THE BONDAGE OF CITIES - The Community Environmental Legal ...

PARTII.EXISTING FREEHOLD CHARTER AMENDMENTS, ETC.The subjoined constitutional a-mendments giving cities the rightto make their own charters to beadopted and amended by popularvote, are very important to all whoare interested in the cause of municipalliberty. The Washingtonamendment is commendable for itsbrevity and its provision for adoptingand amending charters by majorityvote; the requirement of afour-sevenths vote for adoption inMinnesota and Missouri (except St.Louis), and three-fifths for amendmentin Minnesota, Missouri andCalifornia, is unnecessarily burdensome.If a majority vote is sufficientto amend the constitution of aState, it surely should be sufficientto amend the charter of a city.* Itmay be well to require a three-fifthsor three-fourths or four-seventhsvote for sudden action, or for legislativeaction without recourse to thepeople, but to demand three-fifthsor more when the people^ are votingafter due notice and deliberation, issimply to enable a small minorityto govern the majority. The provisionsin California and Missouri(St. Louis) against amendment exceptat intervals of two years is alsoobjectionable. The people of eachcity should determine for themselveshow often they will allow theircharter to be amended. The Minnesotaclause commanding the boardof freeholders to submit amendmentson petition of 5 per cent, of thevoters is admirable. By statute theboard of freeholders to frame acharter, etc., is to be appointed bythe district judge on petition of 10per cent, of the voters of the municipality.Minnesota also leads in theuniversality of her amendment, noclass of cities, large or small, beingexcluded from its benefits. If wecould join in one provision the goodpoints of these various amendments,brevity, majority rule, 5 per cent,initiative, to set in motion the ma-* Since this criticism was first publishedthe California Legislature has proposed anew amendment changing the three-fifthsrequirement to a majority vote.chinery of adoption or amendment,universal application to all municipalities,and then add a clause excludinglegislative interference in any way with -local self-government in respect tospecified local affairs, including streetfranchises and other local businessmatters, then we should have anamendment that would secure realmunicipal liberty. The people of acity could adopt direct legislation inrespect to ordinances, and popularsovereignty in local governmentwould be assured. We have triedto suggest in Part I. an amendmentembodying these good points.Here are the amendments so farpassed:The Washington Charter Amendment.The Washington Constitution,1889, Article XI, Section 10, providesas follows:Corporations for municipal purposesshall not be created by special laws,but the legislature, by general laws,shall provide for the incorporation, organization,and classification, in proportionto population, of cities and towns,which laws may be altered, amended,or repealed. Cities and towns heretoforeorganized or incorporated may becomeorganized under such general lawswhenever a majority of the electorsvoting at a general election shall sodetermine, and shall organize in conformitytherewith; and cities and townsheretofore or hereafter organized andall charters thereof framed or adoptedby authority of this constitution shallbe subject to and controlled by generallaws. Any city containing a populationof twenty thousand inhabitantsor more shall be permitted to frame acharter for its own government consistentwith and subject to the constitutionand laws of this state and forsuch purpose the legislative authorityof such city may cause an election tobe had, at which election there shallbe chosen by the qualified electors ofsaid city fifteen freeholders thereof,who shall have been residents of saidcity for a period of at least two yearspreceding their election, and qualifiedelectors, whose duty it shall be to convenewithin ten days after their election,and prepare and propose a charterfor such city. Such proposed chartershall be submitted to the qualifiedelectors of said city, and if a majorityof such qualified electors voting thereonratify the same, it shall become thecharter of said city, and shall becomethe organic law thereof, and supersedeany existing charter, including amend-VII