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A Question of initiative  

Editor: 

Last spring, as an emergency move to quell proposals allowing very tall/dense structures in many parts of Berkeley, people from various communities put together an Initiative for the ballot to establish maximum building heights. At that time, members of the group set up a booth at the Earth Day Festival and got dozens of signatures from citizens willing to circulate petitions. Of the more than fifty visitors talked with that day, only three persons were in favor of high-rise development, indicating high support in the ecology community for the initiative. 

When the text of the final Initiative was completed and legally formatted, the document was submitted to city officials as the last step before being circulated for voters’ signatures. The city attorney issued an opinion declaring the proposed measure was beyond the powers of voters to enact as an Initiative. Furthermore, to do so would require a Charter amendment, she said. 

To our disadvantage, the collection of enough signatures to amend the Charter would require three times the number needed for an Initiative. By the time this legal judgement was delivered on April 3, it was not feasible to collect in one month the more than 6,000 signatures before the presidential election deadline. As a consequence the project was shelved. 

Maximum height advocates might go for a Charter amendment with more than a year in which to do the petitions. First, a clarification of the city attorney’s judgement needs to be made in view of the fact that the City Charter itself gives direct legislative powers to voters in the Initiative section. Article XIII says:  

“The qualified voters of the City shall have power through the initiative and otherwise, as provided by this Charter and general laws of the State, to enact appropriate legislation to carry out and enforce any of the powers of the City or any of the powers of the Council.” 

The city attorney’s interpretation that “the Initiative was beyond the power of the voters” is clearly a contradiction of the letter of the law as stated in Article Xlll.  

Since a questionable city attorney opinion, of interfering with a city commission, has been headlined in local newspapers, yet another complaint should be aired involving the Initiative process.  

What are our rights as voters under Charter Article XIII ?  

Why is the Initiative process being limited ?  

Would a City Council workshop on the issue be appropriate ? 

Martha Nicoloff 

Berkeley