The Columbian
In seeking the precarious balance between the rights of citizens to petition the government and the right of the public to avoid a nuisance, the choice is clear: Petitioning the government is a sacred prerogative. There is a reason the First Amendment to the United States Constitution includes free speech; there is a reason the Washington Constitution guarantees citizens the right to legislate “independent of the Legislature.” The ability to petition the government must remain inviolate.
A bill making its way through the Washington Legislature would change the state law that landed a local light rail petition in court last year.
House Bill 2296, introduced by state Rep. Liz Pike, would allow duplicate signatures on a petition to be counted once, rather than thrown out entirely. The Camas Republican said last year’s ill-fated light rail petition in Vancouver largely inspired her bill, but it’s found support from elsewhere in the legislature.
The bill sailed through a House committee last week. It’s co-sponsored by four Democrats and five Republicans, among them Rep. Paul Harris and Brandon Vick, both of Vancouver.
“I think the merit goes beyond (Vancouver), as well,” Pike said.
Our right to initiative and petition our government is the most important tool we have to push back when government does things we don’t like.
I am Sen. Ann Rivers and I support Initiative 517 because I am a strong believer in our initiative rights which our state has had for more than a century. Initiative 517’s primary policy change is guaranteeing you the right to vote on qualified initiatives.
In a unanimous ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court in 2005 rejected an effort by special interest groups to stop the people from voting on a qualified initiative. Their reason: “Because ballot measures are often used to express popular will and to send a message to elected representatives, pre-election review unduly infringes on free speech.”
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey on Thursday certified a petition for an anti-light rail initiative, a day after a judge struck down a state law that initially had prompted Kimsey to invalidate hundreds of the signatures.
What the Vancouver City Council will do next, however, isn’t clear.
Regardless of the signature issue, Vancouver City Attorney Ted Gathe has advised the city council that the proposed ordinance violates the city charter and state law and it should not go to a public vote.
Gathe told the council last month that the proposed ordinance, crafted by a group of people who oppose the Columbia River Crossing project, falls outside the scope of the city’s initiative powers and would not be legally defensible.
Striking at the heart of a city of Vancouver argument against a citywide vote on light rail, a Cowlitz County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that when people sign their names to a petition, the original signature should be counted, no matter how many times they sign it again.
Judge Stephen M. Warning ruled in favor of a group of 75 light-rail opponents from Vancouver who challenged a law stating that, on municipal petitions, “signatures, including the original, of any person who has signed a petition two or more times shall be stricken.”
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Score one for anti-tax initiative king Tim Eyman, who had key provisions of a bill struck before it passed out of a Senate committee. Signature-gatherers circulating petitions to put initiatives and referenda on the ballot would not have to register with the Secretary of State’s office under a bill passed Friday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
he head of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland, Paul Stanford, is working to put a measure on the 2012 ballot in Oregon to legalize marijuana. Stanford told KATU marijuana should be regulated like cigarettes and liquor. He says taxes would bring a steady flow of revenue to the state.
The Washington Public Disclosure Commission did not find enough evidence of violation of state law to open an investigation of Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and former Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell for their roles in drafting a city resolution against two liquor privatization initiatives on November’s ballot.
La Center residents will soon have one more tool to use when they want their voices heard by local elected officials. This month, the La Center City Council is expected to adopt the initiative and referendum process residents worked months to acquire. The council was presented with a petition for the right in November and in December announced its intention to adopt the process. On March 24, the 90 days for challenges to the petition will have ended, allowing the city council to adopt an ordinance giving registered voters the right of the initiative and referendum.
The secretary of state’s office says the signature checking on Referendum 71 should be completed by Tuesday. Then election officials will announce whether there are enough valid signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. R-71 would ask voters to overturn the “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law passed by the Legislature.