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New Law Could Change The Face of Yelm Government
On March 12th, the Washington State Senate passed ESSB 5716, which would allow citizens to elect City Councils by district instead of the current laws that limit candidates to living inside city limits.
“Sponsor Bob McCaslin of Spokane Valley says it would spread out a city’s elected representatives to bring geographic diversity. He says it would prevent everyone on a city council from coming from the same apartment complex,” quoting the AP from The Olympian.
Read the full text of the bill here.
Of the 281 cities and towns in Washington, 186 are non-charter code cities, meaning candidates must be registered voters at the time of filing and residents for at least one year on Election Day. Of these, only 12 have a voting district.
ESSB 5716 would allow a district’s boundaries to change only by a majority vote at an election.
The election could be initiated either by resolution of the council or by a petition signed by 10 percent or more of the voters.
5716 passed the Senate 45 to 4 and had its first reading in the House on March 13th.
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