By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa City Council held a special meeting last night to amend the city’s charter. City officials said that the article in the charter pertaining to Initiative and Referendum, which sets procedures for putting issues on voting ballots not otherwise addressed by the council, was not in conformity with state code.
The city attorney said that there were court cases dating back “100+ years” that ruled that Initiative and Referendum was not allowed for Iowa cities. He said that he represents “about 10 cities” in Iowa and has not seen Initiative and Referendum in their city laws.
Councilmember Charlie Comfort said that a previous city attorney had raised the issue, saying that the State’s Attorney General’s office has opined on two different occasions that Initiative and Referendum “may be unconstitutional or otherwise illegal under state code”. He also said the city’s charter is heavily based on the charter for the city of Clinton, which was the subject of a 1995 court case that ruled that Initiative and Referendum was contrary to state code.
One resident spoke against the proposed amendment, arguing that the city couldn’t repeal a section of their charter retroactively and that the city was harming the ability of residents to petition. Councilmember Bob Drost disagreed with that sentiment, saying that residents still had plenty of avenues to voice their opinions.
“You talk about listening to the people, I think that’s what this forum is, right? We have council meetings the first and third Mondays of every month. It’s publicized, the agenda is published well in advance according to state requirements.
“So when we talk about not listening to the public, I don’t know how many phone calls and emails and personal conversations that [the rest of the council has], I have a lot of those conversations both professionally and personally. So I think that a statement saying that the council does not listen to the public is inaccurate.”
Ultimately, the charter amendment passed on a 6-1 vote, with councilmember Lisa Ossian the lone dissenting vote.
The Oskaloosa city council will host its next regular meeting on May 15.
