What Role Should Referendums Play in Dallas?

[Spjz]

This topic has been touched upon regularly in other threads. Due to recent events, I think it merits its own discussion. And a poll!

[Spjz]

I'll repeat what I've said in previous threads. Referendums are entirely appropriate in local government and are by no means occurring with too great a frequency in Dallas. By my count we'll have had, by the end of this May, six voter referendums triggered by petition over the past decade (Right to vote, CC hotel, tollroad, strong mayor 1, strong mayor 2, police and firefighter pay). Considering that hundreds if not thousands of policy issues have been debated at city hall during this time, I hardly think that six popular votes indicates that we are by any stretch abandoning representative democracy.

I for one, while I don't like the terms of the "Right to Vote" amendment, I do think that it would be a great wake up call to our council.

[eirin]

The only thing I think referendums should be applicable to are changes in the city charter, or regulations. I suppose they are fine if it is a contentious issue, and requires people to petition. The only problem I have with referendums is that they can corrupt the "expediency" of government, however lacking it may be at times. The other problem we have is uninformed voters who may vote thinking they are doing something good but actually end up voting without much thought and thus something that could provide a good change is defeated.

So all in all, referendums are a good thing but only when they are necessary.

[monogodo]

I think you should have been required to petition to have a poll in this thread.

[Spjz]

^We'll there's nothing in the forums bylaws (which I've not read, nor am I sure they even exists) that say that you can't do a poll. If you can get 3/5 of the current active forum users to sign an online petition, then perhaps the moderators might put an amendment up for a vote. 50 plus 1 carries the day.

[TheMapman]

Council should be able to initiate referendums. Maybe citizens should be able to as well but the bar is far too low right now.

[JohnMcKee]

Council should be able to initiate referendums. Maybe citizens should be able to as well but the bar is far too low right now.

I agree that I would like the bar to be higher but I wouldn't call it far too low, the two referendums on the table right now had a lot of financial backing and a lot of effort put into them and likely would have made it on the ballot even if they bar was higher than the increase that is proposed.

I believe the Right To Vote one is an awful idea but I can understand on a petition how it would be compelling to sign for someone uneducated on the ramifications of limiting decisions to $1M. $1M sounds like a lot of money to most people, even if it isn't a lot when it comes to these types of government affairs in a large city like our own. As far as a city owned $550M dollar hotel, to me that is the exact reason the referendum process should exist and I can't think of any reason why it should not be on the ballot.

Is the bar too low? Yes, we should raise it because it could be dangerous in the future but I don't think it had anything to do with these two issues being on the ballot and I think both of them would have made it there anyways as long as the bar wasn't set unreasonably high.

[Spjz]

Council should be able to initiate referendums. Maybe citizens should be able to as well but the bar is far too low right now.So two recent referendums equate to the bar being too low? What would you propose? I'll concede that the 20,000 signature requirement for a charter amendment is a little low, but I believe that is guaranteed by the Texas Constitution ( I could be wrong) not the Dallas City Charter.

As for the 10 percent requirement for ordinances, I think that's probably a little high.

[trolleygirl]

I don't know if the "bar" is too low, but I can you all this: I could, and maybe a goodly portion of you all, gather 32,000 valid petitions for a referendum.

[trolleygirl]

Hey, spjz- I have both my avatar and yours hanging on the wall above my desk in my office. I look to them for inspiration and admiration of what a fun city we really have.....

[Spjz]

I don't know if the "bar" is too low, but I can you all this: I could, and maybe a goodly portion of you all, gather 32,000 valid petitions for a referendum....along with considerable motivation and a significant commitment of time.


Hey, spjz- I have both my avatar and yours hanging on the wall above my desk in my office. I look to them for inspiration and admiration of what a fun city we really have.....Haha, it's been almost two years since I've lived in Dallas and I still read the Observer, Frontburner, and Belo Managed Snooze almost daily. It's like watching a serial drama on HBO except you know that it will never be canceled (bring back The Wire!).

Anyway, I'll be in Dallas this week. I need to stop by the Trinity Audubon. I visited in during December and everything was wet, cold, and brown. Hopefully all the trees and plants are in full bloom.