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An ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, directing that a referendum question regarding the amendment of Article III, §6 of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, which places restrictions on the ability of certain persons to run for federal, state, county and local elected office, be placed on the November 3, 2020 General Election ballot.
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Whereas, Article III, §6(b) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County prohibits all County Council members from seeking other elected office without first having resigned from County Council; and
Whereas, this broadly drafted restriction is unique to County Council members, and does not apply to any other elected official governed by the terms of the Home Rule Charter; and
Whereas, Article III, §6(a) of the Charter imposes a much less stringent prohibition upon the Chief Executive, requiring only that the Chief Executive not be a candidate for two different County elected offices at the same time; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that imposing a more stringent prohibition upon members of Council serves no meaningful purpose, insofar as a member of Council seeking other office does not impair the function or operations of County government; and
Whereas, imposing differential restrictions on the ability of Council members to seek other elected office is also inconsistent with the provisions of Article III, §6(c), which restricts actually holding other elected office by the Chief Executive and Council members in exactly the same fashion; and
Whereas, requiring the resignation of a Council member before he or she can seek other elected office on its face functions to thwart the will of the voters who elected the Council member in question, rather than allowing the electorate to determine where an individual can best serve the needs of his or her constituents; and
Whereas, as part of its 2016 report, the Allegheny county Government Review Commission expressly ...
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