‘Advisory’ clarified

I’d like to make one small but important clarification regarding the use of the term “advisory referendum” in The Journal story about the Platteville Move To Amend group Sept. 23.

As the article explains, we are collecting signatures on a petition so that a referendum can be included on the city’s April 2016 ballot.  

The eventual goal of state and national MTA groups is to get an amendment added to the U.S. Constitution that would reverse the effects of past Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which resulted in unprecedented amounts of money not only influencing the election process, but also elected officials.  

Right now, however, at the local level the goal of Platteville Move To Amend is simply to get a referendum voted on by the citizens of the City of Platteville. To do that, Platteville MTA folks will continue canvassing the community for signatures through October until enough resident signatures are obtained on our direct legislation petition forms. Under Wisconsin Statute 9.20 the submission of these forms to the city clerk would not “advise” the city council to accept the proposed resolution stated on the petition, but instead, would require the city to act on bringing the proposed resolution to a vote. The results of a referendum vote next April would determine whether or not the City of Platteville goes on record as supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that states, in part, that “Only human beings … are endowed with constitutional rights,” and that “Money is not speech. …”

Charlie Clark
Platteville

The Platteville Journal will print most letters to the editor, regardless of the opinion presented. The Journal reserves the right to edit material that is libelous or otherwise offensive to community standards and to shorten letters The Journal determines are excessively long. All letters must be signed and the signature must appear on the printed letter, along with a contact number or email for verification. Some submitted letters may not be published due to space constraints. “Thank you” letters will not be printed. All letters and columns represent the views of the writers and not necessarily the views of The Platteville Journal.