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<div>The following article on a very interesting use of local
city-wide voter initiatives appeared today on the New West website:
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/3841/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I've never looked at options for city initiatives in Idaho but
I'm fairly sure they exist.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mark Solomon</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><tt><font size="+3" color="#7F655D">Local Control, the New
Way</font><font size="+3" color="#000000"><br>
</font></tt><tt><font size="+1" color="#333333"> By Bill
Schneider, 10-13-05</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> </font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"><br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> </font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"><br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> Most people I know like
the principle of representative government i.e. electing people who we
think will represent our point of view. It's the best system in the
world, but it can break down, as it did in Helena, setting in motion a
chain of events that redefined the concept of local
control.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> In most communities, a
handful of well-connected, powerful people make things happen-or not
happen. We like to call them the Good Old Boys. Now, the Helena Good
Old Boys are terrified about what's happening, and like-minded
people in other communities worry that this new form of local control
could spread throughout the staunchly independent populace of the New
West.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> This story has humble
beginnings. A few influential business people wanted to turn a section
of Helena's downtown walking mall into a street and open it to auto
traffic. Helena's historic downtown is struggling economically, and
these business people were convinced that turning the walking mall
into a city street would reverse the trend.</font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> What they didn't
realize is that most Helenans, including most downtown business
people, liked the walking mall, considered it a community asset (i.e.
not the property of downtown businesses) and wanted it to remain a
pedestrian-only zone. Helena's walking mall went in thirty years ago
as part of a federally funded urban renewal program called Model
Cities. Since then, it has gradually transformed from a large-scale
retail area into an urban park atmosphere with specialty shops and
entertainment businesses sprinkled among tall shade trees, historic
statues, and lounging areas. It became more of a business center than
a retail environment, and people like working there. The walking mall
provides, right in the heart of Helena, a remnant of the great
outdoors that Montanans all enjoy-even if it's only for a
half-hour lunch break or early morning stroll.</font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> There's really no
disagreement on the ultimate goal. Everybody in Helena wants a
prosperous, vibrant downtown, but for the overwhelming majority the
people of Helena, that includes a well-maintained, enhanced walking
mall. Likewise-and buoyed by the fact that many street-side downtown
business also struggle-most people didn't believe another street
would solve the economic problems plaguing Helena's downtown. Many
people, in fact, believed the opposite-i.e. taking out the walking
mall would worsen the situation by removing the main attraction to
downtown.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> It started as a normal
political issue. Behind the scenes, a few influential downtown
business people quietly lobbied the mayor and city commission and
convinced them to devote $1.3 million in Tax Increment Financing Funds
to converting one section of the walking mall into a street. When this
decision hit the local front pages, it caused a public outcry like
Helena has never experienced. Angry people packed a series of forums
and commission meetings, all wanting city leaders to protect the
walking mall. Local papers printed dozens of letters opposing traffic
on the walking mall.</font><font size="+1" color="#744131"> Numerous
surveys</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> showed 90 percent or
more of the community disagreed with the current commission decision.
And two or three particularly engaged citizens gathered a whooping
4,300 signatures on a petition asking the commission to reconsider its
decision. That's a lot of signatures for a town this size-more
than the number of votes the mayor or any city commissioner received
in the last election.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> In most cases, the result
of such an outpouring of public sentiment is a quickly revised or
reversed decision siding with the majority, but not this time. A few
years ago in Missoula, Montana, for example, the city commission
decided to sell off part of a highly prized community asset called
Fort Missoula. A passionate public outcry followed, and predictably,
the commission changed its mind. In Helena, though, the commission had
its mind made up and nothing seemed to sway them from their chosen
path. Translation: A representative government broke down and did not
represent its electorate.</font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> At the end of this
heated, year-long, political process, the mayor and city commission
sought refuge by claiming they had a budget shortfall and couldn't
afford to build the street. They didn't say, however, that they'd
changed their minds in the face of such overwhelming public opinion.
Throwing one last cup of gas on the fire, they stated one more time,
with the same breath they used to vote 3-2 to delay building the
street, that they still wanted a roadway but didn't have the money
to build it at that point in time.</font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> The foregoing is an
excellent example of elected officials not representing their
constituencies, akin to senators from Idaho, Montana or Wyoming
pushing for gun registration and expecting to be re-elected. So what
happens when we have such a breakdown? On a national scale, people
tend to feel powerless, hold their noses and move on with their lives.
At the city government level, though, people have the power to take
control away from elected officials, which is exactly what's
happening in Helena.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> The ultimate solution is,
of course, voting the bums out of office at the next election, but
what do you in the midst of the four-year election cycle? You do what
the people of Helena did.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> Unknown to most people,
the Montana law that sets up the framework for statewide citizens'
initiatives has an obscure provision allowing city and county
initiatives. The rules are generally the same, except it's easier
and less expensive, and the result is the same-creation of new code.
The beauty of this statute is that the governing body can't "take
the action called for in the initiative" during the time period that
signatures are being gathered and onto when it's decided on election
day, which can at the least delay "the action" for up to a
year.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> In Helena, a grassroots
group, Friends of Downtown Helena, formed to fight for the walking
mall. After failing to affect the commission's decision, Friends
used the Montana law to put the issue on the ballot for the local
election scheduled November 8, apparently the first time this has ever
happened in the Big Sky State. Specifically, Initiative 2005-1 would
require a public vote before any city commission could allow auto
traffic on the walking mall. The Friends group calls it the Let The
People Decide initiative.</font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> Statewide initiatives
demand huge, well-coordinated, well-funded efforts often involving
hundreds of paid workers to gather a massive number of signatures from
throughout the state-and then hundreds of thousands of dollars to
wage a statewide campaign. Local initiatives are lay ups by
comparison. In Helena, about a dozen dedicated volunteers gathered
2,430 signatures (only 2,255 were required) to put the issue on the
ballot. The ensuing campaign will cost less than $5,000.</font><font
size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> As the election
approaches, the Friends group is campaigning hard with yard signs,
advertising, mailings to petition signers, and e-news alerts,
using</font><font size="+1" color="#744131"> its popular
website</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> as the focal point of
its efforts. Amazingly, only three weeks before the election, no
opposition to the initiative has surfaced, magnifying the fact that so
many people want to save the walking mall and so few want to destroy
it. The League of Women Voters couldn't have a debate on the issue
in part because nobody would represent "the other side" and oppose
the initiative.</font></tt><br>
<tt><font size="+1" color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font size="+1" color="#333333"> You'll never get
anybody to say this out loud, but Helena's Let The People Decide
initiative panics local officials and business development interests
because it establishes a precedent for the community taking control
away from the established power structure and creates a truly
representative government where the electors directly make key
decisions. Will the idea spread to other issues in Helena? Yes,
another grassroots group is already trying to get an issue involving
fairgrounds development on the next ballot. Will the idea spread to
other communities? We'll see.</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> Footnote #1: No, this
isn't a Montana-centric issue. Most states have citizens'
initiative laws and most include provisions for local initiatives. I
called the attorney general and secretary of state offices in Idaho
and Wyoming, for example, and both states have similar laws, but they
are rarely if ever used.</font><font size="+1"
color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font size="+1" color="#333333"> Footnote #2: Several
Montana cities have had local referendums, which are different than
initiatives. Referendums seek to reverse or change a formal decision
already made by a governing body. Initiatives, on the other hand,
essentially create code with the same force of law as an ordinance
passed by the city or county commission.</font></tt><br>
<tt><font size="+1" color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
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