Hearing on Whatcom County’s child care tax initiative postponed after judge recuses himself
A challenge to an initiative seeking to repeal a tax that funds child-care programs in Whatcom County was continued until Tuesday, after Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Robert Olson recused himself from the case Friday.
Olson said a motion was filed earlier Friday asking for his removal, citing state law.
“I do not believe that I have the authority to hear this case because of that disqualification. I’ve already signed an order removing myself,” he said.
Copies of that motion weren’t immediately available, and Olson didn’t discuss its details during his brief remarks Friday.
“It happened on fairly short notice,” Olson told a courtroom with about 70 spectators attending.
A new hearing is be set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Judge Lee Grochmal’s courtroom.
Challenge to voter initiative
Protect Whatcom Kids, a political action committee that includes key Whatcom County figures in politics and social services, is alleging that the measure proposed by a Lynden business owner and others made procedural errors and false statements during the signature-gathering process.
Further, the plaintiffs allege that the initiative goes beyond the scope of an initiative because it would interfere with the county’s budget authority. Whatcom County officials have crafted plans and signed contracts to spend funds raised by the Healthy Children’s Fund that was created by Proposition 5, which passed by 20 votes in 2022.
Proposition 5 charges property owners 19 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, raising an estimated $10 million annually.
Named in the lawsuit are Tim Koetje of a commercial roofing company called Axiom Division 7; Whatcom County; and Whatcom County Auditor Stacy Henthorn, whose office runs elections countywide.
In addition to the Protect Whatcom Kids lawsuit, the Whatcom County Council is also asking a judge to rule on the measure’s validity.
Petitions filed
Petitions seeking to overturn the tax were filed with the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office on June 3, and they had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot as an initiative. Supporting the repeal is a political action committee called Washingtonians for a Sound Economy.
Councilman Todd Donovan, who is also a Western Washington University professor of political science who studies elections, said the ballot measure should have been filed as a referendum. That would have required a larger number of petition signatures and put time constraints on its filing.
Washington is one of 26 U.S. states that allow initiatives and/or referendums, according to Ballotpedia, an online encyclopedia.
In general, an initiative allows citizens to collect signatures to place a new law or constitutional amendment before the voters. A referendum allows citizens to collect signatures to ask voters whether to uphold or repeal a law.
