Email: City manager believes the proposed initiative is illegal, but supporters of the initiative will get a chance to voice their opinion on Jan. 6, 2025

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Save Vancouver Streets has a date to make its argument in front of the city council.

Do not be surprised, however, if the council does not act on the proposed initiative ordinance submitted by Save Vancouver Streets.

Cary Driskell, an assistant city attorney, sent an email to members of SVS advising them that the Vancouver City Council will conduct a public hearing regarding the initiative at its Jan. 6, 2025 meeting in the city council chambers. That meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and the SVS initiative is the 11th item on that night’s agenda.

Save Vancouver Streets turned in thousands of signatures in November as part of the initiative process, and those signatures were certified earlier this month. SVS wants the city to have to go to the vote of the people any time it wants to remove current vehicle lanes from major roads and thoroughfares. The initiative is in response to changes made to several Vancouver neighborhoods through the city’s Complete Streets projects. More Complete Streets projects are in the works or are being proposed.

Justin Wood of Save Vancouver Streets said he is hoping to pack the council chamber with supporters, in hopes of swaying the council’s opinion.

The email from Driskell implies that it will be an uphill battle for Save Vancouver Streets.

“The City Manager’s recommendation is that City Council take no action on the proposed initiated ordinance because it is contrary to the general laws of the state of Washington and the Vancouver charter and is thus illegal,” Driskell wrote in the email.

The email continues, though, promising that proponents and supporters will have an opportunity to provide public comment.

Wood said the city’s initial response is not a surprise. He was told early in the process that the city did not believe the initiative process could be used to make this kind of a change. 

“I didn’t expect them to go down without a fight,” Wood said.

Still, Wood noted, Save Vancouver Streets’ attorney has found several examples of case law to counter the city’s response.

Wood said all he wants is for the initiative to go to the ballot. He also does not understand why the city would be against asking the people for their opinion.

“If the city council is so confident this is what the people want,” Wood said of the Complete Streets project, “what are you worried about? I think we know the answer to that.”

Bottom line, Wood wants the voters to answer the question. He said he would accept the will of the voters.

“My opinion on this from the very beginning, if people in the city truly like the (Complete Streets) and the bike lanes, I’m fine with that,” Wood said. “I just don’t feel like people have had their say.”

Before the initiative gets a chance to get to the ballot, the city will hold a public hearing on the subject on Jan. 6.

“This will be an opportunity for residents of the city of Vancouver to share their thoughts,” Wood said.

For Save Vancouver Streets, that is a victory in and of itself.

This initiative process has been an eye opener for some at City Hall. The process is rarely used, but SVS came through with thousands of signatures more than the required number.

In November, city council member Bart Hansen told Clark County Today that the people behind Save Vancouver Streets did more than just turn in their initiative to City Hall. It was a message that the city needs to do a better job of listening to its citizens.

“Folks think they can’t talk to us,” Hansen said.

For Wood and other members of SVS, that was the crux of the issue when they started this grassroots organization. It appeared to them that the city said this is what is happening, and there is nothing else to be done about it. Complete Streets was coming to your neighborhood whether you wanted it or not.

That lit a fire that turned into Save Vancouver Streets.

The Save Vancouver Streets project has made significant progress since its origins at the end of 2023 and early into 2024. Clark County Today was invited to a meeting last winter:

In November, Save Vancouver Streets turned in roughly 6,500 signatures for its proposal: