Citizens have a fundamental right to petition their government. It is among the oldest rights in our legal heritage. Not only is this right embedded in the First Amendment of our Constitution, it traces its lineage to the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and even so far back as the Magna Carta in 1215.
The right to petition plays an important role in American history. The Declaration of Independence justified the American Revolution by observing King George III had repeatedly disregarded petitions for redress of the colonists' grievances.
Because the right to petition is so integral to our democracy, I find the events currently transpiring between the Administration and the Houston firefighters very troubling. In fact, I find it appalling and just plain wrong. No matter how you feel about any issue, the government must never abridge the freedom of any citizen or group of citizens to properly petition their own government.
Recently several Houston City Council Members, including me, called a special session to address placing the firefighter pay parity issue on the November ballot. The Administration tried to spin this act as irresponsible and undemocratic. In fact, it was just the opposite. We have a ministerial duty, by law, to place the matter on the ballot. We have no choice, nor should we. The issue isn't about pay parity; rather, it is about clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of City Council with regard to citizens properly petitioning their government.
Regardless of the Administration's thoughts on firefighter pay parity, the petition cannot be ignored. My support for placing the pay parity issue on the ballot, even though I do not support the measure, is simple. I support the Constitution-I support democracy and the right of each and every citizen to petition their government. Elected officials must acknowledge, recognize, and respond to citizen petitions in a timely manner. Again, this is our ministerial duty, in other words, it's our job.
There are two overwhelming reasons why I supported the special session. First, Council Members needed some surety the measure, and related ballot language, was indeed headed for the November election. Second, Council Members needed to fully understand the process and timeline for petitions brought by citizens. This process should be consistent and not subject to the whims of the Administration. It should be clearly set forth for all citizens to see and understand.
Unfortunately, there was no set process and timeline for handling this petition. The Administration purposefully delayed validating the petitions and refused to set aside necessary funds to do so. A judge had to step in to order the petitions validated by a date certain. If the City had a well-defined process for dealing with citizen petitions, lawsuits could have been avoided.
Once petition signatures are counted and verified (within a designated time period), there should be another period of time for the City's legal department to draft valid ballot language and submit it to City Council for review, comment, and subsequent approval. The City of Houston is notorious for drafting faulty ballot language as we have seen in recent years. In fact, the ReBuild Houston measure will be on the ballot for a second time since the original ballot language was successfully challenged in court. When ballot language is ruled invalid, it results in delays and great costs to the citizens and the city.
Currently the City is caught up in an argument about the cost of firefighter pay parity. We have the cart before the horse. City Council must approve putting the measure on the ballot first. Then a discussion of its merits may ensue. Firefighters submitted their petition over a year ago- there is a saying "justice delayed is justice denied." I assert in the same vein "democracy delayed is democracy denied." Regardless of the monetary cost of this initiative being offered by the firefighters, if the Administration insists on playing games we will have incurred a much higher cost-the loss of our significant legal heritage, the loss of our democratic ideals and perhaps even our liberty itself. Now that is a cost we should all concern ourselves with and for which I am not willing to incur
I ask the Administration to quit playing games with this petition. Let's do our job, get the measure on the ballot, and have a concrete process in place for the next petition.
