The text
CHAPTER 1. - INCORPORATION#
Sec. 1-1-1. - Inhabitants incorporated as town with powers and duties of a town.#
The inhabitants of the Town of Narragansett, within the corporate limits as now established or as hereafter established in the manner provided by law, shall continue to be a municipal body politic and corporate in perpetuity, under the name of Town of Narragansett, and as such shall continue to have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers, privileges and franchises, and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations, now incumbent on or appertaining to said town as a municipal corporation, or by virtue of the laws of this state so far as the same shall not be altered by this Charter or amendments hereof.
CHAPTER 2. - FORM OF GOVERNMENT#
Sec. 1-2-1. - Form of government.#
The municipal government by this Charter shall be known as council-manager government. Pursuant to its provisions and subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution and by this Charter, all powers of the town, including those powers formerly vested in and exercised by the financial town meeting which is hereby discontinued, shall be vested in an elected town council which shall enact local legislation, and in an appointed town manager who shall be responsible for the execution of the laws and the administration of the town government.
Sec. 1-2-2. - All powers in town council; appointment of manager.#
Subject only to the limitations imposed by the State Constitution and to the restrictions and exceptions contained in this Charter, all powers of the town shall be vested in an elective council, to be known as the town council hereinafter referred to as the council. The council shall be the legislative body of the town. The council shall enact the laws and appoint the town manager. The town manager shall execute the laws and administer the government of the town under the authority of the council.
CHAPTER 3. - POWERS#
Sec. 1-3-1. - Powers of town.#
The town shall have all the powers now or hereafter granted to towns by the home rule and other provisions of the Constitution and general laws of this state together with all such additional powers as have been granted or hereafter may be granted to the town by the laws of the state, and shall have complete powers of legislation and administration in relation to its municipal functions together with all powers fairly implied in or incident to the powers expressly granted. The town may acquire property within or without its corporate limits for any town purpose, in fee simple or any lesser interest or estate, by purchase, gift, devise, lease or condemnation, and may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage and control such property as its interests may require, but only may sell property after approval by the town's voters after being submitted to the electorate on referendum ballot at the next scheduled election; and, except as prohibited by the Constitution of this state or restricted by this Charter, the town shall and may exercise all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities of every name and nature whatsoever. The enumeration of particular powers by this Charter shall not be deemed to be exclusive; and in addition to the powers enumerated therein or implied thereby, or appropriate to the exercise of such powers, it is intended that the town shall have and may exercise all powers which, under the Constitution of this state, it would be competent for this Charter specifically to enumerate.
(Res. of 11-3-2020(2))
Sec. 1-3-2. - Existing ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations to continue in effect.#
Except insofar as they are inconsistent with this Charter, all the ordinances, rules, resolutions and regulations heretofore made by the council or any board or commission, shall continue in effect until superseded by action of the council.
Sec. 1-3-3. - Saving clause.#
All laws relating to the Town of Narragansett are hereby superseded to the extent that the same are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, except such laws that are enacted in accordance with the powers reserved to the General Assembly by the Constitution of the state.
CHAPTER 4. - VOTER INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM#
Sec. 1-4-1. - General provisions.#
In order to preserve voter participation in the town government of Narragansett, and to provide for legislative checks and balances, there are hereby established procedures whereby the qualified voters may, by petition, initiate legislative proposals for consideration by the town council and the town electorate. The process shall permit the voters to enact and/or rescind town laws, regulations, ordinances and resolutions. It shall also permit the voters to amend the Town Charter by this same process. The right of voter initiative and referendum shall provide the electorate with all the legislative powers now vested in the council by this Charter.
However, any proposed legislation which is prohibited by the State Constitution, Federal Constitution, state laws, federal laws or recognized judicial decisions interpreting state or federal law are excepted from the provisions of this chapter.
Each petition shall be limited to one (1) issue.
Sec. 1-4-2. - Initiative petition.#
All proposed legislation shall be submitted to the town council by petition signed by qualified electors of the Town of Narragansett equal in number to at least twelve percent (12%) of the number of voters in the last regularly scheduled general election in the Town of Narragansett, however, in no event shall the required number of signatures be less than seven hundred fifty (750).
When the town council receives a petition, duly certified as provided in 1-4-4 hereof, the accompanying proposed legislation shall be placed on the council agenda for a final vote within forty-five (45) days following the council's receipt of said petition. If within this time, the council fails to act upon said legislation, rejects said legislation or enacts said legislation in a materially different form, said legislation as originally proposed, shall be submitted to the electorate of the Town of Narragansett on referendum ballot at the next regularly scheduled general election.
