Proposition One News

August 21, 2021  - Options are complicated in Lewiston, where strong mayor initiative will appear on ballot

By William L. Spence Of the Tribune Aug 21, 2021 Comments

A two-week candidate filing period begins Monday for a variety of city council, school board and other local elected positions in Idaho.

Anyone interested in the open positions can file their declaration of candidacy with the city clerk. The filing period begins at 8 a.m. Monday and ends at 5 p.m. Sept. 3.

Lewiston easily takes the prize for the most complicated filing period this year. That’s because the number and type of positions open for election depends on the outcome to the strong mayor ballot initiative.

The initiative asks voters if they want to retain the current council-city manager form of government — wherein the council hires a city manager to run the day-to-day operations — or shift to a strong mayor-council form of government, in which the mayor serves as the chief administrator.

City Clerk Kari Ravencroft wrote a three-page letter explaining all the possible permutations.

If voters choose to keep the current council-manager form of government, she said, four at-large city council positions will be open for election this year. The current incumbents in those positions are Bob Blakey, Michael Collins, John Pensteiner and Kathy Schroeder.

However, if voters approve the strong mayor-council initiative, it means the mayor’s position and six entirely new city council positions will be up for grabs.

That means all seven of Lewiston’s current councilors will have to file for office, if they want to retain a role in city government.

Overall, Ravencroft said, candidates have a choice of filing in any of five categories

Lewiston city councilor — this is for one of the four at-large positions under the current council-manager form of government;

Lewiston councilor — for one of the six new positions under the strong mayor-council form of government;

Lewiston councilor — for a seat on the council under either the council-manager or mayor-council form of government;

Mayor — under the new mayor-council form of government;

Mayor under the mayor-council form of government, or councilor under the council-manager form of government — which position the individual would actually fill will depend on the outcome of the strong mayor ballot initiative...

August 13, 2021 - Forum at Lewiston City Library covers some details of proposed city government structure; draft ballot is shared

By Elaine Williams of the Tribune Aug 13, 2021 Updated Aug 13, 2021 

Lewiston’s mayor would have a number of new responsibilities, such as enforcing health and quarantine orders, if the city’s voters back a change to a strong mayor form of government in the Nov. 2 election.

That duty now falls to the city manager, Lewiston City Attorney Jana Gomez said Thursday at an informational forum held by the Lewis Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of the Lewis-Clark Valley at the Lewiston City Library.

A quiet crowd of more than 100 people attended the event at the Lewiston City Library that was supervised by the Lewiston Police Department in a tightly controlled format. Questions were submitted before the event, and no time was allotted for speakers other than the presenters.

Gomez summarized the differences between the strong mayor form of government and the city of Lewiston’s existing council-city manager structure.

Generally in cities with strong mayors, the mayor serves as the administrative head of the city, handling duties such as developing the budget, the role the Lewiston city manager plays now.

While Lewiston is one of only three Idaho cities with city managers, several strong mayor cities have city administrators, Gomez said.

“My understanding is (they are) similar to a city manager,” she said. “They’re a professional manager, and they assist the mayor in their duties. That’s also an option that could happen.”

August 6, 2021 - City Councilor Bob Blakey says the council-manager form of government has worked just fine.

Tribune:  Voters will be asked in November if they want to transition to a strong mayor form of government. Do you think voters should support the change or continue with the current city council, city manager form of government?

Blakey:  First of all, I don’t know who came up with the words strong mayor. They’re asking for a change in the form of government and in the United States right now the city manager form of government is growing and it’s worked just fine for the city of Lewiston. I like the idea of having a professional at the helm. One that we can remove at any time and not have to wait three or four years for the voters to remove. So, my bias is toward having a manager form of government.

Tribune:  And you’ll vote as such in November?

Blakey:  Absolutely.

By Wilson Boots • July 29, 2021

Get vaccinated, or lose your job. This is the dilemma many Idahoans are facing right now. “We dare not get involved with ANY regulating of business…” That isn’t an exact quote from our Idaho governor or legislators, however, it is the sentiment. Many of our politicians are “conflicted” on what to do. Just so you know, I am not.

