Judge issues ruling in ballot fight between Tacoma, renters group. Here’s the decision
In a win for renters’ rights advocates, a Pierce County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the city of Tacoma won’t be allowed to place a measure on the November ballot as an alternative to a citizen’s initiative that would amend the rental housing code.
Tacoma for All and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 376 sued the City of Tacoma, Pierce County and County Auditor Linda Farmer in her official capacity in August. The lawsuit alleged that in July the city violated its charter when the City Council voted to put another renters’ rights measure alongside theirs on the November ballot. The city’s ballot measure had already been approved by the council and is existing law.
Tacoma for All’s ballot measure seeks to amend the city’s rental housing code to give renters additional rights, including some relocation assistance, the creation of a tenant and landlord code of conduct and a defense against winter evictions from November through April, among other changes.
In July the City Council voted to put an already passed ordinance that expanded renters’ rights alongside the citizen initiative as “Measure Two” on the ballot, leaving it up to voters to decide if they were in support of either ordinance, and regardless if yes or no, which measure should be enacted should it pass.
Judge Timothy Ashcraft ruled in favor with Tacoma for All and UFCW 367, saying the city’s alternative measure was “misleading and confusing” to voters.
Ashcroft concluded that “Measure 2 is not a true alternative” because it would remain law regardless of the outcome of the vote. He also said in a written ruling the city’s proposed ballot measure would interfere “with the ability of the people to declare their position on the basic question originally proposed” by the initiative.
Although the Court found that the city of Tacoma “in theory” had the authority to present an alternative ordinance to the voters, “when the City adopted that ordinance prior to sending it to the voters and approved the Amended Resolution with the repeal and re-enact language, it resulted in a false choice between Measure 1 and Measure 2 … and ran afoul of the State Constitution,” according to the ruling.
Tacoma for All hailed the ruling.
“This is a massive victory for grassroots democracy in Tacoma, and a victory for everyone fighting for stronger tenant protections,” said Tacoma for All campaign manager Ty Moore in a news release. “Although City Council’s illegal actions have cost our volunteer-powered, grassroots campaign an incredible amount of money for a citizen’s campaign, we’re moving forward undefeated and with the force of the labor movement and the voters of Tacoma behind us.”
The city emailed a statement to The News Tribune.
“In today’s order, Pierce County Superior Judge Timothy Ashcraft validated the Tacoma City Council’s authority under the City Charter to place an alternative on the ballot to a citizen initiative petition. The Court also agreed with the City that an alternative to a citizen initiative petition would be correctly presented as a plurality vote (the measure that gets the most votes prevails) to the voters under State law,” according to the statement from city attorney Bill Fosbre. “Nevertheless, the Court found a problem in the Council’s adoption of the ordinance prior to placing it on the ballot for voter approval (which would prevent the Council from changing it for two years without another vote). We are disappointed in this portion of the Court’s decision and we are in the process of determining our next steps.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2023 at 11:42 AM.
