Council PKT 09-06-2011 SpecialCITY OF
� Federal Way
AGENDA
FEDERAL WAY CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
Council Chambers - City Hall
September 6, 2011
5:30 p.m.
www. cityoffederalway. com
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2. TIMEFRAME FOR COLLECTING SIGNATURES OF INITIATIVES...page 2
3. TERM LIMITS FOR CITY COUNCILMEMBERS AND MAYOR...paqe �2
4. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Sale of Property pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(c)
Collective Bargaining pursuant to RCW 42.30.140(4)(b)
5. ADJOURNMENT
COiJNCIL MEETING DATE: Special Meeting September 6, 2011
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA BILL
ITEM #:
SUBJECT: SUBMIT SIGNED INITIATIVE PETITIONS
POLICY QUESTION Should the City Council direct the City Attorney to modify Federal Way Revised Code
130.060 to establish a transparent filing period for citizen initiatives that would extend the time to gather
signatures to 120 days?
COMMITTEE: N/A
CATEGORY:
❑ Consent
❑ City Council Business
�''
�
Ordinance
Resolution
MEETING DATE:
❑ Public Hearing
� Other
STAFF REPORT BY: Patricia Richardson Ci Attorne DEPT• Law
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Attachments: Staff report
Options Considered: 1. Direct the City Attorney to modify Federal Way Revised Code to establish a
transparent filing period between January 1 and February 15 for citizen initiatives
that would extend the time to gather signatures to 120 days and place the measure
on the general election.
2. Do not direct the City Attorney to modify Federal Way Revised Code 1.30.060.
MAYOR'S RECOMMENDATION Option 1; Direct the City Attorney to modify Federal Way Revised Code to
establish a transparent filing period between January 1 and February 15 for citizen initiatives that would
extend the time to gather signa to 12 d and p lace the measure on the general election.
MAYOR APPROVAL: �y� DIRECTOR APPROVAL: �
Committee Coun Committee Council
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
Committee Chair Committee Member Committee Member
PROPOSED COUNCIL MOTION: "I move approval of Option
(BELOW TO BE COMPLETED BY CITY CLERKS OFFICE)
COUNCIL ACTION:
❑ APPROVED COi1NCIL BILL #
❑ DENIED 1 reading
❑ TABLED/DEFERRED/NO ACTION Enactment readi�
❑ MOVED TO SECOND READING (ordinances only) ORDINANCE #
REVISED — 02/06/2006 RESOLUTION #
C1TY QF �. �r?;;� "�
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CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
MEMORANDUM
DATE: AUGUST 29, 2011
TO: COUNCIL MEMBERS � �
FROM: PATRICIA RICHARDSON, CITY ATTORNEY
SUBJECT: SUBMISSION OF SIGNED PETITIONS
The discussion concerning when signed petitions are turned into the City Clerk begins with State law,
which states:
Initiative and referendum petitions — Suspension of effectiveness of legislative action
Initiative and referendum petitions authorized to be filed under provisions of this title, or
authorized by charter, or authorized for code cities having the commission form of
government as provided by chapter 35.17 RCW, shall be in substantial compliance with
the provisions of RCW 35A.01.040 as to form and content of the petition, insofar as
such provisions are applicable; shall contain a true copy of a resolution or ordinance
sought to be referred to the voters; and must contain valid signatures of registered voters
of the code city in the number required by the applicable provision of this title. Except
when otherwise provided by statute, referendum petitions must be filed with the clerk of
the legislative body of the code city within ninety days after the passage of the resolution
or ordinance sought to be referred to the voters, or within such lesser number of days as
may be authorized by statute or charter in order to precede the effective date of an
ordinance: PROVIDED, That nothing herein shall be construed to abrogate or affect an
exemption from initiative and/or referendum provided by a code city charter. The clerk
shall transmit the petition to the county auditor who shall determine the sufficiency of the
petition under the rules set forth in RCW 3�A.01.040. When a referendum petition is
filed with the clerk, the legislative action sought to be referred to the voters shall be
suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when: (1) There is a final
determination of insufficiency or untimeliness of the referendum petition; or (2) the
legislative action so referred is approved by the voters at a referendum election.
