In a few months, Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is likely to be bidding the Emerald City’s nine-member legislative body adieu when she makes the jump to the King County Council, assuming she once again prevails over rival Sofia Aragon in the 8th District November general election runoff.
Before she leaves, Mosqueda is putting on the table a thoughtful proposal to adjust the election timing for Seattle’s eleven executive and legislative positions. The proposal takes the form of a charter amendment that would be submitted to voters next November (meaning, 2024, not this November).
The amendment would do two things:
- Stagger the terms of Seattle’s nine council positions so that roughly half are up in one cycle and half are up in the other cycle. Right now, the two at-large council positions are elected in one cycle (2021, 2025, etc.) and the seven district-based positions are elected in the other cycle (2023, 2027, etc.)
- Prepare Seattle for the passage of the Northwest Progressive Institute’s legislation to allow cities to transition to even year elections if they wish. NPI’s SB 5723, prime sponsored by Senator Javier Valdez (D‑46th District: Seattle) is currently parked in the Senate Rules Committee.
The Finance and Housing Committee is due to receive a briefing on Mosqueda’s amendment tomorrow, September 14th, 2023.
If approved by voters, the amendment would “reduce the terms of four Council seats (Districts 2, 4, and 6, and Citywide seat 9) to two years for one term only,” a staff analysis prepared by analyst Lish Whitson explains. “The effect of the change would be to have all even Council seats on the ballot in 2029 and 2033, and all odd Council seats on the ballot in 2027, 2031 and 2035.”
Positions #2, #4, #6, and #8 would thus be elected at the same time as the Mayor and City Attorney, while Positions #1, #3, #5, #7, and #9 would be elected two years before / two years after every mayoral election cycle.
To the voter, ballots would look like this:
Cycle A
- Mayor
- City Attorney
- City Council — At-Large Position #8
- City Council — District (voters in Districts #2, #4, and #6)
Cycle B
- City Council — At-Large Position #9
- City Council — District (voters in Districts #1, #3, #5 and #7)
Additionally, language would be added to the Charter enabling the Seattle City Council to adopt an ordinance transitioning the city to even-year elections.
Whitson explains:
The charter amendment placed on the ballot under the proposed Resolution would also authorize the Council to amend Council terms by Ordinance if the State authorizes or requires the City to have its elections in even years. Even year elections, because of the presence of federal races on the ballot, generally have much higher turnouts than odd-year elections. For example, in 2022, 70.3 percent of Seattle’s registered voters voted, compared to 55.3 percent voting in 2021.
This spring, the Washington State Legislature considered legislation to authorize even-year elections and may take up the issue again in the future. Rather than requiring a separate Charter amendment to make such a change, the proposed Charter amendment that would be placed on that ballot would also allow the Council, by Ordinance, to adjust terms so that all elections take place in even years. This section would apply to the terms of the City Attorney and the Mayor as well as Councilmembers.
Emphasis is mine. The second paragraph above is referring to our Senate Bill 5723, which had a successful public hearing in February and received a “do pass” recommendation in the Senate State Government Committee.
Our team developed SB 5723 to give cities flexibility. A city that wishes to change its election timing may do so either by referring a resolution to the people or councilmanically, as long as doing so would not conflict with the city’s charter. Most cities in Washington are what are known as “code cities” and do not have charters. A few cities, like Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, are known as “first class” cities and have home-rule charters, which are like municipal constitutions.
In a recent guest essay for The Urbanist, I explained how Seattle could change its charter to take advantage of SB 5723’s potential passage in the next legislative session. Councilmember Mosqueda’s amendment would — in addition to providing for staggered terms — amend Article XIX, Section 3 along the lines of what I had contemplated to enable a future switchover to even years to be approved by a vote of the Council. Here’s the modified Section 3 language:
Sec. 3 TERMS OF ELECTIVE OFFICERS. The terms of the Mayor, the City Attorney, and of Councilmembers shall be four years, except when this Charter provides otherwise, or when an ordinance creates shorter or longer terms to accommodate moving municipal elections to even-numbered years.
The proposed ballot title for the charter amendment is as follows:
THE CITY OF SEATTLE
CHARTER AMENDMENT NUMBER 30
City of Seattle proposed Charter Amendment No. 30 concerns terms of Councilmembers.
This measure would create two-year terms for Councilmember position 9 (2025–2027) and positions 2, 4, and 6 (2027–2029) so that subsequent election cycles would elect even-numbered Councilmembers in 2029 and odd-numbered Councilmembers in 2031. The Charter would also be amended to allow similar flexibility by ordinance to accommodate moving municipal elections to even numbered years if permitted by state law.
Should this measure be enacted into law?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Should SB 5723 and this charter amendment pass next year, Seattle would be able to start switching to even-year elections as soon as 2025, so long as the Council approved an ordinance authorizing a transition by January 15th, 2025.
