TUSTIN : Referendum Push on Voting May Be Moot

A group trying to overturn the City Council’s decision to change its local election dates would be in for a disappointment even if it gathers enough signatures for a referendum, City Atty. James G. Rourke said.

He said this week that if the group presents its referendum to the city, he will advise the City Council that it is not proper because ordinances dealing with elections are not subject to referendums under state law.

The statute that gives the council the power to change local elections to April does not include a provision for submitting election dates to the voters, Rourke said.

The council majority approved the election date change Nov. 20, saying April elections allow greater focus on local issues and cost less for candidates.

But Councilmen John Kelly and Earl J. Prescott, who were absent from the meeting, disagree with the change. They and a group of residents gathering signatures for a referendum to reverse the decision said April elections will decrease voter turnout and cost the city more.

Resident Berklee Maughan, who is heading the group, said it has gathered more than 600 signatures.

Group members said if they gather 2,056 signatures by Dec. 20, the ordinance changing election dates will be automatically suspended. The City Council will then have the option of reversing its decision or placing the matter before the voters in a special election.

“Under the California election code,” Prescott said, “any ordinance can be automatically suspended by a referendum.”

He said Rourke is trying to thwart the referendum petition by casting doubt on its validity. He also accused Rourke of a conflict of interest as the personal attorney for Mayor Richard B. Edgar, who suggested the change.

Edgar called Prescott’s conflict-of-interest allegation a red herring.

Rourke said that although he prepared a will for Edgar some years ago, he does not recall doing legal work for him since.

Maughan said attorney Gregory A. Hile is researching the issue for the group, but Prescott stands behind the group’s efforts.

“Any ordinance a council enacts, the residents can undo,” Prescott said. “It is not at the discretion of the City Council what to do with an ordinance when it is properly presented with a referendum within 30 days. It automatically suspends the law.”

But a spokeswoman for the California secretary of state said her office concurs with the city attorney’s interpretation.