HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/07/2024 19.B. Petition status update 1
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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No. 19.B.
For Meeting of: May 7, 2024
ITEM TITLE: Petition status update
SUBMITTED BY: Dave Zabel!, Interim City Manager
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
Attached is a memo updating Council on the status of the petition effort regarding three recent
ordinances the City Council passed.
ITEM BUDGETED:
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER
RECOMMENDATION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Upload Date Type
❑ 050324 Memo to Council re petition status 5/3/2024 Corer Memo
❑ County Auditor Validation 5/3/2024 Corer Memo
❑ Certification by the Clerk 5/3/2024 Corer Memo
❑ Certificate of Participation 5/3/2024 Corer Memo
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,►.�1, Y ��, OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
129 North Second Street
'a �1 City Hall, Yakima, Washington 98901
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Q�:• Phone (509) 575-6040
MEMORANDUM
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Yakima City Council
From: Dave Zabell, Interim City Manager
Date: May 3, 2024
RE: Update on status of the petition effort
This memo is to update you on the status of the petition effort regarding three recent ordinances the
City Council passed,two of which repealed the Community Integration Committee and Sustainable
Yakima Committee,the third of which reorganized the Tree Board, Bike and Pedestrian Committee, and
Historic Preservation Committee as sub-committees of the Planning Commission, and increased
membership on the Planning Commission to 11 members.
With respect to the petition process contained in the Yakima City Charter,Article IV Section 3 of the
Charter provides as follows:
If, prior to the date when any ordinance shall take effect, a petition signed by qualified
electors equal in number to ten per centum of the entire vote cast at the last preceding
general city election shall be filed with the City Clerk, protesting against the enactment of
such ordinance, it shall be suspended from taking effect. Immediately upon the filing of the
petition the City Clerk shall do all things required in SECTION 2 (a) and (b) of this article.
Thereupon the City Council shall immediately reconsider such ordinance, and, if it does not
entirely repeal the same, shall submit it to popular vote at the next municipal election; or, the
City Council may call a special election for that purpose in accord with the provisions of State
law for special municipal elections; and such ordinance shall not take effect, unless a
majority of the qualified electors voting thereon at such election shall vote in favor thereof.
As previously reported to the City Council,two of the petitions failed to achieve, in a timely manner, a
sufficient number of signatures to potentially meet the threshold number of 1,258 signatures, which
represents ten percent of the "entire vote cast at the last preceding general city election". These
petitions pertained to the ordinances regarding reorganization of certain advisory boards/committees as
sub-committees to the Planning Commission, and the Community Integration Committee.Accordingly,
the two ordinances pertaining to these committees went into effect on April 8,2024 without further
Council action.The petition pertaining to the Sustainable Yakima Committee contained 1,276 timely
signatures, enough to potentially meet or exceed the aforementioned threshold and accordingly was
sent on to the County Auditor's office for validation of the signatures contained in the petition.
Since our last written communication on this topic,the Yakima County Auditor's office has completed its
examination of this petition and validated 1,137 of the 1,276 signatures submitted. Copies of the County
Auditor's validation effort and Certification by the Yakima City Clerk are attached.The number of
validated signatures associated with this petition falls short of the threshold number of 1,258, as a
result,the ordinance related to the Sustainable Yakima Committee petition is also in effect. Yakima
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As there has been some question by the petitioners about the threshold number used by the City, I
would like to address that question as well. A Certificate of Participation for the 2023 General Election,
prepared by the County Auditor's Office, is attached and clearly lists the number of voters within the
City of Yakima which voted in that election as 12,589. I would add that the County website provides the
"participation numbers"for this election for each jurisdiction in Yakima County. This information has
been posted on the County website since shortly after that election was certified by the Auditor.
Per the relevant provisions of the City Charter,the 1,258 number which was used as the
aforementioned threshold number represents ten percent of the "entire vote cast at the last preceding
general city election."
While there has been confusion on the part of some with respect to the threshold number, I want to
assure Council that confusion did not come from City officials. I will note that I know of no effort on the
part of the petitioners at the onset or during their petition drive to communicate with City officials
regarding the threshold number. I understand based on second and thirdhand reports that some of the
involved believe a lesser threshold number was provided by the County Auditor's office,which would be
a number different than is on their own website. One can only assume,that if a different number was
provided by the Auditor's office, it was in response to a specific question of Auditor staff based on an
interpretation of the Charter from someone other than an authorized City official.While the confusion is
unfortunate, it did not come from the City. It is regrettable that the petitioners relied on an unofficial
interpretation of the Charter language in this case rather than checking with the City early on in the
process as an authorized City official would be the appropriate party to interpret its Charter in such
circumstances.
As Council is aware, additional signatures were submitted for each of the three petitions days past the
deadline specified in the City Charter.Of note here, they were submitted days after the effective date of
the ordinances.To be considered through the Charter process,the signatures would have had to been
filed with the City Clerk prior to the effective date of the ordinances, at which point all three ordinances
would have been suspended from taking effect.
On a final note, regardless of sufficiency,the petitions are considered public records and they will be
safeguarded by the Yakima City Clerk's office consistent with the State records retention schedule.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
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tOk COI*,
a Yakima County Elections
Notice of Petition Signature Status
I, CHARLES R. ROSS, Auditor, Yakima County, Washington, hereby certify that a petition protesting against
the enactment of an ordinance repealing Yakima Municipal Code Chapter 1.40: Sustainable Yakima
Committee that was passed by the Yakima City Council on March 5, 2024 as Ordinance No. 2024-005,
contained 1,137 valid signatures of registered voters within the City of Yakima. Said petition is designated as
petition number 24-06 by the City of Yakima.
