The people of San Juan County reserve to themselves the power to make certain proposals, at their option, and to enact or reject them at the polls, independent of the County Council in accordance with this Article.
The people reserve to themselves the power of initiative. Any ordinance or amendment to an ordinance may be proposed by filing an initiative petition with the County Auditor.
(1) 
No initiative shall contain more than one (1) issue.
(2) 
No initiative proposal requiring the expenditure of additional funds for an existing activity or of any funds for a new activity or purpose shall be filed unless provisions are specifically made therein for new or additional sources of revenue which may thereby be required.
(3) 
Redistricting of the County Council Residency districts shall not be subject to the initiative process.
(1) 
Any legal voter or organization of legal voters of San Juan County may file an initiative proposal with the County Auditor, who within five (5) working days shall confer with the petitioner to review the proposal as to form and style. The County Auditor shall register the initiative by giving the proposed initiative a number, which shall thereafter be the identifying number for the measure.
(2) 
The County Auditor shall then transmit a copy of the proposal to the Prosecuting Attorney, who within ten (10) days after receipt thereof, in consultation with the petitioner shall formulate a concise statement, posed as a positive question, not to exceed seventy-five (75) words, which shall express and give a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure. Such concise statement will be the ballot title.
(3) 
The petitioner then has one-hundred-twenty (120) days to collect the signatures of the registered voters in the County equal in number to at least fifteen (15) percent of the votes cast in the County in the last gubernatorial election. Each petition shall contain the full text of the proposed measure, ordinance or amendment to an ordinance and the ballot title.
(4) 
The County Auditor shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and, if it is validated, submit the proposal to the people at the next general election that is at least one hundred and twenty (120) days after the registering of the petition.
(5) 
The County Council may choose to enact the proposal without change or amendment. If the County Council does not adopt the proposed measure and adopts a substitute measure concerning the same subject matter, the substitute proposal shall be placed on the same ballot with the initiative proposal.
(6) 
The voters shall be given the choice of accepting either or rejecting both. The voters shall then be given the choice of accepting one and rejecting the other.
If a majority of those voting on the first issue is for accepting either, then the measure receiving the majority of the votes cast on the second issue shall be deemed approved. If a majority of those voting on the first issue is for rejecting both, then neither measure shall be approved regardless of the vote on the second issue.
No ordinance enacted by power of initiative shall be amended or repealed by the County Council within two (2) years after enactment unless amended or repealed by a subsequent initiative or referendum.
(1) 
Any ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance may be proposed to the County Council by registering with the County Auditor initiative petitions bearing the signatures of qualified voters equal in number to at least three (3) percent of the number of votes cast in the County in the last gubernatorial election.
(2) 
Upon verifying the sufficiency of the signatures, the County Auditor shall transmit the initiative petition to the County Council, which shall hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance and enact or reject the ordinance within sixty (60) days.
If the proponents of an initiative fail to obtain the required number of signatures in the designated period but have sufficient signatures to qualify the proposal as a mini-initiative, the proposal, at the request of the proponents, shall be treated as a mini-initiative.
(1) 
The people reserve for themselves the power of referendum.
(2) 
The referendum may be ordered on any ordinance, or any part thereof passed by the County Council except such ordinances as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.
(3) 
Upon signature validation of a referendum petition, the measure passed by the County Council will be rendered ineffective pending the outcome of the referendum procedure. The signature validation of a referendum petition against one or more items, sections or parts of any ordinance will not delay the remainder of the measure from taking effect.
(1) 
Any legal voter or organization of legal voters of San Juan County may file a referendum proposal, against any enacted ordinance or portion thereof, with the County Auditor. The proposal shall be presented to the County Auditor within forty-five (45) days after the ordinance is passed by the County Council.
(2) 
Within five (5) working days, the County Auditor shall confer with the petitioner to review the proposal as to form and style. The County Auditor shall register the referendum by giving the referendum proposal a number, which shall thereafter be the identifying number for the measure.
(3) 
The County Auditor shall then transmit a copy of the proposal to the Prosecuting Attorney, who within ten (10) days after receipt thereof, shall formulate a concise statement, posed as a question, not to exceed seventy-five (75) words, which shall express and give a true and impartial statement of the measure being referred. Such concise statement will be the ballot title.
(4) 
The petitioner then has one hundred and twenty (120) days to collect the signatures of registered voters of the County equal in number to at least fifteen (15) percent of the number of votes cast in the County in the last gubernatorial election. Each petition shall contain the full text of the measure being referred and the ballot title.
(5) 
The County Auditor shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and if validated, submit the measure to the people at the next general election that is at least one hundred and twenty (120) days after the registering of the petitions.
The County Auditor, when assigning numbers to initiatives, referendums and mini-initiatives, shall use a separate sequential series for each category. No number shall be reissued once used.
The people further reserve the power of recall as provided in the Constitution and the laws of the State of Washington.