Capitalism is a good system that allows for prosperity in a free society. It is better than the alternatives that we have seen through history, but… it is not without dangers. Unless we recognize the potential pitfalls, like the one we now face, we will mistakenly lay our personal Liberty down at the altar of business/capitalism.

If all we take into consideration is the business owner, or the corporations, we will repeat the same horrors that we saw in this very country not all that many years ago. We must not forget the rights of the individuals that are working for those companies.

Why do we have a standard forty hour work week? Why are there overtime laws? Why can’t an employer force you to work 20 hours a day for weeks on end? It wasn’t always like this. I wonder if any of our state or local politicians have read the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair? If they did, apparently it didn’t impact them the way it did me or the nation of that era....

July 17, 2021 - District 6 Sen. Dan Johnson supports strong mayor initiative, intends to file in August

Lewiston’s state senator wants to become its first strong mayor in generations.

District 6 Sen. Dan Johnson said he supports the citizen initiative on the November ballot to switch the city’s form of government from the city manager-city council model to the strong mayor model and plans on officially running for the mayoral position once the filing period opens Aug. 23.

Other Lewiston residents have expressed their intentions to run for the position, but none with the name recognition of Johnson, who served as the city’s sanitation manager for several years and as its state senator since his appointment to fill a vacancy in 2011.

Johnson said he favors the switch in form of government because even though a city manager and a mayor both serve as the chief executive of the city and would have similar duties, only a strong mayor is directly elected by the people. In contrast, city managers are appointed by the City Council and serve at its will....

June 29, 2021 - Lewiston council approves the second reading; voters will decide in November

Lewiston city councilors voted 6-1 Monday to approve the second reading of an ordinance that would require the mayor to be elected with a simple majority if voters choose to switch from a city manager form of government to a strong mayor form of government this November.

Under the terms of the ordinance, if no candidate for mayor secures a majority of votes, the top two candidates will face each other in a runoff election to be held within 30 days of the general election. The runoff will be conducted at city expense.

Councilor John Bradbury, who ran for election in 2019 with a promise to push for a strong mayor form of government, cast the lone vote against the ordinance, arguing that many elected officials win office with less than a majority. They include the city councilors in the room, he said, all the way up to the governor of Idaho.

But Councilor John Pernsteiner said that with a proposal to give a higher level of authority and power to one individual, that person should be represented by a majority of the community.

“The way that it is currently structured, it would allow for an individual in a fractured election cycle to win with a small minority of the population,” Pernsteiner said. “In fact, it almost guarantees that the majority of the population will not vote for this individual if you have more than two people running for election.”....

June 17, 2021 - Vote on first reading of proposed Lewiston ordinance opposed by Councilor John Bradbury

By Joel Mills of the Tribune Jun 15, 2021 Updated Jun 17, 2021 

The Lewiston City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would require a majority vote to be elected mayor if the electorate chooses to switch the city to a strong-mayor form of government this November.

If the council goes on to adopt the ordinance, it will check off another box in a lengthy list of contingencies the city must have in place in the event that voters elect to jettison the long-standing city manager form of government. Mayor Mike Collins was joined by Mayor Pro Tem and Councilors Cari Miller and Kevin Kelly in voting for the requirement, while Councilor John Bradbury voted no.

Under the terms of the ordinance, if no candidate for mayor secures a majority of votes, the top two candidates will face each other in a runoff election to be held within 30 days of the general election. The runoff will be conducted at city expense, according to City Attorney Jana Gomez.

Bradbury said he voted no partly because of the expense of a runoff election, and partly because city councilors are elected by a plurality of votes, not a majority.

“There are good arguments on both sides of this issue,” he said. “It’s nice to come in with one vote more than the majority. But given the expense and how we run the other elections, I tend to come down on the side of not having the second election. Let the person with the most votes prevail.”