Out of 180 Code Cities 43 have empowered the citizens initiative and referendum powers.
Federal Way Revised Code follows State law and is internally consistent: signed petitions for both
initiatives and referendums must be submitted within 90 days. The attached table shows the time frames
used by noncharter code cities which authorize citizen initiatives and referendums. The majority of the
cities reference State law for initiatives and referendums.
The 180 days or six months that has been referenced in previous discussions applies only toward the
determination of whether the signatures on the petitions are valid. The county determines the date when
the 180 day count begins for the sole purpose of determining whether there are a sufficient number of
valid signatures on the petitions. The time frame has no correlation to the submission of the signed
petitions ar to the county's certification of the petitions.
Initiatives: State law, as quoted above, is silent in regards to the timeline for submission of signed
initiative petitions. As a result, most cities do not have a spec�ed time period to submit signed initiative
petitions. Arguably, signed citizen initiative petitions can be submitted at any time. The risk in
submitting signed initiative petitions with no specific date is that the county will strike some signatures as
being too old, which in turn, may result in insufficient number of signatures. And, the likelihood that
special elections will occur is greater because after receiving a determination that there are sufficient
number of signatures an election must be held no later than 180 days or six months.
Lakewood specifies that signed petitions must be submitted by "the close of business on Tuesday
[and] no later than 60 days" before the county's deadline to place matters on the ballot. SeaTac
specifically states that signed initiative petitions can be submitted "at any time". Des Moines and Lake
Farest Park specify that signed initiative petitions must be submitted within 180 days. Bellevue, Chelan,
Kent, Mercer Island, Shoreline and Walla Walla specify 90 days as does Federal Way. The minutes do
not reflect the Federal Way City Council's reasoning for establishing the 90 days to submit signed
initiative petitions. Representatives from Chelan, and Shoreline indicated that the statutory provision
setting 90 days for referendums was also used for initiatives. Representatives from Bellevue, Kent,
Mercer Island, and Walla Walla indicated that documentation of those cities as well as institutional
memory did not reveal reasons for selecting the 90 days time frame.
However, in 1973 the Attorney General opined that the purpose for the 90 days time frame was "a
reasonable time ... in which to seek and collect their required signatures." The Attorney General was
referring to Article II, § 41 of the Washington State Constitution, which gives the citizens the initiative
and referendum powers in state matters. The constitutional authorization is necessary far the Legislature
to then pass it on to the counties and cities.
Municipal Research has opined that using the 90 days to submit signed initiative petitions does not
violate state law, but documentation did not indicate the reasoning for using 90 days.
The Co-Director of Elections for the Secretary of State indicated that the 180 days referenced in State
law is the maximum age of a petition signature. The 180 days in State law does not apply to the length of
time to gather signatures or to the time in which the county must act.
Referendums: State law requires that notice of a proposed referendum be submitted before the
ordinance becomes effective, which is usually 30 days. Then signed referendum petitions must be
submitted within 90 days. Most cities follow State law, including Federal Way.
2
However, Bellevue, Chelan, Kent, Lake Forest Park, Mercer Island, SeaTac, Shareline and Walla
Walla use the shorter time period of 30 days, which is authorized by State law.
The second attachment compares Federal Way Revised Code with State law.
POSSIBLE OPTIONS
Modif_y FWRC 130.060 in regards to 90 days to submit signed petitions by: (1) reference State law,
which effectively has no time limit; (2) state a number of days; or (3) use Lakewood's language of
Tying the submission date to the county's election calendar.
(1) Referencing State law would mean that proponents of citizen initiatives do not have a deadline to
submit signed petitions. When the signed petitions are submitted to the City Clerk, the City Clerk
will count the lines of signatures to determine that the number meets the statutory percentage as
relayed by the County. However, the County must still look at the date of the signatures to determine
if the signatures are valid using the 180 days statutory time.
