A RESOLUTION submitting a proposition to the qualified electors of the City, at the general election to be held on November 5, 2002, to amend Article IV, Subsection 13A, of the Charter of the City of Seattle to modify the requirements concerning publication of certain adopted ordinances to be consistent with state law; calling on the City Clerk to certify the proposed amendment to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County and directing such Director to submit the proposition to City voters; and providing for the publication of such proposed amendment.

WHEREAS, the City Charter provides that each ordinance of a general, public, or permanent nature, and those imposing a fine, penalty or forfeiture shall be published in its entirety at least once in the City's official newspaper within three days after it becomes law; and

WHEREAS, current Washington state law (RCW 35.22.288) requires municipalities to publish once in the City's official newspaper the full text or a summary of each ordinance enacted by the City, and requires that if a summary is published, the publication shall include a statement that the full text of the ordinance will be mailed upon request; and

WHEREAS, publishing the full text of ordinances is very costly, and of limited value given that ordinances generally are available electronically from home computers and for free at terminals in public libraries; and

WHEREAS, the language pertaining to the publication of ordinances in the Seattle City Charter and Washington state law is inconsistent; and

WHEREAS, modifying the City Charter to comport with state law would create uniformity between these two bodies of law, would foster greater legal clarity, and would result in a reduction in publishing costs to the City of Seattle; and

WHEREAS, while Washington state law regarding the publication of ordinances may change from time to time, the City will comply with the state law in effect at any given time;

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, Article IV, Subsection 13A of the Charter of the City of Seattle is amended as follows:

ARTICLE IV. Legislative Department.

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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 allAll ordinances of a general, public or permanent nature, and those imposing a fine, penalty or forfeiture, shall be publishedat least once in the City official newspaper 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.

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Section 2. The King County Director of Records and Elections, as ex officio supervisor of elections, is hereby directed to submit to the qualified electors of the City the proposition set forth below at the City general election on November 5, 2002.

The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to certify the proposition to the King County Director of Records and Elections in the following form:

CITY OF SEATTLE CHARTER AMENDMENT NO.____

Publishing Ordinances

The Seattle City Council has adopted Resolution ---concerning proposed amendments to Seattle City Charter Article IV, Subsection 13A. This measure would change the requirements for publishing notice of certain City ordinances. Notice of new ordinances would have to be published according to state law. State law presently calls for publication of the full text, or publication of a summary and mailing of the text upon request. The Charter currently requires full publication in the official newspaper of certain types of ordinances. The requirement of publication within three days after the ordinance becomes law would not change.

Should the proposed Charter amendment be:

Approved . . . . . . . . . . . . . __

Rejected . . . . . . . . . . . . . .__

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 conforming to the foregoing statement of the same, with any alterations the City Attorney shall deem appropriate in carrying out his duties pursuant to RCW 29.27.066, and shall certify a copy of the proposed Charter amendment, and the same shall be published by the City Clerk in two daily newspapers in the city for at least (30) days prior to such election as required by the City Charter, and as required by RCW 35.22.170.

Adopted by the City Council the _____ day of _______________, 2002, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _______________, 2002.

___________________________________

President of the City Council

Filed by me this _____ day of _______________, 2002

___________________________________

City Clerk

(SEAL)

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