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Press Room Statement in response to tentative court ruling that would take the strong mayor initiative off the June ballot
| Statement in response to tentative court ruling that would take the strong mayor initiative off the June ballot |
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1.14.10 “We are disappointed with the court’s tentative ruling but we are confident that this is only a temporary setback and that the strong mayor initiative will still be on the June ballot. Our first step will be to appear in court tomorrow and try to convince the judge to reverse this tentative ruling. “We disagree with the ruling on two important points. First, the court admits that this is ‘a case of first impression’ yet, concludes that the voters are clearly prohibited from reforming their government via initiative. We do not believe that this is an appropriate conclusion if there is no legal precedent supporting it. “Second, the implication of this decision would prohibit any real reform of city government because the court concludes that only the government is empowered to reform itself. We believe that such a conclusion is clearly wrong and ignores the many important reforms enacted by the people over the objections of government. “If the court sustains this tentative ruling tomorrow, we will appeal the decision to the Third District Appellate Court, which just a few weeks ago refused to hear a case challenging the validity of a statewide measure on the same June election ballot on a pre-election basis. We believe that the appellate court will rule consistently and the people of Sacramento will be able to vote on the strong mayor initiative in June.” |
