NJ Appleseed Public Interest Law Center URGENT Action Alert Dated: January 8, 2010
Greetings! A bill that would seriously weaken the rights of citizens living in Faulkner Act municipalities to self-govern has passed the Senate and will be voted on in the Assembly on Monday. Unless quick action is taken, the bill unfortunately may pass.
Urge the Assembly to VOTE NO on A4264 Right now, those living in towns organized under the Faulkner Act (also known as Municipal Optional Charter law) have the right to pass ordinances themselves, by getting the measure either before the town Council or on the ballot through a process known as Initiation and Referendum (I&R). Bill S3157/A4264 would weaken that right of empowerment, by severely limiting the number of times a citizens' group may use the I&R process. Currently, an I&R petition to change the length of the term of office for elected officials can be brought once every 3 years, and a petition to change in the form of government can be brought once every 2 years. But S3157/A4264 would extend that period of prohibition to 10 years in each case. We believe the timing of S3157/A4264 is not an accident. Over the summer, New Jersey Appleseed represented a group from New Brunswick called Empower Our Neighborhoods (EON), whose efforts to get a change of government I&R petition on the ballot was thwarted by the New Brunswick city council. Together, New Jersey Appleseed and EON went to court, and got EON's right to have the measure appear on the ballot (without a competing measure from the city council) affirmed. The measure lost at the polls. Then Bill S3157/A4264 was introduced, in an apparent attempt to prevent EON from presenting the measure again two years from now. Dragging the process out to 10 years would arguably slow down if not halt EON's progress to achieve transparent and open government in New Brunswick. Bill S3157/A4264 has more far-reaching consequences, however. This is the first step the NJ legislature has taken, since broadening citizens' rights to self govern in 1982 when it passed the I & R law, to curtail those rights. Bill S3157/A4264 represents the first step in taking away citizens' rights of self governance and self determination. Everyone living in a Faulkner Act municipality will be impacted by this change in the law. We ask that you contact your Assembly person TODAY and urge him/her to vote "NO" on A4264 when it comes up for a vote on Monday. You can find your Assembly person and contact information by clicking here. Also, we ask that you call Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts TODAY and urge him not to support the bill. Phone: (856) 742-7600 Fax: (856) 742-1831 Email: AsmRoberts@njleg.org.
Bill S3157/A4264 is being sold as a "stability" bill for municipalities, and many lawmakers are not aware of the back story. A sample letter is found below. Thank you in advance! Diana H. Jeffrey, Esq. Director, Government Accountability Programs
Example letter Dear Assembly person, I am writing to you to urge you to VOTE NO on S3157/A4264, which will be posted for a vote in the Assembly on Monday, January 11. I believe that S3157/A4264 will disempower local communities. It will do so by severely limiting the ability for citizens to petition for referendum. Specifically, the bill aims to limit citizens' ability to repetition from 2 years in the case of an unsuccessful measure at the polls, or 3 years for a successful measure at the polls, to 10 years. Yesterday the bill was pitched to the Senate in Caucus as a "stability bill." However an extension of the limitation from 2 or 3 years to 10 years is an unnecessary restrictions, and has the affect of derailing citizens' efforts to self-govern. The reality is that a 2 or 3 year limitation is sufficient, while a 10-year limitation essentially kills any grassroots citizen's initiative. Many Senators who voted for the bill yesterday said that they would have opposed it had they known better, and have committed to opposing it should it come back to Senate with amendment. I urge you therefore to vote "NO" on A4264 when it comes up for a vote on Monday. Instead, I ask that you support the intent of the Optional Municipal Charter Law, which is to create opportunities for citizens' to self govern. Please don't vote to strip citizens' of our right to self-empowerment. Sincerely,