Council Votes to Block PGPOA Petition Referendum

The College Park Mayor and Council voted Tuesday night to block a pair of charter amendments proposed by the Prince George’s Property Owners’ Association, from reaching a citywide referendum.

Council voted 7-1 on both resolutions, citing reports from the Board of Election Supervisors and the city attorney, each of which deemed the petitions to be legally insufficient.

The PGPOA turned in the petitions to the city in March, as part of its campaign against in the city. One of the petitions would limit the amount of real property tax that the city can collect to the amount collected in 2011. The other would prevent the city from distinguishing between different types of housing.

But because the voters who signed the petitions did not list their voting districts along with their names and addresses, as outlined by the city charter, the petitions include “no qualified petition signers,” according to the BOES report. City Attorney Suellen Ferguson also found that the petitions do not meet city or state obligations for charter amendments. (Read the full story about the reports here.)

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Councilman Fazlul Kabir (Dist. 1) was the dissenting vote for both resolutions to block the referendum. Though he said he opposes the content of the charter amendments themselves, he believes they should go before a citywide vote.

“The petitions [the residents] were given didn’t have any column…labeled as 'district'…It’s not the [residents’] fault,” he said.

Councilman Patrick Wojahn (Dist. 1), who motioned for both resolutions, said that allowing the referendum would mean ignoring legal requirements.

“There’s one issue before us and it’s whether these petitions are legally compliant…with the city charter and state law,” he said.

Council also voted on the following items at Tuesday’s meeting:

• Council voted unanimously to adopt an amendment for the fiscal year 2012 operating budget to . The projects amount to $1.4 million and will be funded through use of an unassigned reserve. Councilman Bob Catlin (Dist. 2) made the motion, which was seconded by Councilman Monroe Dennis (Dist. 2). Councilman Marcus Afzali (Dist. 4) said that he received an email from a resident suggesting the new public works building be named after , the late Dist. 2 councilman of 26 years. .
• Council voted unanimously to approve a change to the agreement with the city’s union, which would allow for a cost-of-living adjustment of 2 percent for fiscal year 2013, and an increase of the city’s matching contribution to the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan by $20 per pay period for some longer-term employees. Councilwoman Denise Mitchell (Dist. 4) made the motion, which was seconded by Wojahn.
• Council also approved several appointments to city boards and committees.