(2) Specifying an amount of days to submit signed initiative petitions arguably provides certainty for
the citizens. Selecting 180 days to submit signed petitions, as suggested, could jeopardize signatures
gathered in the first few days. The County does not set the date for determining whether the
signatures are too old until after the City Clerk submits the petitions. Under State law the City Clerk
has three days to transmit the signed petitions. State law does not specify a time frame for the county
to set the date for using the 180 days to validate the signatures. Instead, state law indicates that the
county should act "reasonably promptly", which would be feasible given that the number of petitions
submitted to the county can fluctuate. It is possible that some signatures would be considered four
days too old, or longer, by the time the County sets the date if the time frame to submit signed
initiative petitions is 180 days. Consequently, I do not recommend providing 180 days to submit
signed petitions.
If Council determines that the 90-day period to submit signed petitions should be extended, Staff
recommends establishing a filing period for citizen initiatives similar to the state initiatives, which in
effect establishes 120 days to gather signatures. The 120 days is well within the time limit that State
law requires for validating signatures.
(3) Tying the submission of signed initiative petitions with the county's election calendar would
likely have the effect of ensuring that the election will be held closer to the time period when the
citizens signed the petition. Presumably 60 days before the county's deadline to submit documents
for elections will provide the county sufficient time to verify the signatures and determine whether the
petition is sufficient. It will also likely provide the city council with the opportunity to address the
matter in a regular public meeting.
RECOMMENDATION
Establish a Filin� Period for Citizen Initiatives. Establishing a filing period with definitive dates for
citizen initiative petitions similar to the state schedule provides clear information to the citizens,
should eliminate the costs of special elections, and will provide far greater citizen participation as the
voter turn out for general elections is usually greater. A timeline is attached for your convenience.
State law establishes a filing period far state initiative petitions by requiring the submission of the
topic ten months before the general election and then submitting the signed petitions not less than
four months before the next statewide general election. The City could model the State law for filing
citizen initiative petitions to correspond to August and/ar November elections. Thus, the extra cost to
the City for the election could be significantly lower than the cost for a special election in February or
April as seen in 2010 for the mayoral election. The County estimated the cost of a special election in
February ar April could be $100,000 or more, depending on whether other jurisdictions and/or
districts placed items on the ballot and the number of registered voters. The jurisdictions and/or
districts with items on the ballot share the cost proportionately.
At the same time, the City's model needs to factor in the County time lines far the verification of the
signatures, printing of voters' pamphlets and ballots, and mailing the documents to overseas voters
ahead of the election. For example, this year the County requires the submission of ballot titles for the
November election by August 16, 2011.
The following is the proposed time frame for processing citizen initiative petitions with definitive
dates if Council decides to establish a filing period:
1. The deadline to submit the topic for the City Attorney's review and writing the statement
would be between January 1 and February 15 of any year;
2. The City Attorney would complete review and determine if the topic is appropriate within 5
calendar days. If the topic is not appropriate the citizen would be notified.
3. For those topics that are appropriate, the City Attorney will issue the ballot statement on
March l st of each year;
4. The submission of the signed initiative petitions would be required to be submitted to the City
Clerk within 120 days, or June 29 (the date will change in a leap year to June 28);
5. The City Clerk would transmit the signed petitions to the County far verification of signatures
within 3 days required by State law.
6. The County would review the signatures and determine the validity of the petition in a
"reasonably prompt time". (King County indicates that depending on the number of
initiatives, a review usually takes between 2 weeks and one month.)
7. The County would transmit a certification of determination to the City Clerk in July.
8. Council then has the opportunity to consider the initiative at a regular Council meeting in July
or the first meeting in August, or convene a special meeting before the middle of August to:
A. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance to enact the initiative; or
B. Adopt a resolution to place the matter on the ballot.
� State law requires the submission of the ballot ritle 84 days before the elecrion to pxovide sufficient time to print the
election materials and mail the ballot ovexseas to military personnel and cirizens.
