HomeMy WebLinkAboutA008 - Legal opinion dated July 9, 1996 JUL -9 L%6
` CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
MEM01 CITY OF A(Cv1ES,K 106'VA CITY OF AMES
TO: Sandra Ryan, City Clerk
FROM: John R. Klaus, City Attorne
DATE: July 9, 1996
SUBJECT: Veto of Ordinance, Repassage
This is in response to your question of whether an ordinance that has been vetoed by the
Mayor has to have an additional "three readings" to be repassed after the Mayor's veto.
Section 380.3, Code of Iowa, states:
"A proposed ordinance or amendment must be considered and voted on for
passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be
finally passed, unless the requirement is suspended by a recorded vote of
not less than three-fourths of the Council members."
Section 380.6, Code of Iowa, states:
"Withvl thirty days after the Mayor's veto, the Council may pass the
measure again by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the Council members."
Although it was not a contested issue in the case, there is a reported decision in which the
Iowa Supreme Court upheld as valid a zoning ordinance that had been vetoed by the
Mayor, and the Mayor's veto overridden by a two-thirds vote of the Council at a single
subsequent meeting. See: Hama v. Rathjie, 171 N.W.2d 876, 881 (Iowa, 1969). In my
opinion, if the legislature had intended the two considerations before final passage
requirement of Section 380.3 to apply to the veto override provision of Section 380.6, the
legislature would have said so.
JRK:gmw