Oppose H.B. 161 - The Wilmington Sidewalk Bill
- by: Tyler Patrick Nixon
- recipient: 144th General Assembly, State of Delaware
FINAL UPDATE : All sponsors of HB 161 have withdrawn their support. The primary sponsor, Rep. Dennis Williams, announced that he is officially striking the bill in the Delaware House of Representatives.
THANKS TO ALL THE CITIZENS WHO LENT THEIR VOICE TO THIS EFFORT.
IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE CITY OF WILMINGTON TO OBEY THE CITY CHARTER AND BEGIN A PROGRAM OF SIDEWALK REPAIRS UNLESS OR UNTIL A CITY REFERENDUM OF VOTERS DECIDES TO CHANGE IT.
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Petition to the Delaware General Assembly to defeat House Bill 161 - a bill to amend the Charter of the City of Wilmington to make homeowners responsible for repairing and maintaining public sidewalks.
This petition supports the right of Wilmington citizens to decide this issue by voter referendum, as provided by law.
Anyone concerned about good government and democracy in Delaware is welcome to join, whether or not you live in Wilmington.
INFORMATION :
http://delawarewatch.blogspot.com/search?q=sidewalks+wilmington
HB 161 can be found here : http://www.legis.state.de.us/lis/lis144.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+161?Opendocument
NOTE : ANONYMOUS signers are still required to provide an individual email address, though their name will not be displayed, to ensure each signer is a different individual.
THANKS TO ALL THE CITIZENS WHO LENT THEIR VOICE TO THIS EFFORT.
IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE CITY OF WILMINGTON TO OBEY THE CITY CHARTER AND BEGIN A PROGRAM OF SIDEWALK REPAIRS UNLESS OR UNTIL A CITY REFERENDUM OF VOTERS DECIDES TO CHANGE IT.
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Petition to the Delaware General Assembly to defeat House Bill 161 - a bill to amend the Charter of the City of Wilmington to make homeowners responsible for repairing and maintaining public sidewalks.
This petition supports the right of Wilmington citizens to decide this issue by voter referendum, as provided by law.
Anyone concerned about good government and democracy in Delaware is welcome to join, whether or not you live in Wilmington.
INFORMATION :
http://delawarewatch.blogspot.com/search?q=sidewalks+wilmington
HB 161 can be found here : http://www.legis.state.de.us/lis/lis144.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+161?Opendocument
NOTE : ANONYMOUS signers are still required to provide an individual email address, though their name will not be displayed, to ensure each signer is a different individual.
We, the undersigned, petition the Delaware General Assembly to oppose House Bill 161 - a bill to amend the Charter of the City of Wilmington to make homeowners responsible for repairing and maintaining public sidewalks.
We wish to make the General Assembly aware that :
- The Wilmington City Charter, passed by voters in a 1979 referendum, mandates the city "shall itself, or by contract...repair....footways."
- For decades the city government violated this mandate with code ordinances that make property owners responsible for repairs and also legally liable for sidewalk trip-and-fall lawsuits.
- The Delaware Supreme Court struck down these ordinances over three years ago in Schadt v. Latchford (Feb. 2004). [The City government still has not removed these invalid ordinances from city code.]
- The Court ruled the City Charter makes city government, not homeowners, solely and exclusively responsible for public sidewalks.
- The Court ruled that to make homeowners liable requires amending the City Charter either by a City referendum or 2/3 vote of the General Assembly.
- The City of Wilmington government continues to ignore the Court's decision and the city's duty to provide sidewalk repair services for the general public.
- The City government's position is that the General Assembly should relieve the city of this duty by amending the City Charter.
We believe amending the City Charter to make private property owners responsible for public sidewalks has enormous consequences for Wilmington's citizens.
We believe such a major change to their City Charter is a decision that should only be made by the citizens of Wilmington in a voter referendum.
We believe the General Assembly in Dover should not make this decision for Wilmington's citizens.
Therefore, we humbly petition the members of the 144th General Assembly to oppose and defeat House Bill 161 and any legislation, now or in the future, with its same purpose.
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