City Elections Officer: No time to split up Charter Commission's ballot measure on November ballot.
The clock has run out for the Charter Commission to refer additional measures this year.
Portland Business Alliance President Andrew Hoan has filed a lawsuit aiming to split up the Charter Commission’s charter reform ballot measure.
He wants voters to be able to vote on each reform as a separate ballot measure in November.
But even if the lawsuit succeeds, that’s not going to happen this year.
“Should City Administrator, supervised by Mayor, manage Portland with twelve Councilors representing four districts making laws and voters ranking candidates?”
That is the question.
The Charter Commission’s ballot question that is.
And the future of that question is turning into a bit of a nail-biter.
Its most significant challenge comes from Portland Business Alliance President Andrew Hoan, who has sued to block the question from the ballot, claiming it violates a constitutional rule that limits ballot measures to a single subject.
In an opinion piece in Portland Business Journal, Mr. Hoan said Portlanders should “have the choice to agree with all, none, or some of the charter reforms”.
Hoan wants to see separated measures on 2022 ballot - but there’s no time.
Mr. Hoan’s lawsuit requests that the court act quickly so that the separated measures may appear on the 2022 ballot.
“Promptly determining that the Charter Commission’s proposed measure violates the Constitutional single-subject requirement will leave time for the Charter Commission—before the 2022 general election—to re-submit the same reforms to the voters in multiple measures that ensure voter choice and follow single-subject requirements,” the lawsuit says.
But is that really possible?
Rose City Reform reached out to the City Auditor’s Office to ask if the separated reforms might still have time to make it onto the November ballot.
The answer was a firm no.
The earliest Portland could vote on separated measures would be 2024.
According to Louise Hansen, City Elections Officer, there’s a provision in Portland City Code that says measures proposed by the Charter Commission must be brought to City Council at least 120 days in advance of the next primary or general election.
That deadline passed on July 11, 2022.
In order to refer something other than what’s currently on the table, the Charter Commission would have to restart the process.
“If the court required the Charter Commission’s proposed measure to be separated into multiple measures, the earliest the measures could appear on the ballot is the 2024 May Primary Election,” Ms. Hansen said.
Andrew Hoan could not be reached for comment.
Another challenge has a beef with wording, not content.
It’s not just the opposition that wants to challenge the Charter Commission’s ballot question. Next Up Action Fund, a youth civic engagement and voting rights organization that supports the Charter Commission’s goals, has also taken issue with the way the question is constructed.
Elona Wilson and Isabela Villarreal of Next Up have filed a ballot title challenge asking for the question to be reworded as follows:
“Should City Administrator, supervised by Mayor, manage Portland; twelve Councilors representing four districts make laws; voters allowed to rank candidates?”
According to the lawsuit, the revised syntax would highlight the three separate reforms at play - and the word “allowed” would clarify that ranking candidates is an option, not a requirement.
The challenge also requests edits to the explanatory statement, particularly related to ranked choice voting and the cost of the proposed reforms.
“We support the ballot measure enthusiastically, and filed this petition in the hopes that voters will receive the clearest possible ballot title and explanatory statement as they consider approving this powerful strengthening of our democracy,” Isabela Villarreal, Next Up’s Policy and Communications Manager told Rose City Reform.
Rewording the question wouldn’t kill the measure.
Since the ballot title challenge from Ms. Wilson and Ms. Villarreal doesn't alter the intent of the ballot question, the question could still appear on the 2022 ballot if they win.
According to Ms. Hansen, the only requirement for the revised question to go forward is that the court decides in time for the City Elections Officer to meet the County’s filing deadline of September 8.
“The court’s decision is the final decision and no additional vote from the Charter Commission is required,” she said.
A third legal challenge appears to have been filed, but Ms. Hansen said the Auditor’s Office has received no official notice of that challenge, which is required by law.
That challenge was reportedly brought by James Posey, co-founder of the National Association of Minority Contractors of Oregon.
Charter reform in the news:
Portland Business Journal: Opinion: Charter reform measure will lead to a better Portland for everyone.
PSU Vanguard: Portland ballot measure offers new form of government.