Petitions certified in Jonesboro property maintenance code repeal

Jonesboro City Clerk Donna Jackson said Monday (Feb. 22) that supporters of a plan to repeal Jonesboro’s Property Maintenance Code had 338 more signatures than was needed to get the repeal on the ballot.

Jackson said her office in the past 10 days verified 3,653 signatures, with just 3,315 signatures were needed. The 3,315 target was based on the 15% of the 22,096 voters who marked ballots in the 2012 Jonesboro mayor’s election, Jackson said.

Fayetteville attorney Travis Story turned in the petitions Feb. 12 to Jackson’s office, asking for a vote. Supporters of the repeal have said the code violates the 4th Amendment prohibition on illegal searches as well as due process, while those in favor of the code have said it would go after dilapidated properties in Jonesboro.

Supporters and opponents of the repeal responded Monday.

“Thank you, Donna,” repeal supporter Dan Pasmore said after the press conference.

Dr. Gregory Hansen, director of Citizens for a Better Jonesboro, said his group plans to work on supporting the code.

“We respect the petition process, and now that the signatures have been verified, we will continue to organize our group as we support Mayor Harold Perrin, Police Chief Rick Elliott, Fire Chief Kevin Miller and the Jonesboro City Council in keeping the code,” Hansen said in a statement. “In a short amount of time, Citizens for a Better Jonesboro has grown to include over 100 volunteers and in the coming weeks, we will continue to build our campaign in an effort to set the record straight on the Jonesboro Property Maintenance Code and work hard to make Jonesboro a safer place for all residents.”

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin broke a 6-6 tie Dec. 15 after the Jonesboro City Council tied on a vote to approve the code. City officials have hosted a series of meetings in the past few months on the code. Right now, the code is under a 90-day moratorium and is set to take effect May 15.

Jackson said the process of verifying signatures was difficult, in part due to a lack of state law on the issue. While there was law dealing with state and county initiatives, there are very few laws on the books dealing with municipalities, Jackson said.

Jackson worked with city attorney Carol Duncan and Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday on the issue, using the 10-day period for verifying county initiatives as a guide. Story turned in 5,034 signatures, Jackson said, noting it appeared only two signatures were duplicates leaving 5,032 signatures to be verified.

The paperwork will be sent to Holliday and the Craighead County Election Commission for their review, while Jonesboro council members will meet March 1 to set an election date.

Supporters of the repeal have pushed for either a May 3 or May 10 election date on the repeal vote. There is already a special Jonesboro City Council election set for May 10 for the Ward 6, Position 1 seat on the council. The filing period for the council election is ongoing and ends March 11.