Group turns in charter amendment petitions

Backers seek change in how many signatures would be needed for referendum

Email | Print By Nate Rau

A group called Hear the People turned in about 5,000 petitions of registered Davidson County voters to the Clerk’s office to place a proposal on the January special election ballot that will alter the way Metro’s charter can be amended directly by the people.

The group is led by prominent English Only supporters Jon Crisp, the former chair of the Davidson County Republican Party, and Jim Roberts, the attorney who represented Councilman Eric Crafton in his failed first effort at amending the Metro Charter.

The proposal, which still needs to be certified by the Election Commission, will edit the Metro charter to allow petition-driven amendments every general election in addition to special elections no more than once a year.

The proposal would also change the number of signatures required to amend the charter. Currently, 10 percent of the voters from the previous county-wide election must sign a petition in order for it to be placed on the ballot. The proposal would change that number to 1 percent of registered voters.

The reason for the change, according to Crisp, is because the number of signatures required for a referendum is currently a moving target based on the number of people who voted in the previous county-wide election. Only 2,475 signatures were needed to force the English Only special election in January.

During the first English Only attempt, 10,103 signatures were required. Under the Hear the People proposal, 1 percent of the voters would amount to about 4,000 signatures.

Crisp said the proposal was about giving the power to the people and taking it away from “the mayor and lobbyists” who currently push legislation.

“For some people, it will be a loss of power, like the administration, the mayor, lobbyists and Metro Council,” Crisp said. “For the average person, it empowers them. I’ll err on the side of the collective wisdom of voters versus the power of lobbyists and the mayor every time.”

Crisp said he doubted the proposal would lead to “hairbrained charter amendment proposals” finding their way on the ballot regularly.

The proposal also limits Metro Council’s ability to amend a voter-driven charter amendment. If the proposal passes, Council may not edit a voter-driven charter amendment until four years have passed.

The English Only referendum will take place in a special election on Jan. 22. The proposal would make English the official language of Metro and specify that no one has a right to services in any other language, with the exception of health and safety departments.

In 2006, voters passed a charter amendment referendum requiring voter approval on property tax increases.