All over the country there are people who are trying to make it more difficult for citizens to vote. Here in Greenfield, a few members of our City Council seem to be determined to make it harder for us to challenge a vote, or bring up a new idea, using the initiative process, an essential tool for citizens to enact direct democracy.
Last November, 53% of the voters in Greenfield rejected a proposal from the City Council to raise the number of signatures required to hold a referendum, similar to an initiative. The voters have spoken. We want to have fewer barriers to our democratic actions.
Now, only three months later, the City Council is being asked to accept a recommendation that will raise the number of signatures needed to hold a Citizen Initiative. Here we go again. Why?
It’s obvious that a few members of the city Council are proposing something that the voters have already rejected.
The majority of these councilors who are leading the charge for higher signatures are from precincts that already rejected such a plan. Who are these counselors representing — their constituents or themselves?
I don’t know what to call this, but it’s certainly not a democracy. We citizens need more democratic access, not less.
Robert Cress Catlin
Greenfield