Judge sends $20 minimum wage measure to ballot. Here’s when Tacoma will vote
After months of discussion, controversy and a lawsuit, a proposal to raise Tacoma’s minimum wage to $20 and to increase protections for workers in the city will appear on the ballot in a special election in February.
Organizers with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, Tacoma for All and the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America had been collecting signatures since February of this year to get a “Workers Bill of Rights” – also called Initiative 2 – on the ballot in Tacoma using Tacoma’s initiative process. The organizers collected sufficient signatures and had them validated by the appropriate city and county officials, but when the Tacoma city council voted to put the measure on the ballot in November, they did so days after the county’s deadline to receive ballot measures for the November general election.
The organizers behind the effort sued the city, Pierce County and County Auditor Linda Farmer, arguing that they didn’t act with “reasonable promptness and diligence” to protect the right of initiative. Judge Philip E. Thornton ruled after a hearing in late August that the measure could not be placed on the November ballot, but in a detailed opinion issued on Sept. 9, he called for the measure to be placed on the ballot for a special election in February.
“The court grants declaratory relief in favor of the plaintiffs and requires the Pierce County Auditor’s Office and PIerce County Elections to hold a special election for Initiative No. 2,” Thornton wrote.
Organizers have said that having the measure on the ballot in February would make it harder for volunteers to campaign for it than if the measure appeared on the November ballot.
“February is a tough month for getting out the vote. Basically, we have to start contacting identified supporters about six to eight weeks prior to the vote, both by phone and in person. In November that timeline obviously is better weather, and no major holidays. In February, it means that it’s dark, cold and wet and those are tough conditions for volunteers or even paid staff,” Tacoma for All spokesperson Ann Dorn told The News Tribune last month.
Thornton said in his opinion that the council “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner” when it passed the resolution to put the measure on the ballot for the November general election even though the deadline to do so had passed.
“Such action by the city council is a violation of the plaintiffs’ constitutionally protected substantive and due process rights,” he wrote.
“The city council knowingly passed an invalid resolution,” Thornton added.
Organizers behind the measure lauded the judge’s decision, saying it was a win for their cause.
“Make no mistake, this is a victory,” UFCW 367 president Michael Hines said in a statement. “The business lobby and the city tried to keep the initiative off the ballot entirely, but they failed. Yes, February is a tougher election for working families to turn out in big numbers, but we will rise to the challenge. Tacoma voters deserve this choice, and we are confident they will stand with workers.”
Tacoma city spokesperson Maria Lee said the city has received the court’s order and is “currently in the process of thoroughly reviewing the judge’s ruling.”
“The City will determine the appropriate next steps in due course,” she wrote. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
County Auditor Linda Farmer said the county will place the measure on the February ballot after the court’s ruling.
“We played it by the book, and the court’s ruling reflects that,” Farmer said in a statement.
