Referendum Halts 89A Transfer Money
The City of Sedona was notified by ADOT that they would not be transferring $10.6 million as agreed. See ADOT’s refusal to proceed letter, typed for easier reading – http://thesedonacitizen.com/adot-is-fed-up. Here’s a scanned image of ADOT’s letter to the city of Sedona regarding the city’s suggestions on ways to handle the referendum (slower loading than above link) http://sedonaaz.gov/Sedonacms/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11834.
The gist of the letter is:
- if the Referendum proceeds, what’s to say there won’t be more referenda in the future, blocking or reversing later Council decisions, leaving ADOT in limbo, but with full liability?
- ADOT states it has legal means to transfer the road to the city outside of the Route Transfer Agreement.
The reason? The pending referendum by the group ‘Let the People Vote.’ The group, chaired by long-time Sedona resident and former City Council member, Sheri Graham seeks to overturn the Sedona City Council’s February 22, 2011, 4-3 vote to accept 89A and $15 million dollars in cash and improvements from ADOT. For more information on the group, see: http://letthepeoplevoteon89a.com
Goals:
- To reverse the Sedona City Councils 4-3 vote on February 22, 2011 where the majority of Council Members approved a Route Transfer Agreement between ADOT and the City of Sedona….
- Obtain sufficient petition signatures that will cause a Referendum and Initiative to be placed on a Special Election ballot where all registered voters will decide on the historic issue (unfortunately, by the time the County can prepare and provide a special election – a vote – ADOT’s apparently non-negotiable deadline will have expired and the city will have to pay for a special election that cannot DO anything)
- To protect the financial, safety and environmental needs of the City of Sedona
On April 12, 2011, the City of Sedona responded to the ADOT letter. See letter here: http://sedonaaz.gov/Sedonacms/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11836
As you know, the referendum seeking to overturn the City’s route transfer decision is an action taken by a group of citizens independent from the City. These citizens are exercising their constitutional right to challenge the City’s decision. The City has absolutely no control over the outcome or legal effect of this pending referendum. …the City is stayed [prohibited] from taking ownership of the Transfer Segment. …we have also offered a number of options that ADOT could do in order to be assured that the route transfer agreement remains viable if the people of Sedona in deciding the referendum so choose.
Related articles…
Purpose of Referendum
State won’t transfer Grand Ave. to local control
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/email.php/9834633
Linn, thought you might want to update your site with this new and very accurate information in the link I’ve provided above?
Seems only fair since you published a very inaccurate and incorrect headline stating the State Had transfered this route to several cities – which was never a reality.
Did you read the article?
Sheri, will you do me a favor? Please tell you friend Liz Smith about The Sedona Citizen? We ought to be able to get some good discussions going with her energy and enthusiasm for taking on the big issues. Hope to see her weighing in on some of these topics.