ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta has filed an appeal regarding a decision handed down by a federal court last week which sided with DeKalb County residents who hope to collect signatures for the referendum petition aiming to stop the construction of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
A standing Atlanta ordinance had previously barred outside residents from collecting signatures for petitions within the city. A judge in the Atlanta federal district court ruled the ordinance violated 1st Amendment political speech rights. The federal ruling has no impact on who can actually sign the petition, which is still restricted to Atlanta registered voters.
The city's appeal cites the federal court's ruling "rewrites the state statute and city ordinance" which the city claims is a power that the court does not have. In the filing, it states if the Eleventh Circuit reverses the decision, the city said there will be "chaos and unnecessary expenses for the petition process."
In the court documents, the city said it provided copies of a petition that didn't have the residency requirement to the petition sponsors last week. However, that said the new petition is out of compliance with the state statute.
"This poses a number of problems, not the least of which is potential legal action by the state against the city," the filing states.
Notably, the previous order from the federal judge also highlighted how it will restart the 60-day window organizers have to collect the signatures, from the point a petition is approved and issued by the city clerk. The petition already had 35 days for collection prior to the reset.
In the latest filing by the city, it alleges the extension to 95 days is not appropriate. They said the court's grant of a 95-day signature collection period "implies a degree of punishment to the City for its compliance of state law." They also allege the extra 35 days for collection is unjust compensation for those collecting signatures.
The city also states they were simply complying with state law regarding the 34-year-old residency requirement, stating they did not create the rule specifically for the public safety training center petition referendum.
Additionally, the city said in the filing they disagree with the court's view of the First Amendment regarding the previous ruling and that the appropriate remedy would be to have the city issue a new petition without the residency requirement. With the new remedy, the city stated the 60-day clock would reset without the accrued signatures, instead of extending the period.
RELATED: City clerk approves petition, paving way for referendum on Atlanta's public safety training center
They even stated that the court could have the city issue a revised version of the current petition which would allow sponsors to use the remaining time to keep the signatures previously collected, but without extending the time.
"But restarting the clock and keeping the previous signatures is simply not permitted under the statute," the city said.
That aforementioned statute the city is referring to states that "(a) petition authorized by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not be accepted by the governing authority for verification if more than 60 days have elapsed since the date the sponsor of the petition first obtained copies of the petition from the clerk of the governing authority."
The city alleges the new remedy "invites significant confusion, delay and expense," later asking the question, "Is the new petition simply a revised version of the first petition or is it a new original petition?"
11Alive reported on June 21 that the petition was approved after a contentious back-and-forth between the city and activists over its formatting.
They need about 70,000 signatures -- a big undertaking that could now be aided by the addition of volunteers from DeKalb County. Organizers say they're about halfway there.
RELATED: Atlanta public safety training center activists say they're confident of getting 70K signatures
As of July 25, the drive had collected more than 30,000 signatures, according to Paul Glaze, a spokesperson for the Vote to Stop Cop City Coalition. And with the paid canvassing effort still ramping up, he expects the pace to pick up significantly.
A public referendum would likely stand as one of the last real roadblocks to it being built. Site work has already begun and construction is expected to begin this summer.