Title: Committee to Restore Mayor-Council Form of Government v. City of Rawlins

State: wyoming

Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court

Document:

Committee to Restore Mayor-Council Form of Government v. City of Rawlins1984 WY 116692 P.2d 944Case Number: 84-117Decided: 12/19/1984THE COMMITTEE TO RESTORE THE MAYOR-COUNCIL FORM OF GOVERNMENT, DANNY HOLLOWAY, ITS CHAIRMAN AND INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLANTS (DEFENDANTS), 

v. 

CITY OF RAWLINS, A WYOMING MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLEE (PLAINTIFF), 

v. 

COUNCIL-MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE, THOMAS J. MARKOS, ITS CHAIRMAN AND INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES (DEFENDANTS).
Supreme Court of Wyoming
THE COMMITTEE TO RESTORE 
THE MAYOR-COUNCIL FORM OF GOVERNMENT, DANNY HOLLOWAY, ITS CHAIRMAN AND 
INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLANTS (DEFENDANTS), 

v. 

CITY OF RAWLINS, A WYOMING 
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLEE (PLAINTIFF), 

v. 

COUNCIL-MANAGER FORM OF 
GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE, THOMAS J. MARKOS, ITS CHAIRMAN AND INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES 
(DEFENDANTS).

 
 
Appeal from the District 
Court, CarbonCounty, Robert A. Hill, 
J.

 
 
Juan L. 
DeHerrera, Rawlins, signed the brief on 
behalf of appellants.

Steve D. 
Noecker, City Atty., Rawlins, signed the 
brief on behalf of appelleeCity of Rawlins.

Wade E. Waldrip, 
Rawlins, signed the brief on behalf of 
appellees Council-Manager Form of Government and Thomas J. 
Markos.

Before ROONEY, C.J., and 
THOMAS, ROSE, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.

ROONEY, Chief 
Justice.

[¶1.]     This is an appeal from 
a district court order declaring that the petition to change the form of city 
government was not timely filed and was therefore invalid and 
void.

[¶2.]     We 
affirm.

[¶3.]     In the beginning of 
1980, the City of Rawlins was governed by the mayor-council form 
of government. On March 24, 1980, a petition to change to the city manager form 
of government was filed pursuant to § 22-23-701, W.S. 1977. A special election 
on the matter was held on May 22, 1980, with a majority of the votes cast in 
favor of the change. Thereafter at the regular primary and general municipal 
elections, held on September 9, 1980 and on November 11, 1980, an entire new 
governing body was elected. The newly elected councilmen took office at the 
first regular meeting of the city council on January 7, 1981, pursuant to § 
22-23-404, W.S. 1977. Since then the City of Rawlins has operated and been governed under 
the city manager form of government.

[¶4.]     On May 10, 1984, 
another petition was filed to change the form of government back to that of the 
mayor-council form, again pursuant to § 22-23-701. When the city clerk was 
unable to certify that the petition was timely filed and therefore legally 
sufficient, a complaint for declaratory relief was filed in the district court 
by the City of Rawlins. The district court ruled that the 
petition was indeed not timely filed, whereupon this appeal was 
taken.

[¶5.]     Appellants, Committee 
to Restore the Mayor-Council Form of Government and Danny Holloway, state the 
issue on appeal as follows:

"1. Did the Wyoming 
Legislature intend to require petitioners wishing to restore a mayor-council 
form of government to violate one or another statutory 
requirement?"

[¶6.]     The statutes appellants 
see as presenting the conflict are § 22-23-701(a)(ii)1 which requires that a petition for 
a change in the form of municipal government be filed 120 days before the next 
regularly scheduled municipal primary election, and § 22-23-701(a)(iii)2 which requires that a petition may 
not be filed within four years after the existing form of government was 
established.

[¶7.]     The same issue on 
appeal is stated by the appellee, City of Rawlins, as follows:

"Is the Appellants['] 
petition requesting that a special election be held to change the existing form 
of government of the City of Rawlins invalid and void because it was not filed 
within the time limits required by Wyo. Stat. § 22-23-701(a)(iii) 
(1977)?"

[¶8.]     Appellants filed their 
petition more than 120 days prior to the municipal primary election held in 
1984, thus complying with § 22-23-701(a)(ii), but did not file their petition 
four years after the existing form of government was established, thus not 
complying with § 22-23-701(a)(iii). Appellants argue that the word "established" 
is ambiguous in § 22-23-701(a)(iii) in that it could refer to the date of the 
special election authorizing the change in government, May 22, 1980, or to the 
date when the new form of government actually started operating, January 7, 
1981. In either instance, the filing would be premature, but appellants argue 
that § 22-23-701(a)(iii) should fail completely because it conflicts with § 
22-23-701(a)(ii) in this instance and is vague and 
ambiguous.

[¶9.]     The intent of the 
legislature is clear: A new form of government is to be given a full four-year 
trial period in which it can operate without challenge. Thus the word 
"established" can only mean that date when the new form of government began to 
operate. Thereafter, a petition for change may be filed, but must be filed prior 
to 120 days before the "next regular municipal primary election," but after the 
existing form of government has been allowed to operate for four years 
uncontested. If the effect of this is to give a new form of government much more 
than four years to operate before a different form of government can be 
instituted because of the timing of elections, then, that is a decision made by 
the legislature, and it is not for the courts to determine 
otherwise.

[¶10.]  The plain, ordinary language of a statute 
controls its meaning. Statutory ambiguity exists only if the statute is 
uncertain and susceptible to more than one meaning. Attletweedt v. State, Wyo., 684 P.2d 812 
(1984); State ex rel. Albany County Weed 
and Pest District v. Board of County Commissioners of Albany County, Wyo., 
592 P.2d 1154 (1979); Department of 
Revenue and Taxation v. Irvine, Wyo., 589 P.2d 1295 (1979); DeHerrera v. Herrera, Wyo., 565 P.2d 479 
(1977); Natrona County v. Casper Air 
Service, Wyo., 536 P.2d 142 (1975). Such is not present in either § 
22-23-701(a)(ii) or § 22-23-701(a)(iii).

[¶11.]  The district court ruled that the city 
manager form of government was "established" on May 23, 1980; that the petition 
was filed less than four years after that date; and that therefore the petition 
was invalid and void. We hold that the city manager form of government was 
"established" on January 7, 1981, with the same result.

[¶12.]  We have said in the past that the 
district court's judgment will be affirmed on appeal if sustainable on any legal 
ground appearing in the record. Agar v. 
Kysar, Wyo., 
628 P.2d 1350 (1981); Wightman v. 
American National Bank of Riverton, 
Wyo., 610 P.2d 1001 (1980); P & M Cattle Company v. Holler, 
Wyo., 559 P.2d 1019 (1977).

[¶13.]  Affirmed.

1 Section 22-23-701(a)(ii) 
provides:

"(ii) A petition for a 
special election on the question of changing the form of government shall be 
filed with the city clerk at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the 
next regular municipal primary election."

2 Section 
22-23-701(a)(iii) provides:

"(iii) A petition for 
change of the form of government may not be filed within four (4) years after 
the existing form of government was established."