A Better Richland (ABR) is a non-partisan group that is attempting to redistrict the city into representative districts instead of having all seats on the city council be at-large.  Volunteers began the initiative campaign this summer and set out to gather signatures. It was an effort that had many Richland residents of all political affiliations signing on.

Gathering signatures

ABR sought advice from a Seattle lawyer this spring regarding putting together the initiative. The lawyer advised ABR that they would need to gather 3600 signatures. 

Tim Taylor, one of the volunteers with ABR, gathered 240 signatures himself. He explained how he was able to get so many to sign: 

“I told them that an at-large member doesn't represent any specific area of the city, so they have no real stake in what goes on in any particular area. I also talked about how to win an at-large seat, a candidate must run to gain the majority of votes from 22,000 households, and that takes a lot of money.”

Taylor also mentioned that one council member had received $30,000 worth of independent expenditures from a political action committee (PAC). “While this person may be fine and upstanding, you have to wonder why it was so important to this PAC that they would spend $30,000 to get someone a seat on our city council,” said Taylor.

ABR was successful in gathering around 3800 signatures. 

“I got signatures from both ends of the political spectrum,” Taylor said. “I let people know right away that I was collecting signatures for a non-partisan ballot initiative, and that seemed to open the door for a discussion about the initiative.”

Taylor said that about 90% of the people he spoke with when collecting signatures didn't know that Richland City Council doesn’t have district representation. “That's not a criticism,” he was quick to add. “I'm somewhat involved in local politics, and I never thought that much about it, either.”

So, the people Taylor spoke with wanted to know what ‘at large’ means, and what difference a district-based city council would make. “Once they heard my explanation, they thought that the change to a district-based city council was a good idea, and wanted to sign.”

A historical problem

The issue of redistricting has come up several times in Richland, including in a workshop September 17, 2021. City Attorney Heather Kintzley spoke for an hour about making charter amendments, including redistricting. 

From the published workshop minutes: 

“City Attorney Kintzley provided an overview of charter comparisons with other first-class cities in the State of Washington, reviewed potential topics for City of Richland charter amendment, and described the process and timeline to submit proposed charter amendments to Benton County for inclusion on the ballot in the 2022 general election.”

However, no action was taken after the workshop, as the council decided to wait until after the general election in November of 2021. After that, it appears that the council didn’t take any action to amend the charter, including adding districts. 

What happens now?

Even though ABR gathered more than the required number of signatures, that in itself is not enough to trigger a special election. 

In the first week of October, Brenda Chilton, Benton County Auditor, was asked about the costs of putting the redistricting initiative on the ballot and who would be responsible to pay for that ballot item. 

Chilton replied: 

“We’ve been reviewing this matter with our attorney.  Based on an initial review and discussion with the City, it has been determined that the law requires charter amendments to be placed on the General Election ballot, although further review is being done on this and other questions.  If it is on the General Election ballot, we would estimate the shared cost to the City would be between $20,000-30,000.”

Once the signatures are verified and counted, the charter amendment could be placed on the November General election ballot in 2025, explained Auditor Chilton. 

If voters pass the redistricting measure, the first Richland City Council election with the new districts will be in 2027. 

The initiatives are now in the hands of the Auditor’s office. 

Volunteers met at City Hall in Richland on October 8 to drop off the initiatives to the City Clerk, and were told that it would take about a week to verify all of the signatures by matching them to registered voters living in the city. 

ABR was notified on October 16 by the auditor’s office that the required number of signatures had been confirmed. Richland redistricting will be on the ballot in 2025.

A lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Dori enjoys the outdoors, her family, and making good trouble. She has worked for many years in broadcasting and reporting and believes in the value of the 4th estate. She is a true community advocate that loves Washington.