Court Opinion

ID: 9664085
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 00:02:13.055702+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:01.925095
License: Public Domain

WAHL, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from the majority holding that the voters of St. Paul can repeal an existing ordinance by the initiative process. Few courts have addressed this issue, and the case is one of the first impression in Minnesota. We must consider this decision in terms of its long-range implications and not on the basis of any one issue brought before the voters by the initiative process. Whether an existing ordinance can be repealed through the initiative process depends on the constitutional and/or statutory grant of authority.1 See, 6 McQuillan, Municipal Corporations (3d ed. 1969 rev. vol.) § 21.11.
Initiative and referendum provisions were introduced in this country early in this century by reformers who hoped that these processes would (1) increase voter involvement in the legislative process, (2) provide a check on the domination of legislatures by special interest groups, and (3) permit voters to act more objectively by considering issues rather than personalities so that there would be greater accuracy in expressing the public will. See, Note, 5 Fla.St.U.L. Rev. 925.
The experience with initiative and referendum provisions has indicated that these hopes have been frustrated. First, ordinances enacted through the initiative process may be poorly drafted because only one person or a small group drafts the ordinance to be placed on the initiative petition. There is no review to ensure that the ordinance is internally consistent, not in conflict with existing laws or policies, or based on inaccurate factual premises. Further, there is no critical evaluation, input, or feedback from those in society who may be affected by the legislation; nor is there the refining process that occurs in the legislature. Second, the fact that the issues may be very complex necessitates long, detailed explanations and perhaps specialized knowledge in order that voters may make an informed choice. An election campaign does not lend itself to such explanations but to simple fact statements or slogans. As a result voters may be confused and make decisions, not on a factual or philosophical basis, but for emotional or political reasons. Third, the initiative process does not necessarily *408avoid domination of the legislature or council by special interest groups, because small groups, e. g., only eight percent of the voters of the City of St. Paul, can place an initiative question on the ballot. Because of the small voter turnout, a well-organized minority can secure or block passage of an ordinance. Thus, the initiative process is not always the voice of the people. See, Note, 48 So.Cal.L.Rev. 922; Note, 5 Fla.St. U.L.Rev. 925.
Because of these grave problems, I believe that statutory and charter provisions providing for initiative and referendum must be narrowly construed. I am confirmed in this belief by the fact that neither the framers of the state constitution nor the legislature has seen fit to provide for initiative and referendum on a statewide level. In Minnesota, the powers of initiative and referendum are confined by statute to the municipal level of government. The statute provides that municipalities “may also provide for submitting ordinances to the council by petition of the electors of such city and for the repeal of ordinances in like manner.” Minn.St. 410.-20. Instead of using the statutory language, however, the St. Paul City Charter grants the people “the right to propose ordinances, to require ordinances to be submitted to a vote, and to recall elective officials by processes known respectively as initiative, referendum, and recall.” St. Paul City Charter, § 8.01. The St. Paul City Charter permits voters to vote on emergency ordinances by referendum, and all ordinances submitted to the voters by initiative or referendum can be repealed in one year.
Although the repeal of an ordinance may be considered an act of proposing legislation in a broad sense, there is a recognized distinction between an initiative, which is designed to propose new legislation, and a referendum, which is designed to review existing legislation. See, Landt v. City of Wisconsin Dells, 30 Wis.2d 470, 141 N.W.2d 245 (1966). Under Chapter 8 of the St. Paul City Charter, the only distinction between the initiative and the referendum is the time limit in which a petition must be filed. To hold that the St. Paul voters can repeal an existing ordinance by initiative would be to render the referendum provision meaningless, because it would eliminate the need to file the referendum petition within 45 days. It is not reasonable to suppose that the St. Paul City Charter Commission intended such a result. On this ground I would reverse the decision of the trial court.

. Thus, those cases which have permitted such a repeal do not control the instant case. See, e. g., Duran v. Cassidy, 28 Cal.App.3d 574, 104 Cal.Rptr. 793 (1972); Smith v. Township of Livingston, 106 N.J.Super. 444, 256 A.2d 85, affirmed 54 N.J. 525, 257 A.2d 698 (1969); State ex rel. Sharpe v. Hitt, 155 Ohio St. 529, 99 N.E.2d 659 (1951).