Jim Righeimer's Charter Off The June Ballot

JUDGE RULES "NO"...
Following a long, long day at the courthouse for the folks involved, (the hearing didn't begin until after 4:00!) the word from Superior Court a few minutes ago is that Judge Franz Miller has ruled that Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley will NOT be ordered to place Jim Righeimer's Charter scheme on the June 5th ballot.


AS HE SAID YESTERDAY...
Consistent with his tentative ruling, posted HERE, Judge Miller decided that the rules guiding Kelley are part of the state statute and that Kelley did not violate them when he declined to accept the late submission of paperwork from City Clerk Julie Folcik and cannot be ordered to do so.

NO WORD ON APPEAL
No word yet from The City about whether it will appeal this decision or not. The clock is ticking and it is my understanding from Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley this afternoon that sometime the first week of April (not April 1st as was previously stated) is when Kelley and his crew could receive the information for the ballot. After that the ship has sailed and his process cannot accept anything else. It seems unlikely that an appeal could be processed in such a short time, but you just never know...

THAT WAS RIGHEIMER, NOT SAN ONOFRE
So, that wasn't San Onofre melting down that you heard this evening - that was Jim Righeimer reacting to yet another failure in his political life. If he plans to proceed with this bogus Charter scheme his new target will have to be the November General Election, when LOTS of folks will find their way to the ballot box. And, that means the city will save tens of thousands of dollars by placing it on the November ballot, if that's what happens. Of course, we've probably already spent that much and more for the services of Jones Day on this issue. And, it also means that both sides of this issue will have eight months in which to convince the voters on the wisdom of their position. Whether it passes then or not, at least the largest possible chunk of the electorate will have had a chance to make their voices heard. That's how this process is supposed to work...