(a) The registered electors of the City shall have the power to propose ordinances to the Council consistent with the provisions of this Charter and State law.

(b) Any proposed ordinance may be submitted to the Council for submission to the registered electors by filing with the City Clerk a petition for the proposed ordinance signed by registered electors of the City equal in number to at least five (5) percent of the total number of electors of the City registered on the date the form of the petition was approved by the Clerk pursuant to statute.

(c) The petition for a proposed ordinance shall be filed with the Clerk within sixty days after the Clerk’s approval of the form of petition for circulation. Each petition shall conform with the requirements of the state statute concerning the form of initiative petitions.

(d) Within fifteen calendar days of the filing of a petition, the Clerk shall ascertain whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of registered electors and conforms with the requirements of State law. The Clerk shall certify the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition and so notify all of the designated petition representatives in writing. In the event a petition is deemed sufficient, whether following the sufficiency determination by the Clerk in the absence of a protest, or following protest proceedings, the Clerk shall so certify and present the certified petition to the Council at its next regular meeting. (Amended at election held Nov. 6, 1990)

(a) The proposed ordinance which is the subject of the initiative shall either be adopted without alteration by the Council within twenty (20) days after such petition is presented by the City Clerk to Council, or the Council shall refer such proposed ordinance, in the form petitioned for, to the registered electors of the City.

(b) The vote by the registered electors on any initiated ordinance shall be at a regular or special election held not less than sixty (60) days nor more than one hundred eighty (180) days after the petition for election is filed with the Clerk. If a majority of the electors voting on said ordinance vote in favor of the initiated ordinance, it shall become effective immediately without further publication. (Amended at election held Nov. 6, 1990)

(a) The referendum shall apply to all ordinances passed by Council except ordinances adopting the budget, establishing the tax levy, approving appropriations providing for improvements to be paid for in whole or in part by special assessments, or calling for a special election. Additionally, emergency ordinances necessary to the immediate preservation of the public property, peace, health or safety shall not be subject to referendum if they receive the affirmative vote of at least three-fourths of the entire Council.

(b) If within thirty (30) days after final publication of an ordinance to which the referendum is applicable, a petition protesting the ordinance, or any part thereof, is signed by registered electors equal in number to at least five (5) percent of the total number of electors of the City registered on the date the form of the petition was approved by the Clerk pursuant to State statute and is filed with the clerk, the operation of the ordinance, or part so protested against, shall automatically be suspended upon certification by the Clerk as to the sufficiency of the petition. The Council shall reconsider the ordinance within twenty (20) days after the certified petition is submitted by the Clerk to Council.

(c) If the ordinance, or the part protested, is not entirely repealed, Council shall submit the ordinance, or the part protested, to a vote of the registered electors at a regular or special election held not less than sixty (60) days and not more than one hundred eighty (180) days after the date the petition was filed with the Clerk. The ordinance, or the part protested, shall not take effect unless a majority of the registered electors voting in the election approve it.

(d) The Council shall have the power by ordinance or resolution to submit any proposed

ordinance or proposition to a vote of the registered electors at a general or special election as provided in this Charter. No provision of this Charter shall be construed as limiting the right of Council to refer any ordinance subject to referendum. (Amended at election held Nov. 6, 1990)