Voters' pamphlet a wealth of useful information on election
Lou Marzeles
News Editor
The 2009 Washington State Voters’ Pamphlet is one of those rare publications from a government agency. You can actually make sense of it.
Not that it still doesn’t take some wading through, especially the portions on the state referendums, which are very hot topics. But even those are manageable enough that one can at least get the overall sense of the matter.
The state produces the first part of the document, and each county supplies the information contained in the rest of the pamphlet. Klickitat County’s portion, produced by the County Auditor’s office, is very straightforward, with the most perplexing aspect of it being why certain candidates didn’t supply their own pictures and information for the document.
The pamphlet opens with a summary of voter qualifications required to vote in the state, followed by a discussion of the ballot measure process. The latter essentially consists of two methods of direct legislative power, the initiative and the referendum. There are two kinds of each of these.
An initiative to the people arises from the populace when sufficient signatures are acquired to bring it to a statewide vote. An initiative to the legislature also requires a minimal number of signatures and then goes to consideration before the legislature.
A referendum bill is one that is proposed to the electorate by the legislature. A referendum measure is a law passed by the legislature that ends up on the ballot because of petitions signed by voters.
Everything clear so far?
This year there is one initiative and one referendum measure coming before voters. Both are highly controversial.
Initiative 1033 proposes to limit certain state, county, and city revenues to keep pace with annual inflation and population growth (excluding voter-approved revenue increases). Any revenues collected above that limit would be applied to reducing property taxes. Sounds almost simple, but the nine pages that discuss the initiative reflect a broad potential for differing interpretations. Page 10 of the guide summarizes pro and con views on the initiative, though these are prepared by organizations and individuals with clearly vested interests toward their viewpoint. It’s generally not favored by most municipalities, including Goldendale.
The serious hot potato, though, is Referendum Measure 71, popularly (or unpopularly) known as the “Anything But Marriage” referendum. It would provide the same rights that married spouses have to state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners. That is to say, if a same-sex couple is recorded in a domestic partnership registry by the state, they would have the same legal rights, responsibilities, and obligations as any legally married couple in the state.
A full 37 pages of the 72-page Klickitat County pamphlet are devoted to this referendum. The entire text of the referendum is included. Only page 18 provides brief, and highly partisan, pro and con summaries.
Pages 52 and 53 of the document provide an interesting overview of the Washington Women’s Suffrage Museum Exhibit, showing a timeline of the era of women voting in the U. S.
As with many elections, the issues at stake this Nov. 3 are likely to be voted on at a visceral level. But at least voters here have a document that is reasonably helpful.
Library patrons split on late fees
Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, of which the Goldendale Library is a part, has posted the results of an online survey taken by 3,979 library cardholders Sept. 14-22. An invitation to participate in the survey was sent to 72,000 email addresses provided to the library by cardholders 16 years of age or older.
The purpose of the survey was to: 1) Gauge the level of library patron support for initiating late fees for items returned after the due date; 2) Assess opinions of FVRL performance; and 3) Identify new services or changes in services in which patrons are interested.
The data collected will be considered at an FVRL Board of Trustees workshop on late fees being held at 3:30 p.m. , Monday, Oct. 12 at Stevenson Community Library. A final decision about whether to initiate late fines will be made at a future Board meeting. Data collected through this survey also will be considered as one source of information for the district’s future planning.
Some highlights of the survey:
• Late fees: Library patrons who responded to the survey were evenly divided – 44 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed—about a proposal to charge fines for items returned past their due date. Opposition to late fees was higher among frequent library users.
• FVRL performance: 80 percent of respondents gave an excellent or good rating for the district’s overall performance. 77 percent rate the district’s web site as excellent or good for ease of use. 77 percent say they always or often find what they need or want at the library.
• Service changes: Respondents were most interested in more printed books, entertainment movie DVDs for adults, and more audio books. Respondents also would like libraries to be open longer and on more days, and they want larger libraries.
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