HomeMy WebLinkAboutPress Release- 3527 Lincoln Way WestCity of South Bend
Common Council
441 County-City Building ● 227 W. Jefferson Blvd
South Bend, Indiana 46601
(574) 235-9321
Fax (574) 235-9173
TDD (574) 235-5567
http://www.southbendin.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Subject: Bill 05-18 Regarding Amendment of the Zoning Ordinance for
the Property Located at 3527 Lincoln Way West
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018
From: Council President, Tim Scott
Contact: 574-538-1936
Common Council Members Jo Broden (4th District ) and John Voorde (At-large)
requested and were granted time, at the May 14th Common Council meeting, to
make a motion regarding Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s veto of Bill 05-18 regarding the
amendment of the zoning ordinance for the property located at 3527 Lincoln Way
West, Councilmanic District No.1 in the City of South Bend.
This motion will be heard under the Common Council agenda item “Special
Business” at the beginning of the formal meeting.
In view of transparency and the democratic process, this press release spells out the
process for rescinding a veto. This is released for all citizens to understand and
know what is expected of their elected officials. It also spells out the public role for
this rare process.
The following will be the steps this Common Council will take at the next meeting.
Within this procedure there is no public input; which is stated in the process below.
Authority for Veto and Override
Indiana Code 36-4-6-16 provides the authority for both a veto by the Mayor and a
vote by the Common Council to override that veto. The statute provides:
“(a) Within ten (10) days after an ordinance, order, or resolution is presented to the
City Executive, the City Executive shall:
(1) Approve the ordinance, order or resolution, by entering the executive’s approval
on it, signing it, and sending the legislative body a message announcing the
executive’s approval; or,
(2) Veto the ordinance, order, or resolution, by returning it to the legislative body
with a message announcing the executive’s veto and stating the executive’s reasons
for the veto.
The Executive may approve or veto separate items of an ordinance appropriating
money or levying a tax.
Tim Scott
President
Oliver Davis
Vice-President
Gavin Ferlic
Chairperson, Committee
of the Whole
Tim Scott
First District
Regina Williams-Preston
Second District
Sharon L. McBride
Third District
Jo M. Broden
Fourth District
Dr. David Varner
Fifth District
Oliver Davis
Sixth District
Gavin Ferlic
At Large
John Voorde
At Large
Karen White
At Large
City of South Bend
Common Council
441 County-City Building ● 227 W. Jefferson Blvd
South Bend, Indiana 46601
(574) 235-9321
Fax (574) 235-9173
TDD (574) 235-5567
http://www.southbendin.gov
(b) If the executive fails to perform the executive’s duty under subsection (a), the ordinance,
order, or resolution is considered vetoed.
(c) Whenever an ordinance, order, or resolution is vetoed by the executive, it is considered
defeated unless the legislative body, at its first regular or special meeting after the ten (10) day
period prescribed by (a) passes the ordinance, order, or resolution over the executive’s veto by a
two-thirds (2/3) vote.”
The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that the municipal executive’s veto power is applicable to zoning
ordinances. Wilson v. Brown, 461 N.E.2d 1162 (Ind. Ct. App. 1984).
Procedure
While there is no procedure codified or mandated in either the Indiana Code or the South Bend Municipal
Code regarding the Council’s consideration of overriding the Mayor’s veto of legislation; the Council will
follow the following process Monday night.
South Bend Municipal Code §2-9(a) states:
“The most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall be the authority on all questions of
parliamentary law and procedure not specifically covered by this article. For the purposes of this article,
parliamentary law shall mean the enacted rules and recognized uses which govern the procedure of
legislative assemblies”.
It is clear from Robert’s Rules of Order, however, that the only way to initiate action before the Common
Council at a meeting is by way of motion. Therefore, any consideration of overriding a veto must be made
by a motion of a Council member with a second.
Because the ordinance has already been passed by the Common Council, and any vote to override the
veto is limited to the ordinance that was actually passed by the Common Council, it would not be
appropriate to make the motion during the Committee of the Whole or in bills receiving Third Reading.
We will allocate time under Special Business to hear any motion to pass Bill 05-18 over the Mayor’s
veto.
Indiana Code 36-4-6-16(c), which provides that whenever an ordinance is vetoed by the executive, it is
considered defeated unless the legislative body, at its first regular or special meeting, passes the ordinance
over the veto.
Vetoed legislation remains unfinished until either 1) the time for overriding the veto passes; 2) the veto is
overridden by a two-thirds (2/3) vote; or, 3) a motion to override the veto does not carry by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote.
City of South Bend
Common Council
441 County-City Building ● 227 W. Jefferson Blvd
South Bend, Indiana 46601
(574) 235-9321
Fax (574) 235-9173
TDD (574) 235-5567
http://www.southbendin.gov
Discussion of Motion
Because the ordinance remains unchanged and the public portion for discussing the ordinance has passed,
there should be no public input on the motion. Council members, however, should be permitted to express
their opinions on the motion prior to a vote. The authority for this position is South Bend Municipal
Code §2-8(i), which provides:
“No member shall speak more than twice nor for more than five minutes on the second occasion,
upon any one question or issue in debate during the same meeting. A member shall only be
granted the right to speak a second time on the same question or issue after each member has had
an opportunity to speak on said issue or question.”
Because a motion to override a veto is a separate and distinct motion from the motion for passage of the
ordinance, and requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote instead of a majority vote, each Council member should be
allowed to express any opinion. Those opinions may include opinions relating to the Mayor’s letter
explaining the reasons for the veto because that letter was not previously before the Common Council.
Conclusion
A Mayor’s veto of legislation passed by a City Council is a rare event. Consideration by the Council to
overrule the veto is even rarer. Neither the Indiana Code, nor the vast majority of municipal codes,
address the procedure to be utilized in such consideration. What is mandatory under Indiana law,
however, is that the consideration, if any, be made at the next Council meeting following the veto and any
override of the veto be by a two-thirds (2/3) vote.
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