ORDINANCE NO. 119560
AN ORDINANCE submitting a proposition to the qualified electors of the City, at the general election to be held on November 2, 1999, to amend Article IV, Section 12 of the Charter of the City of Seattle to specify that the Mayor is deemed to have taken favorable action on a bill when the Mayor signs it, or returns it to the City Council unsigned but without the Mayor’s disapproval, or when the ten days for returning the bill shall have elapsed without its return; ratifying and confirming prior acts; calling on the City Clerk to certify the proposed amendment to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County and directing such Director to submit the proposition to City voters; and providing for the publication of such proposed amendment.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subject to the approval of a proposition by a majority of the qualified electors casting votes thereon, Section 12 of Article IV of the Charter of the City of Seattle is amended as follows:
ARTICLE IV Legislative Department
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Section 12. BILLS TO BE PRESENTED TO MAYOR: Every bill which shall have passed shall within five days thereafter be presented to the Mayor.
RETURN OF BILLS; VETO: The Mayor shall return such bill to the Council within ten (10) days after receiving it.((, and i)) If he or she ((does not disapprove it,)) signs the bill or returns it unsigned but without disapproval or if the time for returning the bill shall have elapsed without its return, that shall be deemed a favorable action by the Mayor and it shall become an ordinance.((; i)) If ((he)) the Mayor disapproves ((it)) the bill, he or she shall, when ((he)) so returning((s)) it, specify his or her objections thereto in writing. The objections of the Mayor shall be entered at large on the journal of the Council, and published in the City official newspaper.
RECONSIDERATION OF VETOED BILLS: The Council shall, not less than five days after such publication, and within thirty days after such bill shall have been so returned, reconsider and vote upon the same, and if the same shall, upon such reconsideration, be again passed by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of all the members, the President of the Council shall certify the fact on the bill, and when so certified the bill shall become an ordinance with like effect as if it had not been disapproved by the Mayor; but if the bill so returned shall fail to receive upon the first vote thereon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the members it shall be deemed finally lost. The vote on such reconsideration shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or against the same shall be entered in the journal thereof.
Section 2. The King County Director of Records and Elections, as ex officio supervisor of elections, is hereby directed to submit to the qualified electors of the City the proposition set forth below at the City general election on November 2, 1999.
The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to certify the proposition to the King County Director of Records and Elections in the following form:
Proposed City Charter Amendment No. ___
Shall the Seattle City Charter be amended to specify that the Mayor is deemed to have taken favorable action on a bill (commencing the period, if any, for filing referendum signatures) when the Mayor signs it, or returns it to the City Council unsigned but without the Mayor’s disapproval, or when the ten days for returning the bill have elapsed without its return; and shall Article IV, Section 12 of said charter be amended accordingly?
Yes____ No____
Every qualified voter at the election desiring to ratify the proposition shall mark his or her ballot "Yes." Every qualified voter desiring to reject the proposition shall mark his or her ballot "No."
Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County as Supervisor of Elections the charter amendment proposed herein in the form of a ballot title conforming to the foregoing statement of the same, and shall certify a copy of the proposed charter amendment, and the same shall be published by the City Clerk in two daily newspapers in the City for at least thirty (30) days prior to such election and as required by RCW 35.22.170.
Section 4. Certification of the charter amendment proposed herein by the City Clerk to the Director of Records and Elections and any other act pursuant to the authority and prior to the effective date of this ordinance is hereby ratified and confirmed.
Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force immediately upon approval by the Mayor or, if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, then on the eleventh (11th) day after its presentation to the Mayor or, if vetoed by the Mayor, then immediately upon its passage over his veto.
Passed by the City Council the 19 day of July, 1999, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this 19 day of July, 1999.
Sue Donaldson, President of the City Council
Approved by me this 19 day of July, 1999.
Paul Schell, Mayor
Filed by me this 28 day of July, 1999.
Ernie Dornfeld, Acting City Clerk
Filed by me this 26day of July, 1999.
(Seal)