East Wenatchee Resolution Opposing I-976 Fails

The City of East Wenatchee will not be picking a side on Initiative Measure No. 976.

A resolution opposing the ballot measure did not gain enough votes during Tuesday night's East Wenatchee City Council meeting. The initiative, championed by controversial political activist Tim Eyman, seeks to repeal authority to impose certain vehicle taxes, change vehicle valuation laws, and limit motor vehicle license fees to $30.00.

The City Council had previously asked for public comment on the issue and made a point to inform citizens that there would be an open public comment period before the vote. Not a single person provided public comment during the meeting.

Once the council entered their discussion phase on the matter, the resolution's chances deteriorated. Council member Tim Detering was first to voice his opposition on the grounds that a resolution would not be a fair representation of the community's sentiment, which will be varied.

"From a personal standpoint, I think that we're called to represent the community." said Detering immediately after the meeting, "Unfortunately, this is one of those issues that whether you're for or against the (initiative) statewide, I just don't think the city should be taking a stand on something that could be so divisive."

Council member John Sterk spoke next, echoing many of Detering's sentiments.

After a rebuttal by council member Harry Raab, council member Shayne Magdoff gave her opinion. Magdoff spoke of her native Louisiana's inability to properly fund street repair under a system similar to that proposed under I-976. Ultimately she also voiced opposition to the resolution, again on the grounds that any resolution from the council would not reflect the community as a whole.

Council members Matthew Hepner and Rob Tidd both declared support for the resolution. Hepner expressed a concern that public safety could be threatened with such a large financial shortfall to the city's roads.

With the council seemingly divided, council member Jerrilea Crawford was last to join the discussion. Citing a lack of a consensus on the council, Crawford said she was switching her vote to 'nay'.

At that point, Mayor Steve Lacy called for a hand vote. The resolution then failed, four votes 'nay' (Crawford, Sterk, Detering and Magdoff) to three votes 'yea' (Raab, Hepner and Tidd).

All of the council members who voted 'nay' expressed an opposition to the initiative with the exception of Sterk. The Position 1 representative stated he understood the need for the city's streets to be fully funded, but did not expressly give an opinion on the initiative.

East Wenatchee is expected to lose roughly $260,000 annually in its transportation budget should I-976 pass the statewide vote and subsequent legal hurdles.

"When you take that much money out of the street department then you have to start looking for ways (to pay the difference)." added Detering, "We have had some discussions but we have not come up with any options. Unfortunately if it does pass it will have a negative impact on the city. If you look at the number of smalls streets that have been resurfaced over the past several years, it's had a huge impact. From that standpoint I would be leery to see it pass."

Election Day is November 5th, 2019.