Top court rejects effort to block joint DMPS-Drake stadium via referendum

The Iowa Supreme Court has shut down an effort to require a public referendum on Des Moines Public Schools' controversial construction of a shared athletics stadium on the Drake University campus.

The court in a decision Friday ruled a district court was correct when it dismissed a lawsuit by Save Our Stadiums challenging the school system's rejection of the group's petition for the referendum. The district said the group had failed to get the minimum required number of signatures.

The $19.5 million, 4,000-seat stadium is under construction east of Drake's Knapp Center. The stadium will serve as the home football field for four of Des Moines' five high schools and also will host high school and Drake soccer games.

Save Our Stadiums argued the joint-use stadium would harm community spirit and fundraising for student athletes at the four high schools ― Hoover, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt ― giving up their home facilities or, in Roosevelt's case, plans to build them. Under state law, district residents can force a referendum with a petition signed by residents equal to or exceeding in number 30% of voters in the preceding school board election.

The petition, filed at 4:30 p.m. on the due date in June 2020, had 7,120 signatures, nearly 400 short, by the district's count, of the required threshold. The project moved forward.

July 2020:Des Moines Public Schools approves agreement with Drake to build $19.5 million stadium

But Save Our Stadiums filed suit, saying the district's math was incorrect, and accused it of "a total and complete disenfranchisement of the electorate." It contended that the petition should have needed signatures equal only to 30% of votes in the last uncontested at-large school board race, which would have been 5,353. The district instead based its calculation on the number of voters in the district who cast ballots in the preceding election, even if they left the school board race blank.

With three of seven justices abstaining for reasons not specified in the decision, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously for the district.

"We agree with the district court and the school district that the total number of voters at the election is to be counted, not the votes cast in the at-large school board race," Justice Thomas Waterman wrote.

The court agreed with the plaintiffs on one point: The district violated state law by failing to return the rejected petition to Save Our Schools. But like the district court, Waterman wrote that there is no relief that can be granted because even if the district had returned the defective petition immediately, there would not have been time to find 400 more signatures and resubmit it.

Save Our Stadiums founder Dan Pardock referred questions Friday to the group's attorney, Gary Dickey.

“We're disappointed by the decision,” Dickey said. “It seems like it's a very unnatural reading of the statute.”

He said he hopes legislators take action to clean up the language of the statute, but acknowledged this is the end of the stadium battle.

“The (state) Supreme Court has the final rule, and obviously we will accept it,” he said.

For subscribers:Des Moines metro school districts not immune from construction supply chain and inflation issues

District officials praised the ruling.

“We've felt all along that this was properly handled,” said Phil Roeder, Des Moines schools spokesperson. “The district court agreed with that initially, and it's good to have the state's highest court ratify the fact that everything the school district did was according to the law when it came to whether or not there should be a vote or a referendum on the stadium funding.”

Construction is underway on the stadium. As originally agreed, Drake was to contribute $4.5 million, while the district put in $15 million, although rising inflation and several rounds of bidding added more than $1 million to the district's share of the project. Despite those expenses and delays, though, officials are looking forward to the new stadium being completed, Roeder said.

“We're excited that we're going to be able to provide a first-class facility for students that will be probably the best facility of its kind in the state of Iowa when it opens next year,” he said.

From March:On third try, Des Moines School Board approves bid for shared stadium with Drake

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Supreme Court sides with DMPS in dispute over new Drake stadium