When citizens go to the polls and decide something, you should be able to take the result as gospel.

Mandan voters during the general election cast more than 5,000 votes in support of an electric door ordinance. The no vote was about 3,500. It was a strong majority.

The idea put forward by Francis Herauf of Mandan and the people signing the petitions was to require electric doors in buildings which received city tax dollars. Key phrase:"has received."

In the aftermath of the vote, city officials began asking questions about whether the ordinance applied to past and existing projects, how far back did "has received" go, and how can the initiated ordinance be changed? The Mandan City Commission will take up the conversation again on Tuesday.

First off, the city commission needs to keep faith with those 5,000 citizens who voted yes. Does that mean the city commission shouldn't change the ordinance?

No.

The city commission, if the need is there, should establish clear terms for accomplishing the original intent of the measure. Further, the city commission, based on the strong vote, should do what it can to help businesses come into compliance with the ordinance. That might include grants and loans, special assessments or other tools. After all, businesses that do not comply and have already accepted city money and done remodeling, may not be in a position to install the necessary equipment.

And it seems reasonable that the city commission establish deadlines for compliance that keep faith with the initiated measure. These deadlines should be such that they get the job done without punishing businesses.

One of the things about the passage of referral and initiated measures is that they come into play when governments fail to listen to citizens. They are an extreme form of the idea of checks and balances. And typically, even after passage, governments can be slow to become believers. In recent years, Mandan has seen several referral efforts fail, and the members of the city commission have lauded the citizens on those votes. They should do the same for this initiated measure.

Making business in Mandan handicapped accessible seems like an achievable and intelligent thing to do, with or without the initiated measure. And in truth, the people of Mandan should be proud of themselves and their neighbors for moving the city in this direction.

The Mandan City Commission should do what it needs to do and keep the faith with the citizens who voted for the initiated measure.