Mayor Mike Collins partly agreed with Bradbury, but said that if the majority of voters want to change the city’s form of government, a majority should elect its mayor.

“I think it’s worth the expense to make sure that a majority has chosen who’s in office at that point in time,” Collins said.

In other business, the council approved amendments to a 43-year-old planned unit development just west of Eighth Street that was opposed by at least one neighbor. Called the Vornholt PUD, the amendments will allow a short section of 21st Avenue to be narrowed by the owners of River City Church to allow the installation of new curb, gutter and sidewalk on the south side of the street, as well as a catch basin to contain runoff.

June 8, 2021 - Lewiston councilors settle on $80,000 plus full benefits if voters approve new form of government

Members of the Lewiston City Council agreed to tentatively set the annual salary for a strong mayor at $80,000 plus full benefits in the event that an initiative to end the city manager form of government succeeds in November.

That compensation package isn’t set in stone, but will be brought back to the council in a few weeks by City Attorney Jana Gomez in the form of an ordinance. If voters choose to abandon Lewiston’s long-standing city manager form of government, the ordinance will dictate not only the annual salary, but what kind of health insurance, retirement package and other perks will come with the job, and for how many members of their family.

The councilors who attended a Monday work session all agreed that a strong mayor should essentially get the same benefits as any salaried employee, which typically adds about 40 percent to their annual compensation, according to Human Resources Director Nikki Province.

Councilor John Bradbury, who ran in 2019 on a platform promoting the switch to a strong-mayor form of government, proposed setting the salary at $100,000 to attract sufficiently qualified candidates for the job. That way the city could avoid the added expense of many strong-mayor cities that also employ a professional city administrator to handle the day-to-day operations of a city.

Councilor Bob Blakey balked at that amount, putting forth a salary of $2,000 per month. The city of Post Falls pays its mayor the same amount, he said, but also employs a city administrator to assist the mayor. But Bradbury was against the idea of a city administrator.

“If we’re going to have a mayor, let’s pay him or her to be a mayor,” said Bradbury, the only councilor to publicly support a switch to a strong mayor. “Nobody will run for mayor for $24,000 per year.”

But Blakey pointed out that salary alone wouldn’t ensure that voters choose the right person for the job.

“History has shown us that not always the most qualified people will get elected,” he said. “That’s always a risk.”....

May 4, 2021 - Four officials express opposition to proposed change, but make plans in case voters approve it

By Joel Mills Of the Tribune May 4, 2021 Comments

The four Lewiston city councilors present at Monday’s work session all expressed opposition to the switch to a strong-mayor form of government voters will consider in November.

“I’m not a proponent of this initiative,” Councilor John Pernsteiner said of the ballot question forced by the petition drive of a group called Lewiston SMART. “I’m not a fan of a strong-mayor form of government. But I don’t want to be in a risky place because we didn’t plan ahead.”

Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Schroeder and Councilor Cari Miller were absent, as was Councilor John Bradbury, who made the strong-mayor switch a key component of his 2019 election campaign. But Mayor Mike Collins and Councilors Bob Blakey and Kevin Kelly shared Pernsteiner’s reservations about the switch.

“I’m also not in favor of change,” Blakey said in support of Lewston’s long-standing city manager form of government. “We’re a big-budget operation, and I want trained professionals running my organization.”

City Attorney Jana Gomez gave the council its second briefing on the topic, which shed even more light on the massive amount of work city staff is undertaking in preparation for the possibility of a change in the form of government. Gomez laid out the ballot details last month, while this round focused on the question of a mayoral salary and whether to follow the model of many other Idaho cities by requiring a professional administrator to assist the mayor.

Blakey said that if the switch happens, the city should follow Post Falls by making the mayor a part-time position that earns about $2,000 per month without benefits, while offering a competitive salary to a professional city administrator or supervisor.

