Herald Net
One day into the 2012 legislative session and initiatives already are rolling in.
Initiative entrepreneur Tim Eyman of Mukilteo may try to cash in this year on a growing public resentment of red light camera use in the state.
He’s submitted language for a ballot measure requiring every automated camera be removed unless, or until, voters approve its deployment.
City and county leaders are keeping a watchful eye on the ballot measures to get the state out of the business of selling hard liquor and let the private sector take over. Initiatives 1100 and 1105 would both eliminate a source of hundreds of thousands of dollars for basic services, they say, and it’s unclear whether either one would generate enough revenues to fully fill the gap. Ballots for the mail-in election are due next Tuesday.
Sponsors of several statewide initiatives are turning in signatures this week, moving them a step closer to having their ideas go before voters this fall. Petitions for a measure to end the state’s hold on hard liquor distribution and sales are in hand. State election officials are preparing to receive initiatives that would repeal new taxes on candy and soda pop, revamp the workers’ compensation system and add an income tax to Washington’s wealthiest.
A group of people who believe city leaders are shutting out the public by holding regular council meetings during working hours are campaigning to let voters decide when the Everett City Council should meet. Paul Donovan, one of the campaign organizers, said about 3,000 signatures are needed to get an initiative on the ballot that would re-establish all night meetings. He doesn’t think collecting them would be much of a problem.
Voters won’t decide the fate of the historic Collins Building after all, following an about-face by Port of Everett commissioners. The three commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday morning to pull a $15 million tax levy from the November ballot, saying public perception seemed to go against the measure. If approved, the levy would have used property tax revenue to restore and renovate the 75-year-old former casket factory that has long been a thorn in the port’s side.