Hi A Better Richland Friends,
I know everyone is chomping at the bit to advance our election by district charter amendment, so several of us have been working on an election plan.
Our focus will be on the voters.
For the next few weeks, we will be preparing for the big push in Sept. and Oct. Our focus is on the voters of Richland. Our successful signature drive was non-partisan, so we have decided to keep it that way by not looking for any group endorsements.
Fundraiser on July 13
First up is a BIG fundraiser dinner on Sunday, July 13 at 2354 Harris. We need money for fliers and yard signs.
This week we will develop an invitation and reach out to you with more information. We need to have a plan to expand beyond our group for this fundraiser.
Information for voter pamphlet
Before the first of August, we must submit information for the Voter Pamphlet. Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton emailed me that she will have an outline of the information she needs next week.
Door hangers instead of mailings
Think about what precinct that you would like to adopt. Not only will this save money, but I believe that door hangers receive more attention than a mailer. Each precinct will probably have 400 houses with voters.
A Better Richland Facebook page.
We’re going to create a Facebook page for A Better Richland. Then we will share, share, share our messages.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
Washington Supreme Court Case Doug McKinley argued our case before the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday, June 12.
The judges seemed to like our argument that citizen participation in government was thwarted by the auditor’s decision that the “next regular municipal election” skipped three before a vote in November. What the court will do about it is another question. You can watch the hearing here: Washington State Supreme Court – TVW
Interactive map
Our founder, Shir Regev, has been updating our website and recently added Sarah Gates interactive map to it. If you type in an address, you can see what district it is in. Here’s the link: Interactive Proposed Districts Map — A Better Richland
No more first-class cities with all at-large councilmembersLast but not least!! Voters in Vancouver, the only other first-class city in Washington with all at-large members of the city council, will decide in November whether they want to change to a four-district system. They would also have two at-large members and a mayor elected at-large. The citizens did not have to collect signatures in Vancouver. The Vancouver City Council approved the proposal at their last meeting by a vote of 6-1, the at-large elected mayor being the only no vote.
Thank you for all of your help. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you.
Randy
Volunteer Coordinator
509-554-4438