Bethel Park voters to decide on changes to home rule charter
Bethel Park voters will once again decide on potential changes to the home rule charter when they head to the polls in the Nov. 6 general election.
Council voted 5-1 at its meeting June 11 to place four ballot questions on the general election ballot. Voters approved several minor changes last year but at least two of these new potential changes may prove to be more controversial, since they will alter the way private citizens can challenge some ordinances passed by council.
The home rule charter, which is essentially Bethel Park’s constitution, gives citizens the right to challenge an ordinance and possibly overturn it if enough people sign a petition and vote for the subsequent ballot question.
The process can be rather lengthy and under current law, if a citizen challenges an ordinance setting a new tax levy, council may not be able to collect taxes at all until the challenge process is complete. This could potentially shut down the municipal government.
Voters will decide whether or not to allow council to collect taxes under the previous rate if a citizen challenges a tax increase.
The other change concerning the citizens’ initiative process would eliminate “the second bite of the apple” provision currently included in the charter, Councilman Jim McLean said. To challenge an ordinance, a group of citizens can circulate a petition, and if enough people sign it – at least 20 percent of the voters in the last gubernatorial election – then the matter will be placed on the election ballot. However, the current law would allow those citizens a second chance to garner signatures if the first petition drive falls short.
This potential change “will give them one chance,” McLean said. “They won’t be able to go out and try again.”
Councilman Don Harrison doesn’t like the potential changes. He argued that council only started studying the home rule charter to divert attention from its actions over five years ago. Harrison has long accused his fellow council members of violating the home rule charter when they voted to place a referendum on the 2013 primary ballot to raise property taxes to pay for the new fire station on Brightwood Road.
Harrison contends new ordinances are not effective for at least 30 days after council approval. However, in the case of the 2013 referendum, council acted on the ordinance days after its passage by sending the necessary paperwork to the county elections office.
Council President Tim Moury disputed Harrison’s characterization.
“Everything he said is not true and it has nothing to do with this referendum,” Moury said.
Two other ballot questions pertain to relatively minor changes. Voters will decide whether or not to use more gender-neutral language throughout the charter. Another change would correct a typographical error in the original document.
A commission made up of elected officials and private citizens studied the home rule charter a few years ago and recommended changes. Voters have to approve any change to the charter by voting on referenda.
In another matter, several residents of Clarene Drive came to the council meeting to get an update on a sewer line collapse that they have been dealing with for several months.
Carrie Virgin said her backyard, along with several of her neighbors’ yards, started sinking during a heavy rain in February. Several elected officials have visited that area, but she is concerned that the municipality may pursue a temporary fix instead of spending the time and money to repair it properly.
“With each of the rains, it gets scarier and scarier,” she said.
Moury thanked Virgin and other residents in that neighborhood for their patience and said that municipal officials are working on securing the funding to fix the line.
“It is our priority to get this done and to get it done right,” he said.
Bethel Park Mayor Jack Allen gave his annual state of the municipality address, in which he touted the municipality’s strong financial position as well as more than a dozen major residential and commercial developments that have either been completed in the past few months or are under construction. Bethel Park’s population grew by over 500 residents according to the latest census estimates.
“I believe we will continue to grow,” Allen said. “Bethel Park continues to be blessed in many ways.”