How to Petition the City Council to Change an Ordinance

[TLark]

I would like to start a grass-roots petition drive to petition the Richardson city council to repeal a city ordinance having to do with the new drainage fee ordinance No. 3843. Collecting 5000 signatures is a major effort. When I’m done I don’t want to be told that the petition is missing information or not acceptable for some reason.

The city charter (Section 14.01. Petition) repeatedly uses the language like “proposed ordinance”.
http://library.municode.com/index.as...tatename=Texas

And I don’t know if that applies to what I want to do. I am not a lawyer and I don’t write ordinances. I simply want to know what process and information is required to make this petition successful? I am willing to pay for a consultation if you send contact info via PM.

Thank You.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Consistent with that section you may submit a petition for the enactment of your proposed ordinance to the City Council.

If you do not feel that you are competent to draft the proposed ordinance, I suggest finding somebody who is qualified to assist you - whether another interested citizen, or a lawyer you retain for that purpose.

[TLark]

I guess what you are saying is that it takes an ordinance to repeal an ordinance. That doesn’t surprise me too much - it just wasn’t made clear in the charter. It strikes me as a little silly that a citizen has to draft an ordinance to petition that city council to take some action. I was hoping that delivering the required signatures on a plainly-worded document would be enough.