Tacoma knowingly delayed vote on Workers Bill of Rights, lawsuit alleges

Documents filed as part of a lawsuit against the city of Tacoma allege that Tacoma deliberately delayed a vote on whether to put a “workers bill of rights” on the ballot.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, Tacoma for All and the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America sued the city of Tacoma, Pierce County and County Auditor Linda Farmer on Aug. 12, alleging they all played a role in preventing the initiative from appearing on the November ballot. The controversial item, also referred to as Measure 2, seeks to increase protections for workers in Tacoma and raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour.

Tacoma city council members had the option to immediately approve the proposed workers bill of rights or put it to the voters. Though the council chose the latter option, they voted to do so three days after the county’s deadline.

A document filed as part of the lawsuit by Katelyn Kinn, an attorney representing UFCW 367, Tacoma for All and the Tacoma DSA, states that Kinn and another lawyer for the plaintiffs, Knoll Lowney, spoke to Tacoma city attorney Chris Bacha the day after the lawsuit was filed. According to the document, Bacha told the lawyers that when the city council passed a resolution to put the measure on the ballot three days after the deadline, it was aware that it was “untimely.”

The information outlined in the document marks the first time that an employee of the city has addressed the missed deadline. The city has yet to directly respond to questions from the News Tribune about why it missed the deadline since it began inquiring in early August.

“It is now crystal clear that the city’s efforts were deliberately orchestrated to try and keep the workers bill of rights off the November ballot,” Lowney told the News Tribune.

Bacha also told the plaintiffs’ lawyers, according to the document, that the only way for the sponsors of the resolution to get the item on the ballot now was to restart the process of collecting signatures for it to appear in next year’s November ballot. Tacoma spokesperson Dee Paul declined to comment, telling the News Tribune that the city does not comment on matters directly tied to litigation.

“We thought this lawsuit was only about whether the measure went to the voters in November or February, but the city has said that it takes the position that because it delayed on the resolution, it kills and invalidates all of the signatures on the initiative, and voters would have to start all over, which is absurd and unconstitutional,” Lowney told the News Tribune.

A hearing has been scheduled for the case at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 26. The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive and declaratory relief – they want the court to recognize that the county and city did not act with “reasonable promptness” in protecting the people’s right of initiative, and to intervene to ensure the measure appears on the November ballot.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs also submitted an amended complaint as part of the lawsuit, now adding to the list of plaintiffs a handful of voters who signed the petition for the workers bill of rights, “whose signatures the City of Tacoma seeks to nullify.” The newly added plaintiffs include Zev Rose Cook, who is also running for the city council district 5 seat.