UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, September 8, 1994
5A
KU student decries city's decision
By Carlos Tejada Kansan staff writer
The executive director of Kansans for Term Limits condemned the Lawrence City Commission yesterday for not placing a term ballot referendum on the November ballot.
Scot Hill, Andover senior, said the commission's decision at a meeting Tuesday night was unfair. He said the ordinance was legal and the city was looking for an easy way to put commissioner term limits to death.
"Iam amazed at the lengths at which the commission will go," he said. "They won't let people vote on term limits."
Hill also said the organization had legal representation and could take the city to court over the referendum.
Hill had submitted a petition signed by more than 3,800 people — more than enough to qualify it for a referendum — calling for limiting city commissioners to two four-year terms. The referendum, if passed, also would require the city clerk to lobby state and national governments until both passed term limitation laws of their own.
But the commission declined to put the proposed ordinance on the ballot when it was presented at a commission meeting Tuesday night. The commissioners acted on the advice of Gerald Cooley, city attorney, who told the commission the proposed ordinance would not meet with state law.
Cooley said the most glaring problem was the second section, which dealt with the city clerk's lobbying effort. He said that section was an administrative ordinance — an ordinance that dealt with personnel matters, defined a finite goal that could be met, or had no definite penalty for noncompliance — and was prohibited by state law from being put up to referendum.
Because state law also prohibits the city from changing the content of a proposed ordinance, he said, the first section of Hill's proposal has to be considered with the second section. Therefore, the whole ordinance is illegal, he said.
Hill blasted the commission for the action. He said it was an easy way for the city to kill commissioner term limits.
"They've decided that they're above the laws and that they don't have to comply with the laws," he said.
If the issue went to court, Hill said, a decision might not be reached until after the November election. In that case, he said, the city would have to call a special election, which would cost the city a lot of money.
Hill also said the city had no jurisdiction over a proposed ordinance up for referendum. He said the referendum already had cleared its legal hurdles through the Douglas County election and voter registration office.
But Cooley said yesterday that Hill was mistaken about jurisdiction. While the petition itself must be cleared by the county, the proposed ordinance must meet with state law, he said. The city is within its rights to refuse to place an illegal ordinance on the ballot, he said.
Cooley also said the analysis had nothing to do with the content of the ordinance.
"It makes no difference to me whether they put it on," he said. "It's my opinion that it's just not legally sufficient."
ference to explore Hispanic literature
By Carlos Tejada Kansan staff writer
Michael Doudouroff hopes to learn about the poetry of the Dominican Republic this week.
But to do it, all he has to do is drive across town. "It's a chance for me to hear one of the great people in the field talk about it," said Doudoroff, professor of Spanish and Portuguese.
Starting today, Douldoorf and about 100 other KU professors and graduate students will participate in the Mid-America Conference on Hispanic Literature, which will take place today through Saturday at the Holiday Inn Holdmein, 200 McDonald Drive. The conference is sponsored by the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Colorado, the
Doudoroff said the conference, for which more than 260 people have registered to attend, gave instructors and researchers a chance to old texts in a new light. "We become aware of things we hadn't seen before."
University of Nebraska and Washington University in St. Louis, and draws academics from around the world to discuss Hispanic literature.
"We become aware of things we hadn't seen before," he said. "It's very exciting."
Doudoroff said the presentations, which sometimes will occur simultaneously and will last about 20 minutes, will keep attendees running from room to room.
"This conference makes room for discussion on the topics that teachers, students and academics work with every day," said Harriet Turner, head of the modern languages and literatures department at the University of Nebraska.
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