The term staggering portion of the amendment seems to assume that a transition to even-year elections would not happen until the 2030s, after a transition to staggered terms has occurred. In the event SB 5723 gets passed, however, we think it would make more sense to accomplish these transitions concurrently, so the city could take advantage of the benefits of even-year elections more quickly.
Seattle could elect seven of its positions, including the two executive ones, to three-year bridge terms and the remaining council positions to one-year bridge terms.
The transition would look like this:
- 2025 > 2028 (three year bridge terms)
- Mayor
- City Attorney
- Council At-Large Position #8
- 2025 > 2026 (one year bridge term)
- City Council At-Large Position #9
- 2027 > 2028 (one year bridge terms)
- City Council District #2
- City Council District #4
- City Council District #6
- 2027 > 2030 (three year bridge terms)
- City Council District #1
- City Council District #3
- City Council District #5
- City Council District #7
Position #9 would, under this scheme, be the first position to be elected by Seattle voters for a four-year term in a midterm cycle (2026).
Below is the memo and a copy of the proposed charter amendment referenced above, in case you’d like to read the materials yourself.
Memo and charter amendment on election timing in Seattle
NPI thanks Councilmember Mosqueda for offering this amendment. With a few adjustments, this could set Seattle up perfectly to take advantage of the legislation we have proposed to let cities choose their own election timing.
Wednesday, September 13th, 2023
Teresa Mosqueda proposes amending Seattle’s charter to stagger council terms and prepare city for switch to even-year elections
In a few months, Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is likely to be bidding the Emerald City’s nine-member legislative body adieu when she makes the jump to the King County Council, assuming she once again prevails over rival Sofia Aragon in the 8th District November general election runoff.
Before she leaves, Mosqueda is putting on the table a thoughtful proposal to adjust the election timing for Seattle’s eleven executive and legislative positions. The proposal takes the form of a charter amendment that would be submitted to voters next November (meaning, 2024, not this November).
The amendment would do two things:
The Finance and Housing Committee is due to receive a briefing on Mosqueda’s amendment tomorrow, September 14th, 2023.
If approved by voters, the amendment would “reduce the terms of four Council seats (Districts 2, 4, and 6, and Citywide seat 9) to two years for one term only,” a staff analysis prepared by analyst Lish Whitson explains. “The effect of the change would be to have all even Council seats on the ballot in 2029 and 2033, and all odd Council seats on the ballot in 2027, 2031 and 2035.”
Positions #2, #4, #6, and #8 would thus be elected at the same time as the Mayor and City Attorney, while Positions #1, #3, #5, #7, and #9 would be elected two years before / two years after every mayoral election cycle.
To the voter, ballots would look like this:
Cycle A
Cycle B
Additionally, language would be added to the Charter enabling the Seattle City Council to adopt an ordinance transitioning the city to even-year elections.
Whitson explains:
Emphasis is mine. The second paragraph above is referring to our Senate Bill 5723, which had a successful public hearing in February and received a “do pass” recommendation in the Senate State Government Committee.
Our team developed SB 5723 to give cities flexibility. A city that wishes to change its election timing may do so either by referring a resolution to the people or councilmanically, as long as doing so would not conflict with the city’s charter. Most cities in Washington are what are known as “code cities” and do not have charters. A few cities, like Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, are known as “first class” cities and have home-rule charters, which are like municipal constitutions.
In a recent guest essay for The Urbanist, I explained how Seattle could change its charter to take advantage of SB 5723’s potential passage in the next legislative session. Councilmember Mosqueda’s amendment would — in addition to providing for staggered terms — amend Article XIX, Section 3 along the lines of what I had contemplated to enable a future switchover to even years to be approved by a vote of the Council. Here’s the modified Section 3 language:
The proposed ballot title for the charter amendment is as follows:
Should SB 5723 and this charter amendment pass next year, Seattle would be able to start switching to even-year elections as soon as 2025, so long as the Council approved an ordinance authorizing a transition by January 15th, 2025.
The term staggering portion of the amendment seems to assume that a transition to even-year elections would not happen until the 2030s, after a transition to staggered terms has occurred. In the event SB 5723 gets passed, however, we think it would make more sense to accomplish these transitions concurrently, so the city could take advantage of the benefits of even-year elections more quickly.
Seattle could elect seven of its positions, including the two executive ones, to three-year bridge terms and the remaining council positions to one-year bridge terms.
The transition would look like this:
Position #9 would, under this scheme, be the first position to be elected by Seattle voters for a four-year term in a midterm cycle (2026).
Below is the memo and a copy of the proposed charter amendment referenced above, in case you’d like to read the materials yourself.
Memo and charter amendment on election timing in SeattleNPI thanks Councilmember Mosqueda for offering this amendment. With a few adjustments, this could set Seattle up perfectly to take advantage of the legislation we have proposed to let cities choose their own election timing.
# Written by Andrew Villeneuve :: 9:03 PM
Categories: Elections
Tags: Even-Year Elections, Fair Elections
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