Valley voters want power to legislate

The Spokane Valley City Council is considering whether to give citizens a power some people assumed they already had: the ability to write new laws and strike existing ones through initiatives and referendums.

Although citizens have the right to challenge and create state laws, Spokane Valley didn’t adopt a similar ordinance when it incorporated almost two years ago. Only the council can decide whether to grant that power, and some council members argued Tuesday that initiatives and referendums can sometimes do more harm than good. Councilman Steve Taylor said voters choose leaders to study the issues and make the best decisions on the public’s behalf.

“If those decisions are not made correctly then the voters turn (the politicians) out of office,” he said. “I think that’s the best form of government we can have.”

Longtime incorporation backer Clark Hager called that stance “arrogant.”

“It reveals a tendency of elected officials, once in office, to forget who the boss really is,” he told a reporter. “The boss is the people.”

Hager raised the issue with the council last month when he learned that those powers weren’t granted to Spokane Valley citizens. He’d wanted to put an initiative on the ballot that allowed citizens to vote on whether to tax utilities. The council currently is considering a utility tax of up to 6 percent, but Hager and others are against it. Hager said the purpose of forming a new city was to give the people of the Valley a greater say in how they were governed.

“We spent 25 years fighting for that privilege, for the citizens of the Valley to have those rights,” Hager told a reporter last month. “We anticipated that would be the very first thing they would approve in their ordinances.”

But Deputy Mayor Richard Munson said he worries about the government’s ability to educate the public and the public’s ability to get information on complicated issues.

Elected officials “are here to provide basic services to the citizens of this city,” Munson said. “We have learned, as a council, that isn’t a walk in the park.”

Hager balked at that argument, saying council members can make mistakes as easily as the public can.

Washington state voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1912 granting themselves the powers of initiative and referendum. Initiatives give citizens the power to write new laws and referendums give citizens the power to rewrite existing ones.

But it’s up to cities to decide whether to grant similar rights to citizens when it comes to the rules that govern their jurisdictions.

The city of Spokane gave its citizens the two powers in 1913, if not earlier, spokeswoman Marlene Feist said. It was through the initiative process that Spokane’s form of government changed to “strong mayor” from “council/manager” in 1999. Four years later voters rejected an initiative to reverse that decision.

Also in 1999, Spokane voters approved an initiative that said council members would represent geographic districts in the city rather than be elected citywide.

One issue that’s made it onto the ballot in Spokane several times is whether to put fluoride in the drinking water, but voters have always rejected that idea.

“That’s been sort of a perennial initiative,” Feist said.

Statewide, tax foe Tim Eyman is probably the person most identified with initiatives. Due to his efforts – and the voting public – car tab fees plunged to $30 and property taxes were limited.

But some initiatives, including Eyman’s, have been criticized once their effects have surfaced. With fewer revenues from car tabs and property taxes, several Washington cities now are struggling to provide services to residents. To make up for expected budget shortfalls, the city of Spokane Valley is considering the utility tax to ensure that streets get plowed, potholes get repaired and parks stay safe and clean – among other basic needs – in the years to come.

The council decided Tuesday to consider an ordinance granting initiative and referendum powers. Members said they wanted to hear more public input before taking a position.

Hager said he planned to make his opinion clear.

“They have done an outstanding job in a short period of time, both the council and the staff,” he said. “But this is a crucial issue, a core issue that will not go away.”