TIME FOR FILING PETITIONS
INITIATIVE REFERENDUM
City Time to gather No deadline to Time to gather Submission of
signatures & gather and signatures & petition
submit petitions submit petirions submit City w/signatures 90
Ci Codes RCW Codes da s er RCW
Battle Ground X X
Bellewe 90 30
Blaine X X
Bonne Lake X X
Bothell X X
Brier X X
Burien X X
Camas X X
Chelan 90 30
Chene X X
Des Moines 180 30
Ed ewood X X
Edmonds X X
Goldendale X X
Issa uah X X
Kels o X X
Kent 90 30
Lake Forest 180 30
Park
Lakewood Close of business X
Tuesday and 60
days before the
counry's election
deadline
Lon iew X X
L nnwood X X
Mercer Island 90 30
Mill Creek X X
Monroe X X
Moundake X X
Terrace
Mukilteo X X
North Bend X X
Ocean Shores X
Ol m ia X X
Rainier X X
Ra mond X X
Redmond X X
Renton X X
INITIATIVE REFERENDUM
City Time to gather No deadline to Time to gather Submission of
signatures & gather and signatures & petition
submit petitions submit petitions submit City w/signatures 90
Ci Codes RCW Codes da s er RCW
Rid efield X X
SeaTac X 30
Se uim X X
Shoreline 90 30
Shelton X X
Tukwila X X
Tumwater X X
Walla Walla 90 30
Wenatchee X X
Woodinville X X
COMPARISON FWRC & STATE LAW
PROCESSING INIATIVE PETITIONS
Action FWRC STATE
Submit ro osed lan a e Silent Silent
City Attorney reviews and 14 days* Silent*
approves language if
a ro riate
Print peritions and gather
si atures
Submit si ed etitions 90 da s* Silent*
City Clerk forwards petitions to 3 days 3 days
coun
PROCESSING REFERENDUM PETITIONS
Action FWRC STATE
Submit proposed language 30 days 30 days
(Before effective date of
ordinance
Effect of submittal Suspends effective date of Suspends effective date of
ardinance until petirion is ordinance until petition is
resolved resolved
City Attorney reviews and 14 days* Silent*
approves language if
a ro riate
Print petitions and gather
si atures
Submit si ed etitions 90 da s 90 da s
City Clerk forwards peritions to 3 days 3 days
coun
The county applies the statutory six months or 180 days for validating signatures per State law.
* indicates differences between F'WRC and State law
CITIZEN INITIATNE/REFERENDUM
1. Citizen initiative and referendum powers are authorized by state law but must be specifically adopted
by the City.
a. City Council must grant authority RCW 35A.11.100
b. Signatures of 15% of the total number of registered voters signatures required (County
provides the number of signatures necessary based upon participation in the last municipal
election)
2. City Attorney reviews proposed language for petition before printing, and modifies for clarity. RCW
29A.36.071
a. State law silent for reviewing (��X1RC 1.30.040)
b. Federal Way Revised Code —
1) Five days to determine if issue/subject appropriate for measure
2) Fourteen days to draft language and return to citizen
Submit signed peritions
a. Initiative
1) State law silent
2) Federal Way 90 days
b. Referendum
1) State law mandates 90 days RCW 35A.29.170
2) Federal Way 90 days
4. City Clerk transmits signed petitions to the county within three working days. RCW 35A.01.040(4)
COUNTY DETERMINE SUFFICIENT SIGNATURES
1. Provide requisite number of signatures based upon statutory percentages and the number of
registered voters at the last municipal general election (odd-numbered years) RCW 35A.11.100
2. Review signatures "with reasonable promptness". RCW 35A.01.040(4)
a. Any signature of more than one shall be stricken, including the original signature. RCW
35A.01.040(7)
b. Signatures followed by the date of signing more than six months old shall be stricken. RCW
35A.01.040(8)
c. Petitions requiring property owner signatures have added step under the assessor. RCW
35A.01.040(9)
5. Transmit written determination of sufficiency to the City Clerk
COUNCIL ACTION IF SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SIGNATURES
Adopt proposed ordinance
Pass a resolution to place the issue on the ballot for a vote and forward to the County for election
within a 3 month window if possible (i.e. not sooner than 90 days or longer than 180 days). New
laws have specified the dates available for special elections, which may extend the window for the
election (i.e. second Tuesday in February, third Tuesday in April, day of primary elecrion in August,
or first Tuesday after first Monday in November)
Example of Filing Period for Citizen Initiatives Timeline
120 days
Jan 1
Feb 15 March 1
June 29 July
120
2n`� Meeting of
July; 1 �` Meeting
of August; or
Special Council
Meeting
CA
review
Submit CA approval
topic to of ballot
CA statement
County
Gather signatures verifies
� signatures �
Deadline to County
submit signed submits
petitions determination
of sufficiency
Council
Action
Mid August
84 days prior to
general election
November
Deadline to
submit ballot
title
General
Election
COUNCIL MEETING DATE: Special Meeting September 6, 2011
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA BILL
ITEM #:�_
SUBJECT: TERM LIMITS
POLICY QUESTION Should the City Council direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance establishing term
limits for Council members and the Mayor?
