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<br />~ <br />_I. <br /> <br />January 26, 2006 <br /> <br />WHEREAS, House Bill 861 provides for legislation requiring the City of Martinsville to conduct <br />a binding referendum upon the issue of proposed reversion by the City of Martinsville, to be approved by <br />a majority of "those qualified to vote," and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, House Bill 1497 provides for legislation requiring Henry County to conduct a <br />referendum, binding upon the City of Martinsville, upon the issue of proposed reversion by the City of <br />Martinsville, to be approved by a majority of "those qualified to vote," and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, both House Bill 861 and House Bill 1497 are special legislation introduced in <br />response to Martinsville' s current consideration of the issue of reversion, the underlying factors of which <br />are subject to change with the passage of time, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, nowhere else in the sections of the Code of Virginia calling for various referenda <br />does there appear a requirement for approval by a majority ofthose qualified to vote, but rather a majority <br />of those actually voting, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the cities of Virginia should be treated equally in the requirements established by <br />the Commonwealth for altering their form of government, unless an individual city itself undertakes to <br />establish additional requirements, including referendum, for that city alone, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the citizens of Martinsville should have a voice in the form of their local <br />government and its organization, particularly the ultimate form Martinsville assumes as a political <br />subdivision within the Commonwealth of Virginia, in accordance with the principles of self- <br />determination upon which this Commonwealth and the United States were founded, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, those persons voting to determine their form of government should be only those <br />citizens who shall live under that form of government, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the form of government for Martinsville should therefore be decided solely by those <br />living in Martinsville, and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Martinsville believes the issue of the reversion of the city <br />to a town should be submitted to the voters of Martinsville to determine public opinion upon the issue and <br />the Council shall seek appropriate enabling legislation to effect its ability to conduct such a referendum <br />and to determine the timing and manner of such referendum, <br /> <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia <br />that the General Assembly be requested to reject absolutely both House Bill 861 and House Bill 1497 in <br />their entirety. <br /> <br />Mayor Cobbe recognized former Mayor L. D. Oakes, who stated his <br /> <br />support of a Resolution asking that both Bills be killed, that the city will <br /> <br />request a referendum if it decides to move ahead with the reversion process <br />