Group seeking change turns in petition signatures

EPHRATA — A group of citizens seeking to have the current system of county government examined and studied for possible changes, moved a bit closer Monday to their goal.

The group, Voters for Council-Manager Form of Grant County Government, dropped off 2,272 petition signatures from registered Grant County voters, according to group spokesman Ralph Kincaid, a Moses Lake real estate agent. County election officials should begin counting the signatures and validating them on Thursday.

Kincaid's group needs 1,965 of those signatures collected to be valid before the freeholder election they seek is placed on the November ballot. That number is equal to 10 percent of voter turnout during the last general election.

"We did this (collected the signatures) in about four weeks," Kincaid said Monday. "There's a lot of people that didn't think it could be done, but it was one of the easier things I've ever had to do. Over 80 percent of the people that I talked to, had a chance to explain the process to, immediately signed."

Kincaid's group collected the signatures after the Grant County commissioners in June decided not to place the freeholder election on the general election ballot. Kincaid had hoped to sidestep the petition process. He claims the commissioners created an "adversarial atmosphere," by forcing his group to collect signatures.

"And that's happened, we've seen the elected officials come out against this process," Kincaid said. "Several of them say, 'We think this is a good process, but we don't want you to do it.'"

Those who favored the petition route argued it was an important process that educates voters. Before the commissioners made their decision they held a public hearing. A majority of citizens attending the hearing opposed Kincaid's efforts to skip the petition process.

If the group's signatures are good, this becomes the first time Grant County voters will be asked to decide whether to elect a group of freeholders, said Grant County Auditor Bill Varney. The freeholders would be tasked with probing the current county system for possible inefficiencies or weaknesses. A special filing period for freeholder candidates would be scheduled, Varney said.

During the general election, voters would approve or reject the freeholder process and select the individual freeholders, Varney said. If voters reject the freeholder process, then the freeholder-position elections are voided.

If voters approve the process, the freeholders, a group of 21 registered county voters, would have the choice of recommending changes, or deciding if the current system should remain in place. The freeholders would have up to two years to decide on any possible changes and, if necessary, draft a new charter. Any new charter would then go before voters for approval.

Seven freeholder positions would likely be elected from each of the county commissioners' districts, Varney said, based on what has occurred in Washington counties that previously opted for the freeholder process.

Depending on the number of freeholder candidates who may run, the county may have two ballots during the general election, Varney said.

"We may not be able to get all this stuff on one ballot, front and back," Varney said. "Our printing costs would go up significantly with two ballots."

Election officials should be done validating the signatures and have the official count early next week, Varney said.