The Bonney Lake City Council has agreed to a special election early next year to give voters a chance to decide if they want to draft a charter that would govern how the city is run.
If the charter is approved at the end of a complex process, all current elected Bonney Lake officials would have to run for office again.
City officials have estimated the cost of the process at $98,500 on the low side and $319,000 on the high side. The costs include elections, an education campaign, drafting the charter and rewriting the city code.
No date for the special election has been set, but city officials said Feb. 3 appears to be the next available date.
The sooner the better, Councilman Dan Decker said at Tuesday night’s council study session. He is sponsoring the petition calling for the election.
“This document is already late,” Decker said, noting that the initiative petition calling for the charter election was certified as sufficient by the Pierce County auditor on April 14. More than 400 Bonney Lake residents signed it.
The City Council is expected to pass the formal resolution calling for the election at its meeting next Tuesday.
Bonney Lake, like almost all smaller cities in the state, is now an optional code city that operates under state laws. There are 187 optional code cities in the state.
A charter city is subject to state law as well, but also can craft its own constitution, which Decker maintains makes it more responsive to the community. In Washington, Kelso is the only charter city.
Charter city opponents, including Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson and most of the rest of the City Council, say there’s no point fixing something that isn’t broken. Creating a charter code city is a lengthy and complex process.
The first election asks voters if they want the city to become a charter city and authorize a 15-member commission to write the charter. Candidates must file with the county and appear on the same ballot.
If the voters say no to a charter city, the process ends there. If they say yes, the charter commission members chosen by the voters then draft the charter.
The proposed charter then goes back to the voters. If the charter is voted down, the process ends.
Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692
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