Install daylighting and high-visibility crosswalks on every school route
An example neighborhood petition asking the city to fund daylighted intersections and high-visibility crosswalks within a quarter mile of every public school.
Initiatives
Citizen initiatives and local petitions
A petition is not a wish list — it is a specific ask, addressed to the body that can grant it, backed by signatures from people in its jurisdiction. Track each one from draft to official response.
The initiatives below are worked examples. They are written by our editorial team to show what each stage of the pipeline looks like, and to give you a model you can copy. No signatures have been collected and no body has been petitioned. Start a real one →
Draft
Write the ask, name the body, check whether state law preempts it.
Collect
Signatures are confirmed by email and tied to a jurisdiction, so a clerk can rely on them.
Deliver
At threshold, the petition is filed with the clerk and the delivery is recorded here.
Response
The body's answer — and what happened afterwards — is published on the same page.
Publish plain-language summaries of every council agenda item
An example transparency petition asking for a one-paragraph plain-language summary and a stated fiscal impact for each item on the council agenda.
Keep cooling centers open evenings and weekends during heat emergencies
An example public-health petition asking the city to extend cooling center hours into evenings and weekends whenever an excessive heat warning is in effect.
Set a response deadline for habitability complaints
An example housing petition asking the city to set a fixed inspection deadline after a habitability complaint and to publish outcomes by ward.
Fund an independent study of broadband affordability and coverage gaps
An example county petition asking commissioners to fund an independent study of broadband prices, speeds and coverage before the next round of infrastructure grant applications.
Restore public comment before board votes, not after
An example school-governance petition asking the board to take public comment on action items before it votes on them.
Publish the city budget as machine-readable open data
An example transparency petition asking the city to publish adopted and proposed budgets as downloadable, machine-readable files rather than PDFs only.
Build shade and seating at the 50 hottest bus stops first
An example transit petition asking the regional transit agency to rank bus stops by heat exposure and ridership and to build shade at the worst ones first.
No initiatives match that filter.
Write your petition
The guided form walks you through the ask, the threshold and the delivery plan — and flags the state rules you need to check first.