Here's a copy of the press release:
City Verifies Signatures on Citizens’ Petition
The Minneapolis Elections Department has completed the work of verifying that a citizens’ petition submitted last week does contain the required number of signatures to place a proposed City Charter Amendment on the November 3 general election ballot.
The proposed amendment would establish the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board as a separate and independent unit of government. Leaders supporting the petition drive include former Mayors Don Fraser and Sharon Sayles Belton, former City Councilmember Pat Scott, former Minneapolis Park Board President Scott Neiman, and former County Commissioner Mark Andrew.
In order to place an amendment to the City Charter on the ballot, proponents were required to gather signatures from 10,449 registered Minneapolis voters. The petition was submitted on August 10, and the process of verifying signatures began the following day. The verification is considered unofficial until acted upon by the Charter Commission, which is now required to formally transmit the petition to the City Council.
“We appreciate the hard work of the City Clerk’s office and the City Elections Department staff to complete this task in a timely manner,” said Neiman, who is acting as chair for the Citizens’ campaign, “The voters have requested a chance to decide this issue, and we hope that the Charter Commission will act quickly to keep this process moving forward.”
At the request of the City Council, the Charter Commission is expected to hold a special meeting before August 27 to formally transmit the petition to the City Council. The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is August 28.
For questions or additional press inquiries please contact Justin Fay at (612) 251-1457.
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It's pretty easy to get signatures when you lie about what they are for.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteCould you expand on that? What were they "lying" about?
They collected signatues claiming that the City was going to eliminate the park board and the Whole Save Ou Parks campaign was misleading in its urgency. The proposal to eliminate the board had support from only two city council members I believe...one of which is not running for re-election. I'm very concerned about giving the park board taxing authority which the city council will be held accountable for.
ReplyDeleteHere is the wording of the proposed amendment:
ReplyDelete"The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board shall be a separate and independent governmental unit of the state of Minnesota with an elected board of commissioners. The Park and Recreation Board shall preserve and protect park land, lakes and open spaces as a public trust forever and shall have all powers and rights of a separate and independent governmental unit of the state as determined by the state Legislature."
I understand your concern; however the MPRB has been and continues to be one of the best functioning units of government in the state.
ReplyDeleteThe same cannot be said for the City Council or even the State Legislators and certainly not the Governor’s office.
The idea that the park board is suddenly going to go crazy with property tax increase is just as farfetched as the idea that the city council won’t be looking to save money by dipping into the park funding.
The issue comes down to whom do you trust more with the preservation of the parks; the city council or the MPRB?