GLADSTONE — In a move that could have serious consequences for the future of Gladstone, a proposal — based upon a petition that was circulated and gained more than enough signatures from voting residents — has made it onto the ballot at the last minute. If passed in November, the resolution would remove the city’s power to conduct special assessments from its 135-year-old charter and force Gladstone to stop collecting on already-in-progress special assessments

Special assessments, which are charges levied usually in a particular area in order to fund work in a certain neighborhood, have been within the authority of the City of Gladstone since its incorporation in 1889. Public Works Superintendent Barry Lund estimated that about 40% of the time, special assessments are done for road work, but they can also be collected for projects related to drains, sewers, street lights, recycling and more.

Recently, Michael O’Connor — who sat on the Gladstone City Commission for about a year (2015 to 2016) but has more recently been involved in a string of lawsuits alleging government misuse of funds — circulated an initiative petition to get rid of special assessments. It successfully gathered enough signatures to get language on the ballot in November, but city commissioners — who were presented with the matter on Monday night — worry that misinformation may be at play.

The initiative rode on the coattails of a controversial recently-approved tax to fund police and fire services, applied through Public Act 33. While the ballot proposal, if passed by voters in November, would eliminate the city’s abilities to both implement new special assessments and to continue collecting on existing ones, the new police and fire tax would be unaffected. The new proposal would apply only to special assessments that are authorized by the city charter, not those authorized through state law.

“I believe that there was a false pretense put in front of the people of Gladstone,” said Commissioner Steve O’Driscoll, expressing concern that circulators of the petition likely played on people’s emotions about Act 33 and led them to believe that by signing the petition, their newest tax increase could be withdrawn.

“Voters needed to be educated,” said City Clerk Kim Berry, explaining that all the legal benchmarks had been hit, the city attorney approved the authenticity of the petition and it had been submitted to the Attorney General. “It is up to the voters now to know what they are doing, and if they didn’t know what they were signing on the petition — that doesn’t change the validity of it,” Berry said.

“I don’t like the challenges, if approved, (and) the position it puts the city in the future,” said Commissioner Brad Mantela.

“Does Mr. O’Connor have any suggestions how we pay our bills should this happen?” asked O’Driscoll.

O’Connor was not present at the meeting — the item was added to the agenda after the packet was published and O’Connor told the Daily Press he was unaware it would be discussed — but City Manager Eric Buckman relayed that when the two sat down together at city hall, O’Connor had suggested petitioning the voters to vote for a three-mill hike for road repair.

While special assessments for things like road repair are levied only to certain places at a time, a millage would apply to all city residents.

“I think they need to look at their budget, which is kind of a complicated issue right now, but there’s ways they can save money,” O’Connor told the Press on Tuesday. “I think there needs to be a look at what they really need, and where they’re spending money now.”

O’Connor expressed surprise when told that the proposal would not remove the Act 33 charges — “That’s an interesting position,” he said. O’Connor believed that because the current pursuit of police and fire funds was being referred to as a special assessment, removing power from the city charter would stop it.

O’Driscoll voiced at Monday’s meeting that he thought the route of later presenting the people with a millage was disingenuous, calling it a “bait and switch,” and adding that a better use of the petitioner’s time might have been to first see if people would be willing to pay a millage, or perhaps to combine the two questions on one ballot.

A very real possibility is that the people of Gladstone could vote to do away with special assessments, and then also refuse a millage, leaving the city with less funding than it has had in the past. That could lead to a reduction in services and infrastructure quality.

“I don’t know what we would do,” said Buckman. “It would completely obliterate the street funds. There wouldn’t be any new roads. Basically, street fund money would be for plowing roads, and if we had a bad winter we wouldn’t plow snow on some streets.”

All at the meeting seemed highly unsettled by the thought of the potential outcome — especially if the public is not properly educated on the matter — but had little option but to continue the process and allow the proposal to go on the November ballot. Before accepting the resolution, there was a motion to delay a decision until after an attorney could review the petition again, but it resulted in a split vote. Berry reminded the commissioners that the petition had already been deemed legitimate, that the lawyer’s recommendation was to approve the resolution, and that the commissioners could face repercussions if they blocked it from reaching the ballot.

Now, the decision on whether to change the City of Gladstone’s charter is in the voters’ hands.

“Understand what you’re voting for,” urged Mayor Joe Thompson. “Not only this, but everything that you vote for. Don’t just base it on something you’ve heard. Do a little research, make a good decision, because it does have a big impact — here and nationally.”

In other business during Monday’s meeting, the commission:

– approved the payment of bills, which included $20,576 to Fahrner Asphalt Sealers and $51,575.50 to UP Concrete — though the latter is being paid by money raised by the Gladstone Area Pickleball group, not city funds.

– approved the regularly-scheduled disbursement of funds for the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant, which is expecting full completion by Oct. 4. Superintendent Rodney Schwartz relayed that a fault with the pumps had not yet been figured out.

– approved the purchase of a used portable air compressor from Midway Renters. The Public Works Department is already in possession of it, having borrowed it to be sure it is in good working condition, and considers the price of $18,600 a good deal.

– approved a one-word change to two MERS contracts for public safety officers. It had already been discussed and approved at an earlier meeting on July 8. This time it needed to be approved for Administrative Services.