Gomez urged the council to set the salary by the end of July so those who want to run for mayor will know whether it will be a part- or full-time position, and how much it will pay. City staff collected data from all other Idaho strong-mayor cities for the council to consider, including the salaries for their mayors and a city administrator if there is one. Councilors didn’t debate the amount since only four members were present, but Gomez said she would put together a proposal as a starting point for a future meeting.

All four councilors also expressed strong support for requiring that a successful candidate for a new strong-mayor position would have to win more than 50 percent of the vote to be elected if the form of government does change. Pernsteiner said that would eliminate the possibility of someone who only secures 30 percent of the vote, for example, from becoming mayor. Blakey agreed the measure was needed to assure the new mayor would have strong public support.

April 7, 2021 - Measure calling for a strong-mayor form of government will make November voting a bit complicated

By Joel Mills, of the Tribune Apr 7, 2021 Updated Apr 7, 2021 Comments

Lewiston City Attorney Jana Gomez brought city councilors up to speed this week on the complicated scenario that will unfold now that a strong-mayor initiative is on the Nov. 2 ballot.

A group called Lewiston SMART recently submitted enough valid signatures to Nez Perce County Auditor-Recorder Patty O. Weeks to qualify the initiative for the coming municipal election. If passed by a simple majority of voters, the measure would swap the city’s government from its long-standing city council-city manager form for a strong mayor-city council model.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts to make that switch over the years, but the Lewiston SMART effort is the first to come along in two decades.

Nez Perce County uses a three-column ballot, so Gomez said that in consultation with the offices of the Idaho Secretary of State and Attorney General, the city has opted for a ballot that places the question on the form of government in column one. It will ask whether the voter wants to retain the current form of government. A “yes” vote will be in favor of keeping the council-manager form, while a “no” vote will be in favor of a strong-mayor form....

By Joel Mills Of The Tribune Mar 29, 2021 Comments

Lewiston voters will have the chance to vote on their form of government this November after a group promoting a switch to a strong mayor gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot.

Joseph Gish of Lewiston SMART announced the group reached the threshold in about a month with the aid of more than 50 volunteers who gathered signatures around the community. So far Lewiston SMART has submitted approximately 1,100 signatures to Lewiston City Clerk Kari Ravencroft, and Nez Perce County Auditor-Recorder Patty O. Weeks verified enough of them last week to make the ballot.

“We verified 910 signatures and Lewiston SMART only needed 815,” Weeks said in an email to the Lewiston Tribune.

The number of signatures is determined by an Idaho law that requires a number equal to 20 percent of the voter turnout in the last municipal election in 2019. Gish said volunteers are still collecting signatures, however, and estimated another 800-1,000 will be turned in prior to the April 30 deadline.

Weeks did not immediately know the cost of adding the issue to the Nov. 2 general election ballot, but noted it would be mitigated because it will run on the same ballot as the city council race. Four seats will be up for election, including those currently held by Mayor Mike Collins, Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Schroeder, Councilor Bob Blakey and Councilor John Pernsteiner.

In a news release, Lewiston SMART said the city’s current city manager-city council form of government is failing to serve residents because the council-appointed city manager position operates with “little accountability to voters.” A strong mayor, on the other hand, would be directly accountable to voters, according to the news release.

The group is planning a campaign kickoff event at 4 p.m. April 30 on the front steps of City Hall. Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin will deliver a keynote address, and vintage World War II planes will conduct a flyover.

There have been several past attempts to change the city’s form of government, and all have been unsuccessful. Voters shot down the last try in 2001 by a margin of 61 to 39 percent. It was spearheaded by current City Councilor John Bradbury, who won election in 2019 while promoting a switch to a strong mayor.

Earlier this month, Lewiston City Attorney Jana Gomez said state law is unclear –  and in some cases silent –  on how and when a new mayor and council would be seated if the initiative prevails with a simple majority. Now that the issue will appear on the ballot, her office will move forward with planning for that possibility.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.

