Tennessee
Another example today of why citizen initiative rights are important. This one is from Jackson, Tennessee:
The Jackson City Council turned down a curfew ordinance earlier this year, but some residents are trying to bring it back — potentially as a ballot initiative.
The Jackson City Council turned down a curfew ordinance earlier this year, but some residents are trying to bring it back — potentially as a ballot initiative. Lambuth Area Neighborhood Association President Scott Conger said he thinks the curfew is a tool in combating youth crime in Jackson that should not be denied because city leaders found that most youth crimes happened outside of the curfew hours — 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. most nights of the week —that would have been set by the rejected ordinance.
I came across an article in the Nashville Scene earlier today and found it to be an interesting take on the idea and practice of a non-binding referendum.
The state election coordinator has ruled that Knox County has to limit a recall ballot initiative to a single question — should school board member Bill Phillips be recalled? The ballot cannot contain two questions, election administrator Mark Goins wrote in a four-page opinion released today. The second question would have been whether a special election should be held to choose a successor.
The effort to recall Knox County School Board member Bill Phillips is tabled for now, as the election commission has questions about the wording of the potential ballot item. Administrator of Elections Greg Mackay had a question about the wording of the petition, so the election commission called the state election office to ask about the wording.
Rutherford County could get an alcohol distillery, and pending Tennessee General Assembly legislation will make this possible without a referendum, state Sen. Bill Ketron said.
You have no statewide Initiative & Referendum rights, but Knoxville, Nashville-Davidson County, Chattanooga and Shelby County (Memphis) have local Initiative rights.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
The Progressives and labor unions never won enactment of statewide
initiative and referendum rights, and had to settle for a 1913 law granting
such rights to residents of a few municipalities.
Excerpted from the Initiative & Referendum Almanac by M. Dane Waters.