Committee for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods v. Riffel

141 P.3d 422, 213 Ariz. 247, 486 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 8, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 102
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 24, 2006
DocketNo. 1 CA-CV 06-0443
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 141 P.3d 422 (Committee for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods v. Riffel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Committee for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods v. Riffel, 141 P.3d 422, 213 Ariz. 247, 486 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 8, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 102 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

TIMMER, Judge.

¶ 1 The Committee for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods (“CPEN”) appeals the superior court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Donna Riffel, the Town Clerk for the Town of Wickenburg, and In-tervenor Wickenburg Country Club Estates, LLC, (‘WCC”), on CPEN’s special action complaint. CPEN argues that the court erred by ruling as a matter of law that CPEN’s referendum petitions failed to comply with Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) section 19-101(A) (2002). For the reasons that follow, we disagree with CPEN and therefore affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On April 20, 2006, CPEN filed with the Office of the Wickenburg Town Clerk signed referendum petitions challenging a Wicken-burg town ordinance that rezoned approximately fifty-four acres of real property. On May 9, after the filing period had expired, Donna Riffel, in her capacity as town clerk, rejected the petitions. Riffel reasoned that the petitions did not comply with the referendum requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 19-101(A) because a description of the measure to be referred was stapled to the petitions rather than inserted into the petitions.

¶ 3 In May, CPEN filed a special action complaint in the superior court against Riffel in her official capacity. CPEN sought to compel Riffel to place the referendum on the election ballot and requested that the court order Riffel to appear and show cause why the referendum should not be placed on the ballot. Shortly thereafter, CPEN and Riffel filed a stipulation to permit WCC to intervene as a defendant, which the court allowed.

[249]*249¶ 4 WCC and CPEN filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Riffel joined WCC’s argument that CPEN’s petitions were invalid because CPEN improperly attached the referendum description. The superior court agreed with WCC and Riffel. Specifically, the superior court ruled that the petitions were invalid because CPEN did not properly insert a description of the ordinance or include the title and number of the ordinance being referred on the petitions as required by A.R.S. § 19 — 101(A). The court therefore granted summary judgment in favor of WCC and Riffel. This timely appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21(A)(1) (2003) and 19-122(C) (2002). Perini Land & Dev. Co. v. Pima County, 170 Ariz. 380, 382, 825 P.2d 1, 3 (1992) (instructing parties to file referenda appeals in the court of appeals).

DISCUSSION

¶ 5 CPEN argues that the alleged petition defects should not prevent the referendum from going forward because the stapled referendum description and the information describing the ordinance meet the constitutional and statutory principles required for referendum petitions. WCC and Riffel counter that the petitions are invalid because referendum proponents are required to strictly comply with constitutional and statutory referendum provisions, and CPEN’s failure to insert the descriptive language into the petitions meant that CPEN did not strictly comply with the requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 19-101(A).

¶ 6 The parties neither dispute the facts of this case nor disagree that the strictcomplianee standard, which requires nearly perfect compliance with constitutional and statutory referendum requirements, is applicable in this ease. W. Devcor, Inc. v. City of Scottsdale, 168 Ariz. 426, 428-29, 814 P.2d 767, 769-70 (1991) (citation omitted) (requiring strict compliance with the constitutional and statutory requirements because referendum power allows “minority to hold up the effective date of legislation which may well represent the wishes of the majority”). Therefore, our review is limited to matters of statutory construction decided by the superi- or court, which we consider de novo. Open Primary Elections Now v. Bayless, 193 Ariz. 43, 46, ¶ 9, 969 P.2d 649, 652 (1998).

¶7 At issue is whether CPEN strictly complied with the referendum requirements in A.R.S. § 19-101(A) when it stapled the referendum description to its petitions. Section 19-101(A) details the form a referendum petition must take and the information about the measure being referred that must be included with the petition. Subsection (A) provides in relevant part as follows:

The following shall be the form for referring to the people by referendum petition a measure or item, section or part of a measure enacted by the legislature, or by the legislative body of an incorporated city, town or county:
Referendum Description
(Insert a description of no more than one hundred words of the principal provisions of the measure sought to be referred.)
Notice: This is only a description of the measure sought to be referred prepared by the sponsor of the measure. It may not include every provision contained in the measure. Before signing, make sure the title and text of the measure are attached. You have the right to read or examine the title and text before signing.

We must initially determine whether attachment of the referendum description to the petitions constitutes an insertion of the description as required by § 19-101(A).

¶ 8 “In interpreting statutes, we look to the plain language as the most reliable indicator of meaning.” Powers v. Carpenter, 203 Ariz. 116, 118, ¶ 9, 51 P.3d 338, 340 (2002); Calik v. Kongable, 195 Ariz. 496, 498, ¶ 10, 990 P.2d 1055, 1057 (1999). We will give effect to each sentence and word so that provisions are not rendered meaningless. Bilke v. State, 206 Ariz. 462, 464, ¶ 11, 80 P.3d 269, 271 (2003); State v. Superior Court (Kerr-McGee Corp.), 113 Ariz. 248, 249, 550 P.2d 626, 627 (1976). Accordingly, we assume that when the legislature uses [250]*250different language within a statutory scheme, it does so with the intent of ascribing different meanings and consequences to that language. Hughes v. Jorgenson, 203 Ariz. 71, 73, ¶ 11, 50 P.3d 821, 823 (2002) (“assuming that the legislature has said what it means”). With these principles in mind, we consider the text of 19-101(A) and the parties’ arguments.

¶ 9 We first examine the plain language of the statute and will ascribe plain meaning to its language unless the context suggests otherwise. Byers-Watts v. Parker, 199 Ariz.

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Bluebook (online)
141 P.3d 422, 213 Ariz. 247, 486 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 8, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/committee-for-preservation-of-established-neighborhoods-v-riffel-arizctapp-2006.