COMMITTEE FOR PRESERVATION OF ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOODS v. DONNA RIFFEL - DO NOT FOLD, SPINDLE, MUTILATE AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT STAPLE
 

On August 24, 2006, the Arizona Court of Appeals issued an opinion affirming a trial court decision that referendum petitions must strictly comply with A.R.S. 19-101(A). The Court ruled that when circulating referendum petitions, a description of the measure to be referred must be inserted onto the actual petition document itself; the description cannot be attached by means of a staple or any other mechanical attachment.

On April 20, 2006, the Committee for the Preservation of Established Neighborhoods filed referendum petitions with the Town Clerk of the Town of Wickenburg challenging a Town ordinance that rezoned approximately 54 acres of property. The Town Clerk rejected the petition for the reason that they did not comply with the requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 19-101(A). The description of the measure to be referred had been stapled to the petitions rather than inserted directly into the text of the petitions.

The Committee filed for special action relief with the Maricopa County Superior Court arguing that the “alleged petition defects” should not prevent the referendum from going forward because the stapled referendum description and the information describing the ordinance met the constitutional and statutory principles required for referendum petitions. The property owner (the party seeking the rezoning of the property) and the Firm, on behalf of the Town Clerk, countered that the petitions were invalid because the referendum proponents were required to strictly comply with constitutional and statutory referendum provisions: The Town Clerk and property owner argued the Committee’s failure to insert the descriptive language into the petition meant that the Committee did not strictly comply with the requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 19-101(A).

In its ruling, the Court of Appeals closely examined the language of the entire statute, including the definitions of the words “insert” and “attached”. Since the Court of Appeals found that the stapled description did not strictly comply with the statutory requirements and the petitions were invalid. Committee for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods v. Donna Riffel, No. 1 CA-CV 06-0443 8/24/2006.

THE FOREGOING IS MERELY A PARTIAL SUMMARY OF THE CASE
AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE RELIED UPON AS A LEGAL OPINION.