Status Count
Valid 1,137
Rejected 139
Total submitted 1,276
Rejection detail
Signature does not match 11
Not registered in the City of Yakima 74
Duplicate signers 16
Not registered to vote 38
DATED this 22nd day of April, 2024
k F )71,:44))1CHARLESlb)
Yakima County Auditor and
Ex-officio, Supervisor of Elections
Yakima County, Washington
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• `y-` =1- , OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
129 North Second Street
4.14 %- Yakima, Washington 98901
Phone (509) 575-6037 • Fax (509) 576-6614
CERTIFICATION OF YAKIMA COUNTY ELECTIONS
Notice of Petition Signature Status
In the matter regarding Petition No. 24-06 protesting against the enactment of
Ordinance No. 2024-005 that was passed by the Yakima City Council on March 5, 2024.
I, Rosalinda Ibarra, City Clerk of the City of Yakima, Washington previously certified on
April 9, 2024, the votes cast at the last general City election and number of signers of such
petition within the City of Yakima.
- The entire vote cast at the last general City election: 12,589
- The number of signers of such petition': 1,276
On April 22, 2024, I received back from Yakima County the review of the signatures from
the petition, and now, do hereby also certify the attached Notice of Petition Signature
Status from the Yakima County Auditor's Office as the number of validated signatures of
qualified electors within the City of Yakima.
- The number of validated qualified electors signing the petition: 1,137
As stated in the previous certification, for the purposes of the City of Yakima Charter Article
IV Legislation by the People, Section 3, ten per centum of the entire vote cast at the last
preceding general city election is 1,258.
Dated this 23rd day of April, 2024.
42' fir . x
Rosalinda Ibarra, City Clerk
City of Yakima, Washington
Attachment: Notice of Petition Signature Status, Yakima County Auditor's Office
This is the total number of raw signatures on the petition as verified by the County Elections Office. The
previous certification identified this number at 1,277.
Yakima
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"- ocov„lr„Q��• Elections Envision
i y� � Charles R. Ross Kathy A Fisher,Manager
afti Yakima County Auditor 128 N 2nd St Rm 117;Yakima WA 98901
�� -� f ✓ PO Box 12570;Yakima WA 98909
509.574.1340
e 1.800.833.0569
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www.yakimacaunty.us/vote
YAKIMA CITY CLERK
November 30, 2023
To: Cities, Towns, Schools, and all Special Purpose Districts
From: Kathy Fisher, Elections Division Manager
Subject: Validation 2024
Enclosed is a Certificate of Participation for tpe 2023 General Election. This is the figure your district should
use in determining the number of votes required for bond or levy passage in 2024.
Washington Administrative Code 434-262-017 clarifies that the County Auditor is not responsible for
determining minimum turnout or yes vote requirements for ballot measures and shall not determine if ballot
measures meet the requirements for passage.
If you have any questions, please contact the Elections Division at 574-1340.
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YAKIMA CITY CLERK
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r Certificate of Voter Participation
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City of Yakima
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I, Charles R. Ross, Yakima County Auditor, hereby certify that the following is a true and correct
statement of the number voters who participated in the November 7, 2023 General Election.
This figure shall be used by the district in determining the number of votes required for bond or levy
passage in 2024.
number voting in district
12,589
DATED this 30th day of November, 2023.
CHARLE R pss, County Auditor and
Ex-officio Su.- isor of Elections
Yakima County, Washington
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https://www.yakimacounty.us/1133/Validation
District total voting 11.7.2023
#209 Mount Adams School District 256
City of Grandview 1,133
City of Granger 289
Town of Harrah 40
City of Mabton 176
City of Moxee 301
Town of Naches 289
City of Selah 1,742
City of Sunnyside 1,494
City of Tieton 91
City of Toppenish 446
City of Union Gap 517
City of Wapato 385
City of Yakima 12,589
City of Zillah 513
Fire District No. 1 427
Fire District No. 2 2,546
Fire District No. 3 220
Fire District No.4 2,197
Fire District No. 5 3,843
Fire District No. 6 737
Fire District No.7 23
Fire District No.9 199
Fire District No. 10 140
Fire District No. 11 123
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https://www.yakimacounty.us/n33/Validation
Validation
The State Constitution (Article 7 Section 2) mandates that some levy and bond issues must be
approved by not less than a 60% majority of the voters voting on the proposition rather than a
simple majority. In addition,there are also provisions that require a minimum participation by
eligible voters in order for the proposition to be valid regardless of the outcome of the
vote. This minimum participation is equal to 40%of the total votes cast in the jurisdiction at
the previous general election.
Each district is responsible for determining minimum turnout or yes vote requirements for
ballot measures.
For more details on passing a levy or a bond click here.
Below are the •artici ation fi:ores from the 2023 General Election.
District total voting 11.7.2023
YAKIMA COUNTY 33,149
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#2 Union Gap School District 356
#Jt3 Naches Valley School District 1,707
#7 Yakima School District 8,221
1 #90 East Valley School District 2,189
#119 Selah School District 4,216
#120 Mabton School District 276
#200 Grandview School District 1,679
, --
#201 Sunnyside School District 2,703
#202 Toppenish School District 949
#203 Highland School District 565
#204 Granger School District 550
' #205 Zillah School District 919
#207 Wapato School District 1,019
1 #208 West Valley School District 7,531