approve Charter Amendment of the Ann Arbor City Charter to Add a New Section Defining and Designating a District as a Civic Center Commons to Chapter 1, Name and Boundaries, of the City Charter and Determine the Ballot Language for This Amendment (7 Votes Required)
Body
Whereas, Michigan's Home Rule City Act (MCL 117.25) provides that citizen-initiated City Charter amendments shall be placed in front of voters if a petition is signed by at least 5% of the qualified and registered electors of the municipality;
Whereas, On June 6, 2016, the count of registered voters in the City of Ann Arbor was 92,321, requiring 4,616 signatures (5% of registered voters) for a citizen-initiated Charter amendment;
Whereas, An attempt to place a local proposal on the November 8, 2016 general election by citizen-initiated petition was filed with the City Clerk, which proposed to amend the Ann Arbor City Charter to add a new Section 1.4 to Chapter 1, Name and Boundaries, requiring certain City-owned property be permanently retained as a civic center commons;
Whereas, The filed petition comprised 539 petition sheets and approximately 5,700 signatures which met the minimum required percentage of signatures;
Whereas, Any petition filed must be checked by the City Clerk to determine if it complies with the governing provision of the Home Rules Cities Act, Michigan election law; and Michigan Bureau of Elections guidance;
Whereas, The City Clerk review of a filed petition is done in two steps:
* the preliminary inspection being a visual review for completeness and accuracy
All area of the petition sheet must be completed - incomplete addresses, addresses outside the City, undated signatures, incomplete or undated circulator affidavits void the signature
* final review and inspection requires voter registration status of each signer must be checked to confirm that the voter was register to vote in the City on the date the petit...
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