LEWISTON - Just one month after a local group of concerned Lewiston residents formed Lewiston SMART, a political action committee with the goal of 'returning government to the people,' their petition has collected the necessary 815 valid signatures to place the Lewiston “Strong Mayor” Initiative on the November 2nd Ballot. The plan would eliminate a city council appointed city manager and shift to a citizen elected mayor to oversee the city.

Lewiston SMART (Strong Mayor, Accountable to Voters, Responsive to the People, Taxpayers have a voice) was founded by residents Joseph Gish, Maureen Anderson and Ada Eldridge, "with the goal of returning local government to the people, as it was originally intended."

The petition drive started less than a month ago and quickly gained over 50 volunteers who began collecting signatures. Yesterday, the Nez Perce County Clerk, Patty Weeks, informed Lewiston SMART that her office has validated the necessary number of signatures to certify the initiative for the November 2nd Ballot. The initiative will be named “Proposition One” on November’s ballot.

Lewiston SMART believes that Lewiston’s current format of Council-Manager city government is "failing to serve its citizens and that Lewiston City Manager operates with little accountability to the voters." Lewiston SMART’s “Strong Mayor” Ballot Initiative, Proposition One, will give the voters the opportunity to change Lewiston’s form of government to an elected Mayor who manages the city and is accountable directly to the voters. 

Group SMART wants to change city manager form of government

By Joel Mills Of the Tribune Mar 3, 2021 Updated Mar 3, 2021 

It’s been 20 years since the last attempt, but a new group has officially launched an effort to change the city of Lewiston’s form of government.

The group calls itself SMART (for Strong, Mayor, Accountable to voters, Responsive to the people, Taxpayers have a voice). And as the name suggests, it wants Lewiston voters to ditch the city’s longstanding council-manager form of government — where the city council appoints a professional administrator to manage the city — for the “strong mayor” model in use by most Idaho cities where an elected mayor is the chief administrator.

According to a news release, the group is the creation of Rick Eldridge, Ada Eldridge, Maureen Anderson and former Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport Authority Board member Joe Gish.

City Attorney Jana Gomez said the group has submitted the 20 signatures necessary for her office to issue titles for a ballot initiative and allow the circulation of petitions to put the initiative on the Nov. 2 municipal election ballot.

According to Idaho election law, SMART will need to gather 815 signatures to qualify for the ballot, a number equal to 20 percent of the voter turnout (4,074) for the last municipal election in 2019. The group has until April 30 to collect the signatures, and a simple majority is required for passage.

City Councilor John Bradbury won his seat in that election, and his platform included the strong mayor switch. He has complained frequently that appointed City Manager Alan Nygaard is driving the agenda, not the elected members of the city council.

“The person responsible for formulating the city budget should have to answer to the people who pay for that budget,” Bradbury said, adding that an elected mayor is directly accountable to voters.

Bradbury was the spokesperson for the last effort to change Lewiston’s form of government in 2001. That attempt went down to defeat, with nearly 61 percent of voters choosing to retain the council-manager form of government. Voters also nixed a 1998 attempt by a closer margin, with almost 56 percent supporting the council-manager form of government.

Critics of the 2001 initiative said it was a thinly veiled personal attack on then-City Manager Jan Vassar. Nygaard has also borne the brunt of many slings and arrows cast by dozens of city residents, many of them rankled by the coronavirus mask mandate approved by the city council. But Bradbury asked that supporters of the strong mayor switch refrain from directing their ire at Nygaard.

“I don’t want it to be a matter of personality,” he said. “Alan Nygaard is doing what a majority of the city council wants him to do. I don’t blame him personally. I blame the system.”

He added that any personal attacks will detract from the quality of the group’s campaign.

As in 2001 and earlier efforts, there is uncertainty about how to move forward if the initiative does pass. Gomez said city and county staff have discussed that possibility, but won’t move forward with planning until the initiative does end up on the ballot.

“We are aware that the statutes are unclear, even silent, as to how the elections would occur,” she said of how and when a new mayor and council would be seated. “We know it’s something we need to work through, and we will do so if the petition garners sufficient signatures.”