Lockyer Supports Rejection of Petition

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer ruled this week that the Burbank city clerk was correct when she disqualified a petition that sought to limit the size of a proposed Burbank Airport terminal.

The ballot initiative, signed by 7,400 people and collected by a group calling itself Restore Our Airport Rights, or ROAR, would have barred the Burbank City Council from approving an airport terminal exceeding 200,000 square feet.

City Clerk Judie Sarquiz disqualified the measure on grounds the petitions did not include the names of the measure’s chief proponents, former Councilman Ted McConkey, and Howard Rothenbach, as required by state law.

At the time of the controversy, proponents of the measure argued the move to disqualify because of “a technicality” was politically motivated. But Lockyer disagreed.

“Where a city charter requires city initiative petitions to be submitted in a form that a complies with state law,” Lockyer wrote, “the city clerk is required to reject a petition that does not contain a notice of intent with the name or names of the proponents of the initiative.”