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The proposed “Spokane Bill of Rights” will get a hearing Monday evening on whether it should go to the next phase of qualifying for the November ballot.
The Spokane City Council will hold the hearing at its regular 6 p.m. legislative session prior to a vote on sending the petitions to the Spokane County Auditor’s office for signature verification.
The vote is almost pro forma unless something about the initiative is misleading or illegal.
At a special meeting Thursday afternoon to approve the hearing, several councilmembers had questions about the way the petitions were printed or whether the proposal would generate legal challenges because of possible conflicts with state law. Those are discussions that should be held Monday, attorney Mike Piccolo said.
Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she’d been approached by people who complained a copy of the charter change wasn’t available to read when they were signing petitions.
But the petitions had the full language of the charter change on the back of the signature page.
Council President Joe Shogan noted the city has a tradition of not blocking proposed charter changes from reaching the ballot.
“We have a history of not interfering with the initiative process regardless of our personal beliefs,” he said. “It’s better to err on the side of going forward and letting the people decide.”
Jim Camden is a veteran political reporter for The Spokesman-Review.
Jonathan Brunt covers Spokane City Hall for The Spokesman-Review.
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MichaelCathcart on July 11 at 11:38 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Michael Cathcart
Phone: 509-999-8315
Email: M_Cathcart@walkingrailroad.com
or
Contact: Michael Fagan
Phone: 509-991-4765
Email: 1dilligas@gmail.com
STAND TALL, WEAR RED! “STOP ENVISION SPOKANE” GRASSROOTS RALLY
Monday July 13, 2009 at 5:00 p.m., Spokane citizens will gather in front of Spokane City Hall for a grassroots rally in opposition to the proposed “Envision Spokane” charter amendment. For a united front, everyone is encouraged to wear red to the rally. We will have red ribbons for folks to wear as well.
Spokane, WA, July 11, 2009 – “In the spirit of Edmund Burke’s quote, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Spokane citizens will gather in front of Spokane City Hall on Monday July 13, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. to express their dissatisfaction with the ideas and the questionable legality of the proposed “Envision Spokane” charter amendment. Approval of this broadly written proposal will cost citizens millions of dollars in additional taxes, cause job losses and further harm to our already stressed economy, and entangle our great city in expensive lawsuits for years to come. One portion of this even seeks to take away our God given rights as human beings and instead grant them to inanimate objects such as trees and soil.
On Monday, The Spokane City Council will deliberate on whether they should place the proposed initiative directly on the November 2009 ballot, or send the signature petitions to the Spokane County Auditor for verification. Citizens opposed to this measure will send them a strong message. Many citizens of our community will participate, perhaps for the first time, in a government process. The grassroots rally will assemble in front of City Hall at 5:00 p.m. on Monday July 13th. As this Initiative will leave the city deeper in the red, we are asking that everyone try and wear red clothing to help drive this message and to show a united front. We will also have red ribbons for folks to wear. We will converge in the gallery at 6:00 p.m. to show City Council our strong opposition to this measure. Those who would like to testify are highly encouraged to do so!
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ChefGus/ John Olsen on July 12 at 7:42 a.m.
The only option that is viable for the city council and those running for re election is to move the legally qualified measure to the ballot… and they can ask for certification or not as they choose. There is a way to stop the Envision Spokane movement and that is to vote against it in the fall.
If you have taken the time to read it… and gather information on it, there is little chance it will be voted for because it is so very long and complex and covers so much ground. I attended one of the informational meetings that were given all over the city a couple of weeks ago.
The measure itself won’t likely get off the ground, even though there are some good ideas to make Spokane a better place to live contained in its complexity. John