To: Donna Olson, Mayor, City of Stoughton, Lana Kopf, Stoughton City Clerk and Stoughton City Council Members

CC: Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell

Dear Officials:

We the undersigned, on behalf of the nearly 1,100 Stoughton citizens who signed the Advisory Referenda Petition and the nearly 1,000 citizens who signed the Direct Legislation Petition, ask that the review of the petitions be conducted in the most expeditious manner so that the determination can be made by the City Council to place the referenda questions on the Tuesday, April 7, 2015 ballot.

Our understanding is the Council President Michael Engelberger and Mayor Donna Olson have agreed to call a special meeting of the Council this Monday evening, February 23rd, at 7 PM in the Council Chambers with the specific agenda item to be "Discussion and possible action on the referendum petitions submitted to the City on February 17" along with a public comment period.

We thank the city's leadership for making this special effort!

We believe the citizens of our city deserve an opportunity to discuss and vote yes or no on the questions as they decide best.

The Kettle Park West proposal, the proposed subsidy of the developer, the construction of the proposed SuperCenter and Downtown re-development issues are all topics we find people have strong opinions for and against.

We in Stoughton have decided very contentious issues before by referendum. An example is the struggle to decide what to do about a needed new library which required a second referendum after the first was voted down. School referendums have also been contentious.

Per the WI Government Accountability Board attorney the advisory referendums need NO petition at all and can be placed upon the ballot at council discretion. We believe that if nearly 1,100 citizens signed the petitions to place those questions on the ballot, then the council should accept the will of those people and let the people speak at the ballot box.

With regard to the Direct Legislation petition, over 970 citizens signed that petition and we urge this referendum question also be place on the 2015 April ballot if the petition is determined to be sufficient by the city clerk.

Sincerely, the undersigned citizens of the Stoughton community