Chief
08-30-2007, 07:47 AM
JEFFREY MIZE, columbian staff writer
April 26, 2001; Page C1
Opponents of Vancouver's special events center say they have 5,080 signatures from people who want to vote on the $59.1 million project. Petitioners turned in 295 sheets containing the signatures 72 percent more than the 2,947 signatures required under referendum provisions contained in the Vancouver City Charter.
Wednesday is believed to be the first time in Vancouver's history that voters have filed referendum petitions seeking to overturn a council decision at the ballot box.
Officials maintain state law allows cities to build sports arenas and other such projects without subjecting them to a public vote.
Brent Boger, an assistant city attorney, said a procedural problem could keep the city from forwarding the petitions to Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey's office for signature verification.
Boger said City Attorney Ted Gathe believes each petition sheet should have been notarized after the circulator finished collecting signatures and signed his or her name at the bottom.
Ralph Peabody, one of the petitioners seeking a public vote, said he wants the city to produce court rulings supporting that position.
It's possible the city might give petitioners another 20 days to get the sheets notarized.
"I think if that becomes an issue, we can deal with it," said Larry Patella, another petitioner.
City attorneys are discussing this and other issues and might have an announcement before the end of the week.
City officials on Wednesday simply counted the number of sheets and did not look at individual signatures.
Boger said typically as many as 30 percent of the signatures are determined to be invalid.
The petitions turned in Wednesday included signatures from people living in Camas and Washougal, as well as someone with the name "Justin Thyme," as in "just in time."
Even if petitions are determined to have enough valid signatures, city attorneys maintain that state law allowing cities to set up public facilities districts to projects effectively pre-empts referendum provisions in Vancouver's charter.
That would put the city council in the politically difficult spot of using a legal position to ignore thousands of Vancouver residents who want to vote on the project.
"We had over 5,000 signatures in three weeks," Peabody said. "That's certainly not all the people who want to vote."
Patella said petitioners are prepared to fight in court.
"No matter who turns us down, whether the council turns us down or the legal staff turns us down, we intend to go forward," he said.
If petitioners somehow succeed in forcing a public vote, it won't be a simple yes-no question on whether to build the 6,500-seat events center and the adjacent convention center.
Instead, voters will be asked to ratify or overturn the council's decision to remove legal constraints from the Vancouver Public Facilities District, a separate layer of government the council created in October 1999 to build and own the project.
The city charter allows residents to challenge ordinances by gathering signatures during a 30-day period equal to 10 percent of votes cast in the last city election. Once petitions with the needed number of signatures are filed, the council must rescind the ordinance or refer the issue to voters.
Peabody, speaking to the city council at Monday's citizens forum, invited Mayor Royce Pollard to have coffee and cake ready to serve when his group turned in the signatures.
Petitioners also called Portland TV stations in hopes of getting coverage, but they were greeted by only two city officials and a couple of newspaper reporters.
Before handing over the documents to Boger and Sylvia Costich, Vancouver's treasurer and interim city clerk, petitioners photocopied every sheet.
"In case some get lost," Peabody said.
"That happens every now and then," Patella added.
April 26, 2001; Page C1
Opponents of Vancouver's special events center say they have 5,080 signatures from people who want to vote on the $59.1 million project. Petitioners turned in 295 sheets containing the signatures 72 percent more than the 2,947 signatures required under referendum provisions contained in the Vancouver City Charter.
Wednesday is believed to be the first time in Vancouver's history that voters have filed referendum petitions seeking to overturn a council decision at the ballot box.
Officials maintain state law allows cities to build sports arenas and other such projects without subjecting them to a public vote.
Brent Boger, an assistant city attorney, said a procedural problem could keep the city from forwarding the petitions to Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey's office for signature verification.
Boger said City Attorney Ted Gathe believes each petition sheet should have been notarized after the circulator finished collecting signatures and signed his or her name at the bottom.
Ralph Peabody, one of the petitioners seeking a public vote, said he wants the city to produce court rulings supporting that position.
It's possible the city might give petitioners another 20 days to get the sheets notarized.
"I think if that becomes an issue, we can deal with it," said Larry Patella, another petitioner.
City attorneys are discussing this and other issues and might have an announcement before the end of the week.
City officials on Wednesday simply counted the number of sheets and did not look at individual signatures.
Boger said typically as many as 30 percent of the signatures are determined to be invalid.
The petitions turned in Wednesday included signatures from people living in Camas and Washougal, as well as someone with the name "Justin Thyme," as in "just in time."
Even if petitions are determined to have enough valid signatures, city attorneys maintain that state law allowing cities to set up public facilities districts to projects effectively pre-empts referendum provisions in Vancouver's charter.
That would put the city council in the politically difficult spot of using a legal position to ignore thousands of Vancouver residents who want to vote on the project.
"We had over 5,000 signatures in three weeks," Peabody said. "That's certainly not all the people who want to vote."
Patella said petitioners are prepared to fight in court.
"No matter who turns us down, whether the council turns us down or the legal staff turns us down, we intend to go forward," he said.
If petitioners somehow succeed in forcing a public vote, it won't be a simple yes-no question on whether to build the 6,500-seat events center and the adjacent convention center.
Instead, voters will be asked to ratify or overturn the council's decision to remove legal constraints from the Vancouver Public Facilities District, a separate layer of government the council created in October 1999 to build and own the project.
The city charter allows residents to challenge ordinances by gathering signatures during a 30-day period equal to 10 percent of votes cast in the last city election. Once petitions with the needed number of signatures are filed, the council must rescind the ordinance or refer the issue to voters.
Peabody, speaking to the city council at Monday's citizens forum, invited Mayor Royce Pollard to have coffee and cake ready to serve when his group turned in the signatures.
Petitioners also called Portland TV stations in hopes of getting coverage, but they were greeted by only two city officials and a couple of newspaper reporters.
Before handing over the documents to Boger and Sylvia Costich, Vancouver's treasurer and interim city clerk, petitioners photocopied every sheet.
"In case some get lost," Peabody said.
"That happens every now and then," Patella added.