Do voters scare council?

Tue., Aug. 4, 2009

The Spokesman-Review

Why is the City Council so afraid of the voters?

The council voted recently to send the Community Bill of Rights to the November ballot. That’s what the city code requires them to do.

But now we see in “Council sends ‘bill of rights’ to vote” (July 28), the council plans to put questions on the ballot to try to undercut the purpose of the initiative.

This is a clear effort to scare the voters. That’s not what the citizen initiative process is supposed to be about.

The city code purposefully gives the people their own process to make law by citizen initiative. Why does the City Council feel it needs to put up roadblocks to this process? Members have made their stand on the Community Bill of Right known; now they need to get out of the way and let the people decide.

Patty Norton

Spokane

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