Text of Proposition 4 for Spokane

Envisioning a Sustainable Spokane: A Community Bill of Rights
FIRST. RESIDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO A LOCALLY-BASED ECONOMY.
Residents have the right to a locally-based economy to ensure local job creation
and enhance local business opportunities. The right shall include the right to
have local monies reinvested locally by lending institutions, and the right to
equal access to capital, credit, contracts, incentives, and services for
businesses owned by Spokane residents.
SECOND. RESIDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO AFFORDABLE PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE.
Residents have the right to affordable preventive healthcare. For residents
otherwise unable to access such care, the City shall guarantee such access by
coordinating with area healthcare providers to create affordable fee-for-service
programs within eighteen (18) months following adoption of this Charter provision.
THIRD. RESIDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO AFFORDABLE AND SAFE HOUSING.
Residents have the right to affordable housing, the right to a safely-maintained
dwelling, and the right to be free from housing discrimination. The City shall
ensure the availability of low-income housing stock sufficient to meet the needs
of the low-income housing community. People and families may only be denied
renting or buying of a dwelling for non-discriminatory reasons and may only be
evicted from their residence for non-discriminatory causes.
FOURTH. RESIDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO AFFORDABLE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY.
Residents have the right to access affordable and renewable energy sources.
FIFTH. THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT HAS THE RIGHT TO EXIST AND FLOURISH.
Ecosystems, including but not limited to, all groundwater systems, surfacewater
systems, and aquifers have the right to exist and flourish. River systems have the
right to flow and have water quality necessary to provide habitat for native
plants and animals, and to provide clean drinking water. Aquifers have the right
to sustainable recharge, flow, and water quality.
SIXTH. RESIDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.
Residents have the right, through their neighborhood councils, to determine the
future of their neighborhoods, which shall include the right to adopt enforceable
neighborhood plans, and the right to have growth-related public infrastructure
costs funded by new development as provided by an impact fees Ordinance. The City
of Spokane shall provide sufficient funding to neighborhood councils for the
creation, adoption, and enforcement of neighborhood plans. Such plans shall
respect and promote the rights delineated by this Charter. Residents may also
determine the future of their neighborhoods by rejecting proposed land development
projects, in accordance with the provisions of this Charter.
SEVENTH. WORKERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE PAID THE PREVAILING WAGE, AND THE RIGHT TO
WORK AS APPRENTICES, ON CERTAIN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.
Workers have the right to be paid the prevailing wage on all private construction
projects exceeding two million dollars in construction costs (as annually adjusted
for inflation), and all public and publicly subsidized construction projects,
within the City of Spokane. Workers have the right to work as apprentices on all
private construction projects exceeding two million dollars in construction costs
(as annually adjusted for inflation), and all public and publicly subsidized
construction projects, through programs approved under the Washington State
Apprenticeship Training Program, and each contractor and subcontractor building
those projects shall be required to use apprentices for a minimum of fifteen
percent (15%) of the total hours worked on each project.
EIGHTH. WORKERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO EMPLOYER NEUTRALITY WHEN UNIONIZING, AND THE
RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS WITHIN THE WORKPLACE.
Workers have the right to employer neutrality when unionizing, and the right to be
free from captive audience meetings, or other mandatory, non-work related
meetings, in the workplace.
NINTH. RESIDENTS, WORKERS, NEIGHBORHOODS, NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS, AND THE CITY OF
SPOKANE SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO ENFORCE THE COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS.
All rights recognized by the Community Bill of Rights are fundamental,
inalienable, and self-executing. The City of Spokane, or any person, neighborhood,
or neighborhood council aggrieved by a violation of their rights, or any person
seeking to enforce the rights of ecosystems, may enforce these rights. Enforcement
actions shall be filed as civil actions in a court of competent jurisdiction,
against any person, government, or entity violating these rights, and sufficient
legal and equitable relief shall be awarded to remedy the violation, including
restoration of a damaged ecosystem. In any action to enforce any Charter right,
the court may allow the prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee and
expert fees. Corporations and other business entities shall not be deemed to
possess any legal rights, privileges, powers, or protections which would enable
those entities to avoid the enforcement of these rights, or which would enable
them to nullify these rights. If any part or provision of these Charter
provisions, or the application of these Charter provisions to any person or
circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of these Charter provisions,
including the application of such part or provisions to other persons or
circumstances, shall not be affected by such a holding and shall continue in full
force and effect.
§74.5 (New). Rights of Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Councils
A. The City of Spokane shall notify neighborhood councils of any proposals for
commercial, industrial, or multi-unit residential land developments to be located
within neighborhoods represented by those councils. That notice shall be given not
more than five business days from the submission of a project permit application
to the City by the developers of those proposals, and shall include notice to
neighborhood councils representing neighborhoods adjacent to the neighborhood in
which the land development is proposed to occur.
B. A neighborhood council may veto a land development project if requested to veto
that project by a number of neighborhood registered voters equal to or greater
than fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding
general municipal election within that neighborhood. After being petitioned, if
the neighborhood council determines that the land development project may
adversely affect the neighborhood, and that the project is incompatible with
either the neighborhood’s planning, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, or the City
Charter, the council may veto the project. Such action by the neighborhood council
shall stop all site development associated with the project, such action shall be
binding upon the City of Spokane, and the City of Spokane shall defend such action
against any legal challenges.
C. A neighborhood council shall veto a land development project if requested to
veto that project by a number of neighborhood registered voters greater than fifty
percent (50%) of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general
municipal election within that neighborhood. Petitioners must find that the land
development project may adversely affect the neighborhood, and that the project is
incompatible with either the neighborhood’s planning, the City’s Comprehensive
Plan, or the City Charter. Such action by the neighborhood council shall stop all
site development associated with the project, such action shall be binding upon
the City of Spokane, and the City of Spokane shall defend such action against any
legal challenges.