PORT ANGELES –– Two proposed initiatives aimed at changing Sequim’s dealings with unions representing city employees will not be on the ballot come November.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer ruled Tuesday morning that “genuine issues of material fact” need to be “resolved at trial” as he denied a lawsuit asking him to order the initiatives be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
The proposed initiatives, presented to the Sequim City Council on July 28 through a pair of petitions organized by Susan Shotthaffer of Port Angeles, seek to require the city to negotiate in public with municipal employee unions and allow city workers to opt out of union representation.
Susan Brautigam filed a lawsuit against the city, saying it did not follow a timeline spelled out in state law for making a decision on municipal initiatives.
City and county officials told Rohrer during a Sept. 18 hearing that the deadline to put a measure on the ballot was Aug. 5, before the City Council had officially received the petitions, which were certified by county Auditor Patty Rosand on Aug. 8.
“There is a factual dispute as to whether, as a practical matter, it is possible to add anything to the November 4 ballot at this point,” Rohrer wrote.
A trial date for Brautigam’s suit will be set during a hearing at 8:45 a.m. Friday in Clallam County Superior Court, 223 E. Fourth St.
A disappointed Shotthaffer called Rohrer’s decision “a gross injustice.”
Under the law that allows for initiatives to be filed in Sequim, the city has 20 days after petitions are certified by the county auditor to either respond to the proposals or put them on the ballot for a public vote.
The City Council on Sept. 8 voted to do neither of the prescribed options after City Attorney Craig Ritchie advised it the initiatives could put the city in legal jeopardy.
Shotthaffer said the City Council was “lawless” and “subverting the will of the people” by not doing either of those options within that time frame and challenging the measures in court.
“It could have happened. They could have put it on the ballot,” Shotthaffer said.
Ballots for November’s election were mailed to Clallam County residents serving overseas in the military last Friday.
Ballots to registered voters living in the county will be mailed Oct. 15.
In response to Brautigam’s suit, Ritchie argued that the initiatives sought to implement measures that state law forbids citizen initiatives from governing.
“This is illegal in three different ways,” Ritchie said Tuesday. “Arguing this case is like being a mosquito in a nudist colony: You don’t know where to start.”
Rohrer also granted a request from the Teamsters Local 589, which represents 50 of the city’s 73 employees, to be added as a defendant in Brautigam’s suit, saying the city could not adequately represent the union’s interests.
The other 23 employees are not unionized, meaning they are in either management or confidential positions.
Sequim is one of 57 of the state’s 281 communities that allow citizen initiatives.
The city of Blaine has asked to be added to Sequim’s defense as well, since citizens there have proposed the same initiatives to its City Council.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
