2006 Seattle Elections

General Elections Voters' Guide

Chrtr Am 14-Clerk Compilation of Ordinances - Complete Text

A RESOLUTION submitting a proposition to the qualified electors of the City, at an election to be held on November 7, 2006, to amend Subsection 13.B of Article IV of the Charter of the City of Seattle to change the manner of compiling passed ordinances for public access; calling on the City Clerk to certify the proposed amendment to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County and requesting and directing such Director to call a special election and submit the proposition to City voters; and providing for the publication of such proposed amendment.

WHEREAS, Subsection 13.A of Article IV of the Seattle City Charter directs the City Clerk to annually print one hundred bound books with "substantial covers" containing the text of ordinances that were published in the newspaper that year ("Compilations"), and to make them available to the public at no cost; and

WHEREAS, in 1993 the City Clerk became aware that large numbers of those one hundred "Compilations" produced each year were undistributed, resulting in wasted paper, and unnecessary use of valuable storage space and City funds for printing; and

WHEREAS, the City Clerk conducted surveys from 1994 to 2000, of previous recipients of the "Compilations" to determine whether they actually wanted and/or used the "Compilation" they received each year and determined that there was virtually no interest in receiving the "Compilation"; and

WHEREAS, in 1996 the City Clerk's Office began to realize great success providing accurate and complete records of the same information in electronic databases accessible via the Internet; and

WHEREAS, an electronic equivalent of the "Compilation" is now provided, which allows easy access to the same information as was contained in the printed "Compilation"; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS

FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Subject to the approval of a proposition by a majority of the qualified electors casting votes thereon, Subsection 13.B of Article IV of the Charter of the City of Seattle is amended as follows:

ARTICLE IV. Legislative Department.

Section 13.A. RECORD AND PUBLICATION OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: All ordinances and resolutions shall be deposited with the City Clerk, who shall record the same. Notice of all ordinances of a general, public or permanent nature, and those imposing a fine, penalty or forfeiture, shall be published in accordance with state law within three days after the same shall have become a law; Provided, that the publication of notice of all ordinances granting any franchise or private privilege or approving or vacating any plat shall be at the expense of the applicant therefor.

B. Annually in January of each year at the expense of the City, the The City Clerk shall maintain a compilation of compile all ordinances enacted in the preceding each year, such compilation to be accessible to the public at no cost. which are required to be published as set out in the preceding paragraph herein, and he or she shall also cause copies of same to be printed, indexed and bound in books with substantial covers. There shall be provided a sufficient number of such books for all elected City officials and department heads, and at least one hundred copies shall be made available for general distribution at cost to the general public.

Section 2. The King County Director of Records and Elections, as ex officio supervisor of elections, is hereby requested to call a special election and is directed to submit the charter amendment proposed herein to the qualified electors of the City at the election on November 7, 2006.

Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County as Supervisor of Elections the charter amendment proposed herein in the form of a ballot title prepared by the City Attorney pursuant to RCW 29A.36.071, and shall certify a copy of the proposed Charter amendment, and the same shall be published by the City Clerk in accordance with state law.