FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24th, 2022
KENMORE, WA: Local civic advocates claimed victory tonight after Kenmore City Council voted to adopt ballot initiative powers in the City of Kenmore.
Following several months of public comments and discussions with the community, their lobbying efforts proved successful on Monday night when Kenmore City Council voted 7-0 for a resolution to enact initiative powers in 90 days.
"More ways to participate in democracy makes for a healthier and more vibrant democracy. It's a big win for the community," said Jon Culver, Co-Founder of Kenmore Takes Initiative.
Initiative powers give voters the ability to author city legislation, and put it to the ballot for a vote after collecting a sufficient number of petition signatures. These powers already exist at the state level across Washington, and at a county level in many counties ( including King County ). Kenmore voting to adopt them means they'll join a long list of cities already using them, including Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Shoreline, Woodinville, Redmond, Lynnwood, and dozens more. Over 62% of voters statewide have these powers at a city level.
"Thank you to Kenmore City Council for passing ballot initiatives for the voters in Kenmore tonight. It gives me hope, at a time when our democracy is in a tattered and precarious state, that City Council has recognized the value and importance of sharing power with the voters who elected them. I look forward to seeing future positive outcomes from our new initiative powers," said Tracy Banaszynski, Co-Founder of Kenmore Takes Initiative.
"On behalf of 15,000+ registered voters who will benefit from these powers, thank you Council," Culver added.
The City of Kenmore itself was incorporated through a similar, dedicated initiative process in 1997 with 71% approval.
For more information on Kenmore Takes Initiative, visit https://kenmoretakesinitiative.org
###
Virtually every neighboring city — Lake Forest Park, Shoreline, Bothell, Woodinville, many others — has citizen Initiative powers at a city level. So why doesn't Kenmore ? For a city that was incorporated by petition-based citizen's initiative a quarter-century ago, it's time we adopt those powers and give our citizens legislative power.
City incorporation procedures require the collection of petition signatures, to then be approved by a vote of the community. In 1997, after several attempts, incorporation was finally approved by 71%.
A campaign sign in support of the the 1997 Citizens for Incorporation of Kenmore campaign. Source: Kenmore Heritage Society
Virtually every neighboring city has initiative powers at a city level, including:
According to research from Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington ( MRSC ), "the majority of the cities in Washington State [ ... ] have the option to allow local citizens to directly enact or repeal legislation through the powers of initiative and referendum." Cumulatively, this accounts for over 62% of voters across Washington State.
Additionally, many counties, including our own King County, also allow citizen's to enact legislation at a county level. This constitutes over 61% of voters statewide. And of course, 100% of Washington residents across the state can pursue statewide legislation through initiatives.
We think it's time for Kenmore to join the majority and adopt initiative powers at a city level.
Citizen's initiatives have been an important tool in the toolbelt for supporting a community that is active and engaged in its civic and political processes.
| City, Year | Initiative | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle, 2015 | Initiative 122: Honest Elections democracy vouchers | 63% |
| Seattle, 2015 | Initiative 124: Protecting hotel workers rights | 77% |
| Tacoma, 2015 | Initiative 1: Raise minimum wage | 71% |
| Federal Way, 2019 | Initiative 19-001: Protecting renters' rights | 55% |
According to estimates provided by King County Elections' Business and Finance Office, who forecasts election costs for municipalities — if cities like Kenmore already have items on the ballot ( such as this year's local elections, and virtually every odd-year primary and general election for the foreseeable future ) — adding an initiative to the ballot, in their words, "does not measurably increase the election cost." They are effectively "free" to add to an existing Kenmore municipal election.
Technically, there are limited, special scenarios where an initiative could cost the city money, but importantly: that's only when there are no other elections already taking place, such as in a standalone vote in a February or April special election. In that edge case, cost estimates range from $15,000-43,000. But even that has a number of silver linings that we should highlight. First, the final cost is determined by how many local jurisdictions hold elections ( more jurisdictions participating means more cost savings ). Secondly, even the extreme upper end of estimates of e.g. $43,000, in the context of our biannual expenditures of $132,209,358 — that's a scant 0.03% of our budget. And finally, the city may even get reimbursed from King County for the election costs in some instances.
The cost details can get wonky — we're sharing them here in full transparency, but of course, it would be most practical to pursue an initiative in the most cost-effective manner, such as an odd-year election, which is most common for city initiatives, anyhow. But it boils down to this: the costs for the city at the end of the day, range from "extremely affordable, and well worth the money" to "virtually, free."
For more particulars on election costs, check out King County's 2022 Jurisdiction Manual, and its section titled "Election Costs," starting at page 39.
We have two paths to winning citizen's initiative powers:
If a majority of City Council votes to support it, initiative powers can be enacted by an ordinance. They will likely be discussing the issue of initiatives at a future Kenmore City Council meeting.
Please write in to your City Councilmembers, and encourage them to support bringing citizen's initiatives in the City of Kenmore !
Thank you for your support !
If City Council chooses not to take any action, citizens can collect petition signatures and enact these powers themselves. We would need to collect roughly 3,500 signatures. ( Kenmore has over 15,000 registered voters, for reference — wholly doable ! ), and then win a majority of votes when it's put to the voters of Kenmore for approval.
We're going to give City Council the opportunity to weigh in on this issue first, but watch this space for more updates as this campaign progresses !
For more information, you can visit MRSC's Initiative and Referendum Powers.