Iowa City council approves petition changes to city’s charter

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Council has approved changes to the City Charter that increase the number of signatures required to force an initiative or referendum vote, but also allow for non-registered voters to sign such a petition.

The council on Tuesday voted 6-0, with council member Terry Dickens absent, to approve amendments to the Iowa City Charter recommended by the Charter Review Commission - following several months of collaboration and debate by the city-appointed committee.

'The Charter Review Commission put a lot of time into this,” said council member Michelle Payne. 'I think the appropriate thing to do would be to pass this.”

Two major changes to the charter include:

' Increasing the number of required signatures for initiatives or referendums from 2,500 - a number established in 1970 - to 3,600.

' Allowing eligible voters, or residents who are not registered to vote, to sign such initiatives or referendums.

Other items discussed by the Charter Review Commission that did not make it to the proposed amendments included restructuring the council's at-large and district makeup and how Iowa City's mayor is selected.

According to a University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll conducted in March, the majority of Iowa City residents surveyed were in favor of allowing eligible voters to sign petitions, but disagreed with plans to increase the signature threshold to 3,600.

The Hawkeye Poll was conducted for one week in March by the Hawkeye Poll Cooperative, which includes University of Iowa faculty and students in political science,

A total of 657 Johnson County residents, of which 363 respondents lived in Iowa City, were surveyed, making for a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percent for the Iowa City sample, according to the poll's results.

Questions asked in the poll directly related to the amendments discussed by the commission.

' Sixty-one percent of respondents agreed that any eligible voter should be allowed to sign initiative petitions, while about 32 percent felt only registered voters should have that right.

' At the same time, only about 27 percent of respondents supported the 3,600 threshold for initiative or referendum signatures, while almost 64 percent approved of the current 2,500-signature requirement.

' Views on the Iowa City district system varied, with about 27 percent of respondents in support of a 7-district city with voters in each district electing their own council member. Roughly 29 percent said all voters should cast ballots on all seven councilors and 35 percent of respondents approved of the current system, which is a mix of at-large and district council members.

' Roughly 63 percent of respondents said Iowa City's mayor should be chosen by a direct election while 30 percent approved of the current council selection system.

Frederick Boehmke, professor of political science and director of the Iowa Social Science Research Center, said he was surprised by the survey results, which indicate the public's support for changes that go beyond what the commission ultimately recommended, particularly that of a direct election of mayor.

'There's pretty strong support for electing the mayor, which I think is interesting,” he said, noting the difference among men and women. 'The fact that it was 72.5 percent among women and 52 percent among men, I wasn't anticipating that.”