City Gets Enough Signatures to Force a Special Election for Ankeny Council Seat
Petitions containing residents' signatures were turned into Ankeny City Hall Monday. The petitions contained well over the amount needed for a special election to fill Craig Block's soon-to-be vacant council seat.
Enough signatures have been turned into the Ankeny City Clerk's office to force a special election for the next Ankeny City Council member.
Council member Mark Holm told Ankeny Patch Monday that petitions containing more than 500 signatures were turned in to the city clerk's office at the start of this week. The information was later verified with City Clerk Pam DeMouth, who said the petitions contained 509 signatures.
In all, 315 residents' signatures — or 15 percent of the number of people who voted in Ankeny's last election — are needed to hold a special election.
The petitions will be submitted to the City Council for receive and file at the next regular council meeting on May 21.
The Ankeny City Council voted unanimously during its regular meeting May 7 to appoint a replacement to fill the council seat vacated by Craig Block. The council is recommending the spot be temporarily filled by Denny Rafdal, who served 13 years on the city's Plan and Zoning Commission.
Ankeny residents made their opinions known on earlier coverage of this process. Many even went as far as to make themselves available to Ankeny Patch readers wanting to sign a petition.
According to the city's website, if a special election is needed, it likely will be held Aug. 14. If a primary is necessary, it must be held on the Tuesday 28 days prior to the special election date, which is July 17.
To see complete details outlining the special election process, visit the city's website.
Joe Dygas
8:23 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Kudos to Mark for showing the leadership necessary to ensure local government is by the people , and to all those who helped make it happen.
Jim Zupan
8:27 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Way to go people of Ankeny. This is how it is supposed to work. So how do we get candidates for the open seat?
Joe Dygas
9:52 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Let's hope potential candidates read the patch...
I am also hoping for a candidate that can do arithmetic, knows something about management, has business experience, a good public speaker, is honest and forthright and can keep an eye on the city manager so the city does not find itself in debt to the point that it has to raise taxes to meet it's obligations.
Jim Zupan
12:12 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Addition and subtraction skills would be nice. How about someone who gives a darn about the communtiy and it's residents. I know why I moved from Des Moines to Ankeny, and I don't want to see the things that brought me here to change.
Jack F
9:15 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I vote joe degas and Jim zupan run against each other..
Barbara Johnston
9:39 am on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Someone managed to get all the signatures needed to hold a special election for the City Council. Why can't I find a petition to sign for the $18.5 million bond referendum for the elementary #10?? Where are our school board members with the petitions? They are charged with gaining the needed signatures but myseriously, I haven't heard any news about where to find one of them....curious.
Joe Dygas
10:27 am on Sunday, May 20, 2012
I can not speak for the school board but I believe they have the authority to vote on the board to put a bond referendum on the ballot for the public. I do not believe they need to collect signatures on a petition to put a bond referendum on the ballot. It is not the same thing as the requirements for a special election by the City.
Barbara Johnston
3:38 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
You are incorrect, Mr. Dygas. The school board only has the authority to decide if THEY want to bring a bond referendum to the VOTERS. Then they must get voter signatures on a petition equal to a certain percentage of votes from the previous school board election. I do not know the correct percentage needed but I have heard rumors that they need to gain over 2,000 signatures (there were more votes cast in the school board election than in the city council election so the number is higher for the bond referendum than for the city's special election). I do know the school board has been asked by the district administration to help gain the required signatures. If they gain the required signatures on the petition, then the bond referendum will be put on the ballot.
Megan VerHelst
5:32 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
"The petition must be signed by a minimum of 1,752 individuals, or 25 percent of those who voted in the last school district election on Sept. 13, 2011." This is from an earlier story I wrote up back in March with basic referendum info some readers might find, including timeline and requirements. http://patch.com/A-rT3Z
:)