COMMITTEE: N/A
CATEGORY:
❑ Consent
❑ City Council Business
�
�'.
Ordinance
Resolution
MEETING DATE:
❑ Public Hearing
� Other
STAFF REPORT BY: Patricia Richardson, City Attorney DEPT: Law
_....
Attachments: Staff report
Options Considered: 1. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance establishing term limits for
council members and the Mayor
2. Do not direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance establishing term limits.
MAYOR'S RECOMMENDATION: Option 2
MAYOR APPROVAL: �� _��� "F DIRECTOR APPROVAL: �J� 1�
Committee Cou il Committee Council
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
Committee Chair Committee Member Committee Member
PROPOSED COUNCIL MOTION: "I move approval of Option ".
(BELOW TO BE COMPLETED BY CITY CLERKS OFFICE)
COUNCIL ACTION:
❑ APPROVED COUNCIL BILL #
❑ DENIED 1 reading
❑ TABLED/DEFERRED/NO ACTION Enactment reading
❑ MOVED TO SECOND READING (ordinances onlyJ ORDINANCE #
REVISED— 02/06/2006 RESOLUTION #
CITY OF �
Federal Way
CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
MEMORANDUM
DATE: AUGUST 29, 2011
TO: COUNCIL MEMBERS �
FROM: PATRICIA RICHARDSON, CITY ATTORNEY �
SUBJECT: TERM LIMITS
Municipal Research indicated that out of one hundred eighty (180) noncharter Code cities, three cities
have term limits. The three cities all operate under the Council-Manager form of government.
Consequently, mayoral term limits are not addressed.
The term limits language is as follows:
Edgewood: No more than two consecutive four-year terms but does not effect council from
completing term of office
Port Angeles: No more than three consecutive four-year terms
Puyallup: No more than a cumulative of twelve years regardless of which position number
Municipal Research also indicated that Kent and Milton have repealed term limits. Kent's minutes of the
council meeting indicate that term limits were implemented in 1996, as a campaign promise, and repealed
in 2002. There was not much discussion concerning the repeaL Milton has not responded.
Although a different form of government, two charter cities have term limits: Spokane and Tacoma
Spokane: No longer eligible after serving two consecutive terms as any council member or any
other elective city office except mayar. No longer eligible to hold office of mayor after serving
two consecutive terms as mayor or other elective city office except council member or council
president.
Tacoma: Can't serve on council more than ten consecutive years either as council, mayor or
combination thereof.
Attached is a table showing the years of service by each council member beginning with incorporation.
Position Yr. 19$9�91 199293 199�-95 1J96 J7 19J8�9 2000-01 2UO2-03 2004-05 2D06-07 2U08�.19 2�D1C1-11 2012-13
1 1989-1991 199�2-1�95 1996-1999 200D -2003 200�1-?007 2008-��011
2 1989-1991 1992-1993 199�-1997 '19�8-2D01 2002-2045 2006-�004 2�D10-2013
3 1989-1991 19�12-1�►{►5°° 1996-1999 20�D0-2a03 2004-20Q7 2Q08-2011
4 1989-1991 1992-1993 1994-1997 19�8,�00� 2�D02,2005 2006-2049 2410-�013
5 1989-1991 1992-1395 19J6-1999 24�D0,2003"� 21104-2007 2008-2011
6 ;` E 1�92-1993 1�97-1�97 1y'�3-2U01•" 2002-2�D05 2�DOG��OJ �u1�-2013
7 1�89-1991 19J2-199�'" 1996-1999 2000-2003 200�1�007 2008-Z011
'l989-'199i �1112-ye�r terms
'l992 7erms were 3tag,gered
' Y Resignation and Appointment Occurred.
I K:\memo\201 1\staff report — term limits