- Cape Rolling Out Bloomfield Road Art Trail (8/21/19)1
- Donors Pledge Almost Two Grand To Replace SEMO's Possibly Sentient ‘Gum Tree' (8/16/18)
- SEMO and The Will To (Become A Consultant) – Part 2 (6/14/18)
- SEMO and The Will To Do (You Really Want To See That Legal Notice?) – Part 1 (6/4/18)
- Judge, Jury... Trashman (6/1/18)
- Diary of Cape Girardeau Road Deconstruction (5/11/18)
- Trying To Save A Tree From City “Improvements” (4/30/18)2
'Heads I Vote Yes, Tails I Vote No.'
I wonder if some of the Cape Girardeau City Council members are simply flipping a coin to decide how they are going to vote on some municipal government decisions. Random chance just seems more likely than the use of any actual logic.
For example, there is the anti-smoking ordinance that has been before the council for the last two months.
As many of you are aware, the council did not create this highly divisive bit of legislation. We can thank the Breathe Easy Cape Girardeau committee for collecting enough signatures of local voters to submit it to the council for consideration per the directions of the city charter.
Granted, I'm sure that very few of the approximately 2600 people who signed this petition actually read the proposed 8-page ordinance in its entirety, but that doesn't matter. Our democracy gives everyone the right to an opinion, even if it is based in ignorance and personal bias.
Besides, does anyone ever read all the legal mumbo-jumbo that is an integral part of modern America? Ever read those pages of credit card fine print? No. Or how about those software documents you have to "agree" to during the installation process? Of course not. Or how about the waiver when you take your vehicle to the mechanic? Never.
So then why should we expect that no more than a handful of the 2600 people who signed this petition to ban smoking in public spaces in the City of Cape Girardeau actually bothered to read -- and understand -- the entire proposed ordinance? We shouldn't.
This is America where we like to pass legislation first, and then figure out what is wrong with it. Who can forget Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi saying last spring that Congress had to pass Obama's healthcare bill "so that you can find out what is in it."
But I digress.
This blog is not about the clueless schmucks who wander the halls of Congress or even the citizens of Cape Girardeau who signed this petition without likely reading the entire proposed ordinance, but the apparent quarter-flippers who've been elected to represent the residents of Cape Girardeau at city hall.
And I just can't help feeling a coin was involved in some of the decision-making process after reading about what took place at the City Council meeting earlier this week.
Let's review the story so far:
The Breathe Easy committee collected the signatures of people in favor of an anti-smoking ordinance. They turned those signatures over to City Hall around November 19. They were then passed on to the County Clerk to verify that enough of the signatures were from valid voters living in the city. This was completed and validated by November 30.
Then according to the City charter, the city council has three options. They can:
1. "adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within sixty days."
2. "repeal the referred ordinance within thirty (30) days after the date the petition was finally determined sufficient."
3. "submit the proposed or referred ordinance to the voters of the city"
Paragraph B of Section 8.06 of the city charter gives even more guidance to the process:
"The vote of the city on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held not less than thirty (30) days and not later than one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of the final council vote thereon."
I'm not a lawyer, but this looks pretty clear-cut. The City Council is supposed to take action of some kind on a valid petition or let the voters decide.
But for some reason, three City Council members chose not to vote in favor of putting the ordinance on the April 5 ballot causing it to fail -- a super-majority was needed -- and apparently leaving almost everyone scratching their head over what to do next.
It makes one wonder if some City Council members thought they were actually voting on the smoking issue. Perhaps they didn't realize this vote was just a formality -- and an unnecessary one, in my opinion -- for putting it on the next election ballot per the city charter.
The charter seems pretty clear. If the council chooses not to take action on a petition, it goes to the voters. Period.
I'm just glad that my City Councilperson appears to have read the city charter and voted to put the issue on the next ballot. If I lived in any of those three wards whose representatives voted against this essentially procedural vote, I might be so inclined to take a coin with me when they were up for re-election.
It would be a fair flip. Best two out of three and if it landed on edge, I would vote for the incumbent.
Note: This blog was written prior to me finding out this morning that the City Council has called an emergency meeting to vote on this matter Friday night.
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