Amador County – Sutter Creek officials this week received a petition seeking a referendum on city council’s decisions related to the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort development. City Manager Rob Duke said Wednesday that he supports the idea of the referendum, because it will take the heat off of him, and Sutter Creek city officials, and put the decision in the hands of the people. If it passes, they cannot blame him, and if it fails, then the citizens have spoken about what they want in the city. Opponents, led by volunteer Sutter Creek fireman Bart Weatherly and engineering technician Ed Arata, say the 1,334-unit development is too big, and they spent the last couple of weeks gathering signatures, which Duke said they delivered this week. He said he did not read the language of the petition, as the organizers made city staff count the signatures “upside-down,” due to the volatility and the “brother-against-brother” nature of the issue. The referendum backers hand-delivered the documents, and after the count of signatures, Duke said city staff sealed the referendum documents in an envelope, and the 2 parties – together – hand-delivered the documents to Amador County Registrar of Voters Sheldon Johnson’s office. The registrar’s office would not release the text of the petition, saying that it’s being attached to the signatures made it confidential, because the signatures on the petition were considered confidential. The registrar’s office must count the signatures and verify that they are all from registered Sutter Creek voters. Duke said they had 400 signatures and likely would have the 10 percent of the city’s electorate needed to get the referendum on a ballot. On January 5th, the registrar’s office had a reported 1,584 registered voters in Sutter Creek, meaning petitioners needed 159 valid signatures to place a referendum on the ballot. A simple majority of all registered voters will decide the referendum, meaning a winning vote will have 50 percent of the vote total, plus one vote. If all voters participate in the election, the winning side would need 793 votes. With an even number of voters, a tie vote is possible. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 17:00
Sutter Creek Petitioned for City-Wide Vote on Gold Rush Issues
Written by Tom-
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Amador County – Sutter Creek officials this week received a petition seeking a referendum on city council’s decisions related to the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort development. City Manager Rob Duke said Wednesday that he supports the idea of the referendum, because it will take the heat off of him, and Sutter Creek city officials, and put the decision in the hands of the people. If it passes, they cannot blame him, and if it fails, then the citizens have spoken about what they want in the city. Opponents, led by volunteer Sutter Creek fireman Bart Weatherly and engineering technician Ed Arata, say the 1,334-unit development is too big, and they spent the last couple of weeks gathering signatures, which Duke said they delivered this week. He said he did not read the language of the petition, as the organizers made city staff count the signatures “upside-down,” due to the volatility and the “brother-against-brother” nature of the issue. The referendum backers hand-delivered the documents, and after the count of signatures, Duke said city staff sealed the referendum documents in an envelope, and the 2 parties – together – hand-delivered the documents to Amador County Registrar of Voters Sheldon Johnson’s office. The registrar’s office would not release the text of the petition, saying that it’s being attached to the signatures made it confidential, because the signatures on the petition were considered confidential. The registrar’s office must count the signatures and verify that they are all from registered Sutter Creek voters. Duke said they had 400 signatures and likely would have the 10 percent of the city’s electorate needed to get the referendum on a ballot. On January 5th, the registrar’s office had a reported 1,584 registered voters in Sutter Creek, meaning petitioners needed 159 valid signatures to place a referendum on the ballot. A simple majority of all registered voters will decide the referendum, meaning a winning vote will have 50 percent of the vote total, plus one vote. If all voters participate in the election, the winning side would need 793 votes. With an even number of voters, a tie vote is possible. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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