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Two years after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that validated its existence, direct legislation is responsible for banning smoking in Appleton and capping spending in a handful of communities. Combined with the recall fervor that has tossed local politicians out of office, it is providing an outlet for citizens unhappy with the actions of their elected officials.
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The latest direct legislation effort, in Jefferson, is aimed at stopping a proposed Wal-Mart SuperCenter that already has led to the recall of one alderman and divided the city. The petitions call for a municipal ordinance that would require any developer seeking to annex more than 15 acres to the city to complete a series of costly steps before a project could be approved.
"People are less and less accepting of the group decision and more likely to take independent action," said Dan Thompson, the executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.
The direct legislation process, which was made state law in 1911 but not used with any regularity for nearly a century, allows citizens of cities and villages - but not towns - to propose initiatives that the governing body must either approve or forward to voters in a referendum.
In 2003, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Mount Horeb ordinance that called for a binding public referendum before trustees spent more than $1 million on any capital projects. Since then, direct legislation groups have enacted the process to impose a smoking ban in Appleton and spending caps in a handful of cities, including Delafield.
The direct legislation drives have become so common that Thompson's organization will hold a workshop on how they work at the organization's annual conference this week in Green Bay.
"A generation ago, citizens would have been more likely to complain to the village board or the city council," Thompson said. "The winners would celebrate and the losers would grumble and life would go on. Now it doesn't really end there."
In Jefferson, the direct legislation effort comes on the heels of the successful recall of Ald. David Olsen, who lost his post after casting the decisive vote against annexing land for a Wal-Mart . The group counts among its leaders the owners of the local Piggly Wiggly supermarket and others who have opposed the retailer moving to the city of about 7,500. More than 400 people signed petitions endorsing the burdens, well over the 307 required.
Should the direct legislation become municipal ordinance, it would require any developer seeking to annex more than 15 acres into Jefferson to subsidize an environmental impact statement, a traffic impact assessment, a municipal infrastructure analysis and a community impact statement. It also would allow for Jefferson residents to appeal any annexation to circuit court and allow the city to charge developers a separate impact fee.
"I don't think what's requested is at all prohibitive given the expected pool of developers that would come in and propose a project of 15 acres or more," said the direct legislation group's spokesman, John Rhiel. "I don't see that it's an unreasonable burden or unduly expensive."
Rhiel, a Jefferson County public defender, said the goal is to give aldermen making land-use decisions as much information as possible before making significant decisions.
"If those of us who opposed Wal-Mart were wrong about it, maybe a fairly thorough study would tell people that," he said.
The city's mayor, Collin Stevens, said the proposed ordinance would be bad for the city because it would limit potential growth and cause developers considering large projects to look elsewhere.
"It's going to handcuff us as far as future development," Stevens said. "If a developer has to go in and pay all those expenses, I don't know where the money is going to come from."
The Jefferson clerk, Bruce Bierma, has until Oct. 29 to decide whether to certify the direct legislation petitions. Should he do so, the Common Council would either adopt the land acquisition requirements as municipal ordinance or call for a municipal referendum on the issue.
Patti Lorbecki, who with her husband, Dave, owns the Piggly Wiggly on the city's Racine St., said people in Jefferson were eager to sign the direct legislation petitions. The Lorbeckis spearheaded the 15 circulators who gathered more than 400 signatures in 3 1/2 days last week.
Rhiel said although he was active in the effort to keep Wal-Mart out of Jefferson, the direct legislation effort is not specifically directed at the retailer.
"Reasonable people can disagree on whether the costs are outweighed by the benefits, but at least you have a basis of facts to work with," he said. "That's what was lacking in this last debate about Wal-Mart."