Petition Seeks Referendum Vote on Courthouse

Though he knows it can't succeed as the laws are currently written, Ward 3 Fredericksburg City Councilor Fred Howe is supporting a petition drive to collect signatures asking that an impending decision on building a new $35.7 million downtown court facility be put to a public referendum vote.

In an email sent to Ward 1 City Councilor Brad Ellis and Planning Commissioner Sean Lawrence, Howe asks the two to collect signatures on a blank petition which declares that the signatories "request the city hold a referendum (binding or not) on the question of indebting us citizens prior to entering into any contract or bond issues for construction of a new courthouse."

So far, the petition has collected only a handful of signatures, though it's hard to verify how widely the petition is being circulated.

But according to Fredericksburg's city charter and Virginia Code 24.2-684, the city is not authorized to hold referendums unless specifically required by law. Independent cities in Virginia, unlike counties, are not required to hold a referendum to approve a relocation of court facilities or to borrow money. Further, the city charter does not give the city council the power to place a question before the voters for a referendum vote.

"There is no statute or charter provision authorizing a referendum on whether or not to build new court facilities, or which plan to choose," wrote City Attorney Kathleen Dooley in an email.

Dooley says that in Virginia's independent cities, the governing bodies are given more authority over big decisions, but that they are required to involve the public through meetings, hearings and other outreach efforts.

That gets to the heart of Howe's support for the petition effort. He argues that the city has not been transparent during the court facility evaluation process. Howe says that some confidential documents which factored into that decision should have been made public. He was also critical of the use of several closed sessions for the City Council to evaluate its options for a new courthouse.

"Now we only have a bond public hearing and public hearing for a contract being struck," said Howe in an interview. "We have excluded the public from the entire process on purpose and I have a major problem with that."

Howe is also critical of the cost of the courthouse and the projected tax increases which will result from its construction.

But there's still that pesky problem of referendums not being authorized by the city charter. When asked if he would entertain a motion to modify the city charter in some way to allow for referendums, Howe seemed open to the idea.

"According to Kathleen Dooley, the charter does not support a referendum," said Howe. "But does that mean we don't change it or accommodate it? It ought to warrant something."