Sec. 1-4-3. - Filing of petitions; validity.#
The town clerk shall receive all voter-initiated petitions for certification. A true copy of each petition shall be filed with the town clerk and shall be stamped "Filed" with the time and date of filing indicated.
The town clerk shall thereupon immediately forward a copy of each petition to the town solicitor for legal review. Within fourteen (14) days of the date of filing the town solicitor shall forward to the town council a written opinion as to the legality of the proposed petition. At the next regularly scheduled town council meeting, the town council will make a determination as to the validity of the petition. If the council determines that the proposed petition is invalid because it conflicts with the Federal or State Constitutions, federal or state law or recognized judicial decisions interpreting federal or state law, the said petition shall be marked "INVALID" by the town clerk. If the town council shall determine that the proposed petition is valid then the town clerk shall stamp the petition "ACCEPTED" with the time and date of acceptance noted thereupon.
In the event a petition is marked invalid the remedy of the petition's authors shall be through the filing of a complaint for judicial relief.
Sec. 1-4-4. - Procedure.#
The town clerk shall accept all voter-initiated petitions for certification. A true copy of the petition shall be filed with the town clerk and shall be stamped with the date and time of said filing. The authors of an accepted petition shall have a maximum period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the time and date of acceptance, including legal holidays and weekends, to submit the required number of signatures of qualified electors to the town clerk; however, providing that if the final day for submission shall fall on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the period shall be extended to the first business day following said Saturday, Sunday or holiday up until the hour that the petition was first accepted by the town clerk.
Each paper with signatures which are to be used to fulfill the minimum signature requirements shall contain an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof stating that he/she personally circulated the paper, the number of signatures thereon, that all the signatures were affixed in his/her presence, that he/she believes them to be the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and that each signer had an opportunity before signing to read the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
Upon the expiration of the period for submission of signatures, the town clerk shall, within the next two (2) business days certify that the petition has been filed properly and shall deliver the petition together with all signatures submitted to the board of canvassers. The board of canvassers shall, within thirty (30) days from the receipt thereof certify that signatures thereon are those of qualified electors of the Town of Narragansett, that the signatures are correctly entered; and that the petition contains the number of qualified electors and that each page of signatures which has been submitted contains the required affidavit.
After certification, the board of canvassers shall return the petition to the town clerk who shall then submit it to the town council.
Sec. 1-4-5. - Referendum ballot.#
Any properly certified voter-initiated petition which the town council has failed to act upon, rejected, or passed in a materially altered form shall be submitted to the electorate on referendum ballot at the next regularly scheduled general election. The ballot shall contain the language of the proposed legislation, as originally presented, with provision for voter approval or rejection by the choice of the words YES or NO. The full text of the proposed legislation shall be posted for public examination for a minimum period of fourteen (14) days and shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Narragansett at least twice prior to the scheduled election.
Sec. 1-4-6. - Enactment and repeal.#
Any law, resolution, ordinance, amendment or other action enacted by the initiative process shall only be repealed or amended by the initiative process.
Sec. 1-4-7. - Recall.#
An elected official, having been in office for at least six (6) months, may be removed from office by a recall petition prepared and approved by the electors of the Town of Narragansett, in the manner hereinafter provided for recall procedure: A.
Upon application by an elector of the Town, the Town Clerk shall issue the recall petition with signature blanks. The petition issued by the Clerk shall be dated, demand the removal of the designated elected official, and state the cause upon which the removal is sought.
B.
The petitioner may duplicate the petition form as needed to record the required number of signatures. Each petition signer shall add his or her signature, as it appears on the Board of Canvassers' records, and provide place of residence giving the street and number or other sufficient designation if there be no street and number. One of the signers or the petition circulator shall take an oath before an officer competent to administer oaths that the statement therein made is true, as he or she believes, and that each signature to the paper appended is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.
C.
The recall petition shall be signed by at least twenty-five (25%) percent of the electors who voted in the last general election prior to the date that the Town Clerk issued the petition blanks. The petitioners shall have sixty (60) days from the date of issue to collect the required signatures and file the completed petition with the Town Clerk.
D.
The petition shall be submitted immediately by the Town Clerk to the Board of Canvassers for certification forthwith. If the petition shall be found to be sufficient, the Board shall submit the same with its certificate to the Town Council without delay. The Town Council shall order an election to be held on a Tuesday fixed by them not more than seventy-five (75) days after the date of the Board of Canvassers' certificate that a sufficient petition is filed; provided, however, that if any other Town election is to occur within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the certificate, the Town Council shall postpone the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election.
(Res. of 11-3-2020(3))