23 May 2016
City of Vacaville
Attention: Honorable Mayor and City Council
650 Merchant Street
Vacaville, California 95688
Re: Request to Honor the Petition for a Referendum Against Ordinance 1894 Adopted by the City of Vacaville on April 12, 2016, and Attested to on April 13, 2016.
Dear Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers,
On the advice of counsel, the Lagoon Valley Conservancy contacted the City Clerk on April 15, 2016 to request the specific number of required signatures needed for the referendum against ordinance 1894 to qualify for the November ballot. At that time, our representative was informed by the City Clerk we needed 10% of votes cast during the last gubernatorial election. We had no reason to question the information provided and were not told an alternate number may apply.
Based on that specific information we needed 2,111 signatures. Per the attached Certificate of Prima Facie Signature Count certified by the City Clerk on May 13, 2016 we gathered in excess of that number for a total of 2,440 confirmed signatures.
Once the deadline for signature gathering had ended and during the process to certify said signatures, the City Clerk revised the information previously provided and informed the conservancy the required number of signatures was 4,422 (10% of the 44,220 voters registered on January 5, 2016).
Whether by mistake or intentional, the consequence of the misinformation originally provided is a miscarriage of public trust and a disservice to those who wish their voices to be heard.
As elected representatives, you have the discretion to honor the will of your electorate and either rescind your approval of ordinance 1894 or submit it to the voters of Vacaville for their adoption or rejection at an election. We respectfully request you do so. If the City is confident in the merits of the ordinance it should not take issue in putting the decision to a vote of its constituents. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Robert Haran
President
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