Citizens in Charge

The right of residents of La Center, WA to propose initiatives and referendums is expected to be recognized this month by the city council. The recognition comes after citizens submitted a petition to the council asking for the recognition of a formal petitioning process.

According to the Columbian, residents asked for initiative rights after seeing the city council become un-responsive. As one resident put it:

“There were several citizens in La Center who were of the collective opinion that the council wasn’t listening to what the citizens were trying to tell them. We thought maybe (the petition) was a way to proceed to make a statement to them that our views were important”

Initiative and referendum rights are certainly a great way to give the people a greater voice, and we congratulate the citizens of La Center on obtaining recognition of their rights.