The Clark County Home Rule Charter was approved by voters in 2014, taking effect Jan. 1, 2015. The charter establishes Clark County government’s structure and serves as its constitution. It gives citizens the rights of initiative and referendum on county ordinances. “Home rule” means county voters get to decide what we want for our own local governance structure instead of the century-old one set in Washington state statute.
This election, six charter amendments are on the ballot. There were seven amendments on last year’s ballot. Are this year’s amendments “second tier” measures?
When I was elected by District 2 voters in November 2020, our terms were set by the charter for one year or until our work was completed, whichever came first. Last year’s process was the first review of the charter.
A lot happened in Clark County in seven years since the charter was passed. The county grew by more people than Battle Ground, Camas, Ridgefield and La Center combined. Politics and decision-making became partisan and polarized.
Realizing we had only one year for our work, and not wanting to inundate voters with a plethora of amendment proposals, we split proposals over two election cycles. Last year, voters handily passed six of the seven measures we placed on the ballot. Voters also approved two measures the county council placed on the ballot (also provided for by the charter). As a result of your votes in 2021, county government now:
- Has all elected county offices on the ballot as nonpartisan (this year’s election is the first with all county positions as nonpartisan).
- Is made up of council representatives from five geographic districts for more equitable representation.
- Has a Code of Ethics and an independent Ethics Review Commission.
Of the six charter amendment measures placed on the November 2022 ballot for consideration, five measures were deferred from 2021. The sixth is a revision to last year’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion measure based on what the commission heard from voters on last year’s measure.
These are not “second tier” amendments. All would affect county governance just like last year’s amendments did:
- Proposition No. 10, ranked-choice voting, would allow voters to rank all candidates on the county ballot instead of voting for one.
- Proposition No. 11 requires the county council to consult with other county elected officials in an open, public meeting before appointing a new county manager.
- Proposition No. 12 adds a preamble to the charter (think “We The People”).
- Proposition No. 13 specifies how vacancies in the nonpartisan county elected positions would be filled.
- Proposition No. 14 changes the signature threshold for initiatives and referenda and allows transfer of signatures from the initiative process to a mini-initiative.
- Proposition No. 15 creates a new diversity and inclusion officer and advisory commission in county government.
- More information including responses to questions can be found here: https://clark.wa.gov/county-manager/2022-amendment-measures.
You are already seeing the effects of passing last year’s amendments. The charter is about home rule and voters deciding what representation we want and how we want to conduct our elections. There are a lot of positions and measures on the ballot. So, please vote on these measures as well as other items on the ballot.
Contrary to what you may have heard since the 2020 election, your vote matters and your vote counts.
Chuck Green was elected as a representative of Council District 2 to the Clark County Charter Review Commission in November 2020. He served as co-chair of that commission in 2021.
