Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
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
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Updates
February 21, 2015
The city officials confirmed the special meeting for Monday evening to address the petition items. I am currently preparing formal documentation on the referendum questions for the council members to review before that session.
17 Comments
I feel that the Kettle Park West proposal should be voted on by the community. Furthermore, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the city subsidizing private development.
Since KPW was conceived in 2010-11, the City of Stoughton has NOT given residents even one chance to vote for or stand for this project in any aspect; no city-wide referenda, no citizen survey, and not even a straw poll. That is why this final chance to have deomcracy work for the people is so important. It is time to let the people have their day on this project! The petitions must be reviewed and the people must be given their chance for a vote!
These petitions made many citizens aware of what the city council had already decided on their behalf. Now they want and deserve to have their opinions counted by ballot.
Apparently the mayor does not speak for a fairly substantial non-silent majority. Gathering signatures from over 8% of the population of Stoughton in the dead of winter is no small feat. It will be interesting to find out how many people each signer actually represent.
Please see by the number of signatures that the action the city officials and the development was not taken well by the citezins of Stoughton. If the people who voted for this were going door to door they would really hear what people think.
You know have a obligation to place the referendum questions on the April Ballot, Please do so
this is what democracy looks like, let the people speak!!
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
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
Updates
February 21, 2015
The city officials confirmed the special meeting for Monday evening to address the petition items. I am currently preparing formal documentation on the referendum questions for the council members to review before that session.
17 Comments
Mayor Olson and Council: Please do the right thing and allow the citizens of Stoughton to have their say via a vote on this contentious topic. You are not wise enough to decide, unilaterally, that it is best to spend millions of taxpayer dollars. Do the right thing. Please do not use excuses and bureaucracy as a way to prevent this from allowing citizens to have their say.
I feel that the Kettle Park West proposal should be voted on by the community. Furthermore, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the city subsidizing private development.
Since KPW was conceived in 2010-11, the City of Stoughton has NOT given residents even one chance to vote for or stand for this project in any aspect; no city-wide referenda, no citizen survey, and not even a straw poll. That is why this final chance to have deomcracy work for the people is so important. It is time to let the people have their day on this project! The petitions must be reviewed and the people must be given their chance for a vote!
These petitions made many citizens aware of what the city council had already decided on their behalf. Now they want and deserve to have their opinions counted by ballot.
Apparently the mayor does not speak for a fairly substantial non-silent majority. Gathering signatures from over 8% of the population of Stoughton in the dead of winter is no small feat. It will be interesting to find out how many people each signer actually represent.
Please see by the number of signatures that the action the city officials and the development was not taken well by the citezins of Stoughton. If the people who voted for this were going door to door they would really hear what people think.
You know have a obligation to place the referendum questions on the April Ballot, Please do so
this is what democracy looks like, let the people speak!!
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Mayor Olson and Council: Please do the right thing and allow the citizens of Stoughton to have their say via a vote on this contentious topic. You are not wise enough to decide, unilaterally, that it is best to spend millions of taxpayer dollars. Do the right thing. Please do not use excuses and bureaucracy as a way to prevent this from allowing citizens to have their say.