Initiative makes ballot when city drags its feet

Associated Press

SEATTLE — A judge has ruled an initiative to boost spending for the homeless can be placed in the November ballot.

King County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Barnett ruled Friday that the county elections office missed a 20-day deadline to report the number of signatures validated for city Initiative 71.

According to state law, signatures are deemed valid if they are not counted and certified within 20 days after initiative backers submit them.

I-71 would require Seattle to provide 400 new shelter beds and increase spending for homeless services by 20 percent.

Last week, the county elections office said there were not enough valid signatures to place the measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Initiative proponents filed suit against the city and county, saying the signatures were not counted in a timely manner.

Seattle City Clerk Judith Pippin declined to comment on the ruling.

In a statement released Friday, I-71 backers said they will press the Seattle City Council either to place the initiative on the ballot quickly, or pass compromise legislation.

Water initiative: Seattle voters also may be faced with two water initiatives in the general election — a citizen proposal to step up water conservation programs to improve salmon-bearing streams, and an alternative proposed by the city council.

The council voted 6-3 Wednesday to place the alternative, Initiative 63b, on the Nov. 6 ballot beside Initiative 63.

Backers said the council’s measure would meet the same goals as the original without burdening ratepayers, inviting legal challenges or causing a rift between the city and suburban water utilities that rely on the city’s water system.

I-63 would reserve saved water in a "conservation block" for improving flows in salmon-bearing streams. That water could be sold only to water purveyors with conservation programs at least as strict as that of the city.

Last month, city officials asked a King County Superior Court judge to remove I-63 from the ballot, saying it would illegally shift regulatory power away from the city council. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday.