Citizen-Created Initiatives A Blessing Or A Burden?
Attention, students, this is important.
You have a test scheduled on Nov. 4 and there are some materials you should be studying in order to be prepared.
Here’s your reading list: Initiative 673, Initiative 676, Initiative 677, Initiative 678, Initiative 685, Referendum 47, House Joint Resolution 4208 and House Joint Resolution 4209.
Those are proposed state laws and two constitutional amendments that will appear on the 1997 general election ballot. They cover issues as diverse as taxes and teeth, gun rights and gay rights.
When you receive your Washington State Voter’s Pamphlet this fall, the full text of all those ballot measures will be included, along with the “Cliff’s Notes” summary versions prepared by advocates and opponents of each proposal.
Five of the issues were put on the ballot by your elected legislators but five of them are the products of citizens who take seriously these words from the state constitution: “… the people reserve to themselves the power to propose bills, laws, and to enact or reject the same at the polls…”
It’s an annual ritual in populist Washington. Hardly an election goes by without at least a couple of important initiatives on the ballot. Also, hardly an election goes by when some confused voter doesn’t complain that it’s a lot of unnecessary bother: Leave lawmaking to the lawmakers, then re-elect them or boot them out, depending on the job they do, but keep untrained civilians out of the process. It’s hard enough to keep informed about the candidates.
What about it, has populism run amok? Do citizen-written initiative petitions clutter the ballot with the work of amateurs, or is it an essential ingredient of effective self-rule?
Hey, put out those ribs
Will pigs have more of a right to smoke at the Spokane Interstate Fair next month than people have?
If you count pig parts, basted with barbecue sauce and sizzling over glowing coals, maybe so.
The Fair Board has decided to limit smoking (by people) to three designated outside areas, at least for the fair’s 1997 run. No steps were taken to eliminate other kinds of smoke that are traditional fair fixtures, such as that emitted by the many popular food vendors.
Since smoking already was prohibited inside all fair buildings, does this extension of the rule to most of the outside grounds cross a significant barrier, or is it just a logical and proper policy adjustment?
, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond, call Cityline at 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone; or send a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to dougf@spokesman.com. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.