Citizens in Charge

Frederick County officials are calling on residents to sign a petition to hold a referendum on the city of Frederick’s plans to annex three neighborhoods. The county has set up a website listing petition locations and urging people to sign, while developers have paid city officials to send a letter to all registered city voters urging them not to sign.

County officials will have an uphill battle: thanks to a state court ruling that signatures on petitions have to “mirror” the signature on the voter’s registration card, it is almost impossible to successfully petition government in Maryland.

The barriers that Maryland puts in front of petitioning aside, one has to wonder what Frederick city officials are afraid of. All the petition does is give the people a chance to vote on the city’s plan. If it is such a good plan, then they should welcome a vote as a way to backup their decision. By not wanting this matter to be voted on, it looks like city officials aren’t so sure that residents are behind their plan, and if that is the case then it should definitely come to a popular vote.

You can view the county’s website here.

Update:

Here is the letter that developers paid the city to send to voters.

Here is a letter sent from the county to the city.