§ 9.1. [Petition procedure.]

An ordinance may be initiated by petition to which all signatures shall be obtained within forty-five (45) days after the effective date of the ordinance. A petition for an initiated ordinance, or for a referendum, shall be in this form and be filed in this manner:

(a)

Form of Petitions. An initiatory or referendum petition shall be addressed to the city council. A petition may, in length, extend to two or more petition papers identical as to content, except for signatures. A referendum petition shall clearly identify by title and number the ordinance or part thereof it proposes to repeal. An initiatory petition shall set forth in full the ordinance it proposes to initiate, and no petition may initiate more than one ordinance. Initiatory or referendum petitions shall have printed or written thereon the name(s) and address(s) of elector(s) of the City who shall be officially regarded as filing such petition.

(b)

Signatures Required. An initiatory or a referendum petition shall be signed by registered electors of the city not less in number than fifteen (15) percent of the registered electors of the city as of the date of the last regular city election prior to the filing of the petition.

(c)

Signing and Circulation of Petition. Each signer shall sign his name, and thereafter his Cadillac address and the date of his signing said petition. To each petitioner paper there shall be attached a sworn affidavit executed by the circulator of such paper that each signature of the person it purports to be, and that such circulator believes each signer to be a duly registered elector of the City of Cadillac. Such petition shall be filed with the City Clerk.

(d)

Canvass of Signatures by Clerk. Upon receipt of any initiatory or referendum petitions, the Clerk shall canvass the signatures of registered electors of the city. Any signatures obtained more than forty-five (45) days before the filing of such petition with the Clerk shall not be counted. The Clerk shall complete said canvass within ten (10) business days from the filing of said petition, and in the event the petition filed is in any respect deficient, the Clerk shall forth with so notify the person filing the same. When a petition with sufficient signatures is filed within the time allowed and is in compliance with the provisions of this charter, the Clerk shall present the petition to the City Council at its next regular meeting. The filing of a referendum petition with required signatures shall suspend effectiveness of the ordinance in question until the issue is determined. A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may be amended once by supplementary sheet(s) containing additional signatures if the petitioners file a notice of intention to so amend the petition with the City Clerk within five (5) days after receiving the copy of the City Clerk's certificate, excluding weekends and holidays. Supplementary signatures shall be filed with the City Clerk within ten (10) days after receipt of Clerk's notice of insufficient signatures.

(e)

Council Procedure on Initiatory and Referendum Petitions. Upon receiving an initiatory or a referendum petitions from the Clerk, the council shall, within thirty (30) days:

(1)

If it be an initiatory petition, enact the ordinance as submitted in the petition; or

(2)

If it be a referendum petition, repeal the ordinance of part thereof to which petition refers; or

(3)

In either case, move to submit the proposal to the electors.

(f)

Submission to Electors. Should the council decide to submit the proposal to the electors, the proposal shall be submitted at the next election held in the city for any purpose, or, at the discretion of the council, at a special election called for that purpose. In the case of an initiatory petition, if no election is to be held in the city for any other purpose within one-hundred and fifty (150) days from the time the petition is presented to the council and the council does not adopt the ordinance, then the council shall call a special election to be held within seventy-five (75) days from such time for the submission of the initiative proposal. The result shall be determined by a majority vote of the electors voting thereon, except in cases where otherwise required by statute. If two (2) or more ordinances adopted at the same election shall have conflicting provisions, the provisions in the ordinance receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall govern.

(g)

Limitation on Amendment or Repeal of Initiatory or Referendum Ordinances. An ordinance repealed pursuant to referendum proceedings may not be reenacted for a period of one (1) year after date of its repeal. An ordinance adopted pursuant to initiatory proceedings may not be repealed or amended for a period of one (1) year after the date of adoption, except by a vote of the electors.