THEODORE R. MCKELDIN, GOVERNOR 2051

217. (Proposal by Petition. ) Amendments to the Charter
may be proposed by petition signed by a number of qualified
voters of Cumberland equal to ten per cent of those voting for
candidates for the office of Mayor at the last preceding regular
municipal general election. Such petition shall contain the
street address of each signer and shall be presented to the
Mayor, who shall verify the signatures and make public an-
nouncement to the effect that the signatures are authentic, or
are not authentic, within thirty days from the time of receiving
such petition. If the Mayor announces that the signatures in
his opinion are not authentic, he shall make public his specific
reasons for so doing, and he shall explain how the defects in
the petition can be remedied.

218. (Authentication. ) When the Mayor shall have an-
nounced that the signatures on the amendment petition appear
to be authentic, the Mayor and City Council shall then provide
within sixty days for the submission of the said amendment,
without change and as stated in the original petition, at a
special election before the next succeeding municipal general
election or at the next succeeding municipal general election.
The Mayor and City Council shall not have power, on its own
motion, to propose an amendment on the subject matter cov-
ered by an amendment petition after such petition has been
filed with the Mayor, until such time as the Mayor shall have
refused to authenticate the signatures on the petition, or the
voters shall have accepted or rejected the petition amendment.

219. (Charter Commission. ) The Mayor and City Council
may by ordinance appoint a Charter Commission to revise

or amend this charter or to propose a New Charter. The
Mayor and City Council may also be authorized and directed
to appoint a Charter Commission by a petition signed by a
number of qualified voters of Cumberland equal to ten per-

cent of those voting for candidates for the office of Mayor

at the last preceding municipal general election; provided,

however that the Mayor shall have thirty days in which

to authenticate the signatures on the petition, which shall
contain the street address of each signer, and there shall

be allowed additional thirty days in which to appoint

the Charter Commission.

219. (CHARTER COMMISSION. ) THE MAYOR AND
CITY COUNCIL MAY BY ORDINANCE PROVIDE FOR
THE ELECTION AT EITHER A SPECIAL OR A REGU-
LAR MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION OF A CHARTER
COMMISSION TO REVISE OR AMEND THIS CHARTER
OR TO PROPOSE A NEW CHARTER.