Spokane voters could see the Community Bill of Rights on ballots as soon as April or November. Thursday Washington’s court of appeals turned down a lower court ruling that banned the measure from a public vote. Kai Hushke, organizer for Envision Spokane, says his group nearly saw the bill pass in 2011.
Huschke: “We’re very, very excited about the prospect of being able to campaign for this again.”
And they will, after the appeals court wrote that the city of Spokane should put the measure on the next ballot. It was set to go before voters in 2013 but a group of corporations like Avista and conservative citizens like Nancy McLaughlin filed a legal challenge on the measure. The Bill of Rights would give citizens more control over decisions regarding the Spokane River, major developments, and worker rights.
Huschke: “Corporations have more power to decide those arenas of our life than the people do, and I think that’s part of the proposal here, is to decide with large developments being proposed, why is the system favoring sometimes the single corporate developer to have more power than we the neighborhood.”
The group who challenged the measure in 2013 argued it would negatively impact their business interests. But the appeals court ruled there was no immediate specific harm to those individuals, and that the challenge was based on fears. The court did acknowledge that legal issues could arise down the road, but it should not keep the measure from going before voters.
A measure about corporate involvement in elections was also kept off the ballot, but that ruling has not been appealed.
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