Pittsburgh City Council loses bid for drilling referendum
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Allegheny County's elections division has swiftly ruled that it will not place a proposed city charter referendum banning natural gas drilling on the November ballot, and called a Pittsburgh City Council attempt to approve it without the mayor's signature "legally inconsequential."
Council faced a deadline Tuesday night to send its ballot question to the county. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who has clashed with council on drilling, had not yet moved on the referendum measure council approved Aug. 2 so members asked the county Tuesday afternoon to accept the measure anyway.
In a unique move, six council members signed "interim approval" documents promising to override the mayor should he veto it.
Council voted to prohibit drilling in November but wanted to add the ban to the city charter to make it more difficult to rescind.
"What you presented to the Elections Division is not a valid ordinance proposing an amendment of the City's Home Rule Charter," elections chief Mark Wolosik wrote the City Clerk today.
On the "interim approval" strategy, Mr. Wolosik wrote "[a]ccording to the opinion that I received from the Allegheny County Law Department, these documents are legally inconsequential and do not change the conclusion that the referendum question proposed by this Bill cannot be placed on the ballot. First, these documents presume an act ... that may not occur. Second, the law does not recognize a concept of a 'preemptive' override of a veto."
In a separate matter, the elections division accepted another referendum pushed via a petition drive on whether to create a new property tax to help fund the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
First Published August 10, 2011 3:28 pm
