A petition to carry a referendum vote on the problem of whether or not the town has an leisure or not was unsuccessful, Magnolia City Clerk Candy Meeler stated throughout a Monday night time assembly of the City Council.

Dr. Scott White and Elvis Griffin submitted a petition for a referendum to the City of Magnolia on June 20 on behalf of Magnolia VOTES, with hopes to place the town’s determination to determine an leisure district to a vote.

In 12 days, the group collected 494 signatures on their petition.

The leisure district ordinance permits companies with a license to serve alcohol to patrons in a regulated cup, which can be carried all through the district — together with onto downtown metropolis streets — and into any companies taking part within the district.

Meeler stated a number of components of the petition weren’t enough to drive a vote.

“My review was conducted in good faith, in my official capacity as a city official subject, to my oath of office to uphold the law. As a part of that review, I observed that the document attached to the petition, a copy of the ordinance, is not an actual copy. (The) ordinance number was handwritten on the original ordinance but typed on the attachment. There were discrepancies in the text. The pages were different. There were no signatures and the map was a black and white copy attached to the petition. It does not show the district boundaries as shown in the map attached in the original ordinance… My understanding from the city attorney is that these issues, particularly the failure to attach an accurate copy of the ordinance number 2023-3, are material defects that require that the petition be rejected as insufficient,” stated Meeler.

City Attorney Jennifer Jameson McKendree confirmed the council a comparability of the unique ordinance and the one within the referendum petition.

Councilperson Jeff White requested if the petitioners had retyped the ordinance.

McKendree stated, “I don’t… know that for sure. It appears to me that it’s possible that it was converted… from a PDF.”

McKendree highlighted a number of discrepancies between the unique ordinance and the ordinance connected to the petition, which included spelling and formatting errors and lacking signatures.

Additionally, she stated, the map connected to the petition didn’t spotlight the world of the leisure district.

“It could be construed that the entirety of what’s depicted there is within the boundaries of the district,” stated McKendree.

McKendree stated no in poor health intent has been assigned to using the wrong ordinance.

“It is not the full and correct copy of that ordinance and unfortunately calls into question all of the signatures. As the case law indicates Arkansas Supreme Court has indicated that a petitioner is entitled to rely on the validity and veracity of what they are being presented in that petition when they are deciding whether or not to sign. The clearest way of knowing ‘Is this the ordinance?’ would be a literal duplication of the ordinance. To know that that is in fact what was passed… Without that, you do not know how folks would sign. The Supreme Court says it invalidates the whole thing. Start over if you have time,” stated McKendree.

McKendree stated she doesn’t consider that Magnolia VOTES has any time for corrections. This reasoning is {that a} new copy would wish to have been turned in by June 21 and though the regulation permits for 10 days to assemble extra signatures if 75% of the required quantity has been gathered, that requires the signatures to be legitimate and the invalidation of your entire petition as a result of variations additionally invalidates the signatures.

“It’s up to the council to determine what they want to do. That question can’t be presented and determined today because we need to have a public hearing first,” stated McKendree.

Mayor Parnell Vann stated, “If I understand right, the hearing is about the signatures on the petition.”

McKendree confirmed that it will solely be concerning the sufficiency of the signatures and never the ordinance itself.

The public listening to was initially scheduled to observe the assembly on Monday, however as a result of points publicizing the assembly, it is going to be rescheduled.

Some native residents took to Facebook to debate the choice after Monday’s Council assembly, together with Mike Seabaugh, pastor of First Baptist Church, who stated he disagreed with the town’s willpower.

“I am calling on the city council to go ahead and call for a citywide election themselves. Or at minimum, since the city took thirty days to make their decision, the city should extend thirty days for corrections and amendment and resubmitting because that would at least be fair,” he stated in his submit.

Editor’s Note: A PDF containing the paperwork proven to the City Council, the e-mail despatched to Seabaugh, and memos have been compiled and could be accessed on the hyperlink under.

    City Attorney Jennifer Jameson McKendree factors out discrepancies concerning a referendum to place Ordinance 2023-3 to a vote to the City Council on this picture taken June 24, 2023. (Joshua Turner / Banner-News)
  

    City Attorney Jennifer Jameson McKendree factors out discrepancies concerning a referendum to place Ordinance 2023-3 to a vote to members of Magnolia VOTES on this picture taken June 24, 2023. (Joshua Turner / Banner-News)
  

    The map from Ordinance 2023-3 could be seen on the left subsequent to the map within the referendum on the appropriate. (Photo Contributed)