Houston city officials expect to know next week if opponents of the equal rights ordinance gathered enough signatures to put the measure up for a public vote in November.
The update came Friday as city officials, including City Attorney David Feldman, updated council members on the petitions, which were submitted on July 3. Opponents need 17,269 of the more than 50,000 signatures to be verified for the public vote to move forward.
City Atty. says City Secretary counting 5,100 pages of #houequality repeal petition. May be done by end of next week. #abc13 #hounews #hero
— Miya Shay (@miyashay) July 25, 2014
On Friday, the council was told that Feldman's office, along with City Secretary Anna Russell, must review the petitions to verify that signatures are Houston voters and that the people who collected them are also Houston voters.
2 big things they're looking for: Are the people who've signed houston voters AND are the signature gatherers houston voters #houequality
— Katherine Driessen (@KatDriessen) July 25, 2014
Feldman told the council that the petition effort put enforcement of the ordinance on hold.
#HERO is NOT being enforced due to petition for repeal being filed. Initial submission on 7/3, 5,199 pages total. #houcouncil
— Jerry Peruchini (@peruchini) July 25, 2014
The city has a 30-day window to complete verification of the petition signatures. If the signatures are valid, the council can vote to repeal the ordinance or put it before voters. If the petition effort fails, Feldman said the ordinance becomes law and no additional petitions can be filed against it. Opponents could file a court challenge.
But the petition verification process is tedious.
But don't get too excited. City attorney: nothing specific to report. “The process is not moving as fast as I thought it would” #houequality
— Katherine Driessen (@KatDriessen) July 25, 2014
Mayor Annise Parker blasted the petition effort and the “strange obsession” of opponents to undo it during a July 3 press conference. On Saturday, supporters of the ordinance host a training session for volunteers to review the petitions.
