Delivery at 11th Hour Jeopardizes Arts Petitions

The Fine Arts Federation of Burbank has been trying for more than a year to get a measure passed that would raise money to bring arts and culture to the city.

This week, members say, they turned in more than the 4,300 signatures needed to put the measure before voters.

But, because they turned in the petitions at the city clerk’s home, just before midnight last Tuesday, rather than at City Hall during office hours, they have to start all over, the city attorney says.

“This would set a very bad precedent for the city and the clerk if she started accepting things which were not at the customary place at the customary time,” City Atty. Douglas C. Holland said.

‘Wrong Place at Wrong Time’

“What would this mean?” Holland asked. “If the clerk were at a restaurant, could someone deliver something to her then? These petitions were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The leaders of the effort, Kate and Jim Higgins, said they believe that they complied with the law and that the dispute may wind up in court.

Tuesday was the final day that the grass-roots foundation could have turned in its petitions to City Clerk Merle Maurer to qualify its “percent for the arts” ordinance for the 1989 ballot, the next municipal election. The ordinance would require developers to devote 1% of the cost of projects exceeding $500,000 to arts projects.

Kate Higgins said she and her husband made the midnight delivery after realizing at 11 p.m. Tuesday that they had miscalculated the deadline by a couple of days. They grabbed a cardboard box containing the petitions, jumped into their car and headed for Maurer’s house. When they arrived, they used their car phone to wake Maurer.

Maurer said she was still groggy with sleep and did not want to accept the petitions. When the couple insisted, she said, she agreed to take them pending a decision by City Atty. Holland on the legality of the delivery.

Holland concluded Friday that the couple’s failure to deliver the petitions to Maurer’s office before 5 p.m. invalidated the 4,368 signatures that the Higginses say they and others collected during the previous 180 days.

Officials Opposed

The couple’s late appearance was unpopular with Burbank city officials, most of whom have expressed opposition to the arts proposal.

“The Higginses dropped the ball,” said Councilman Michael R. Hastings. “They compromised the city clerk, and I find it a total abuse. They should have known better.”

The arts federation and city officials have had a tense relationship since last year, when the Higginses began aggressively pushing for the measure. Opponents say the proposal unfairly discriminates against builders.

The federation last month suggested placing archways depicting Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters around Burbank to bring more art and culture to the city, an idea that city officials ridiculed.

Holland said the ordinance could still qualify for the 1989 ballot but that the federation will have to start all over to collect 4,300 signatures on a new petition within 180 days.

The Higginses said they are talking to an attorney.

“There’s nothing in the election code which stipulates a time or place that a filing for an ordinance has to be delivered,” said Kate Higgins, 42, an artist and sculptor. “It merely designates the number of days a party has to gather signatures, and the deadline for turning them in. Delivered is delivered.”