BILL OF RIGHTS PART 2

A couple of preliminaries:  First, I am especially interested in this Bill of Rights (BOR) because for a number of years I have seen a  need for a redo of local government  I presented ideas to the last elected Board of Freeholders as it considered a wholesale change to the city and county governments.  I also introduced members of that body to the book The Vermont Papers which I believe proved useful to some on the board.  And I submitted numerous ideas at their public hearings.  I have interviewed several council members, mayors and activists as to their ideas on democracy in Spokane.  In all, I have read, thought and been concerned about issues of governance in Spokane for quite awhile.  But I have found no place for my input to be effective on drafting the BOR.  So, if some might look on my opposition to the BOR law as sour  grapes on my par, so be it. And finally, the extended critique I am putting forth is only my opinion , an opinion I feel I have  a duty to put forth,  even if only on this blog.  And I am open to any and all showings that I am wrong or that more needs to be said.

Okay, on to the initiative.  It seems to me that it is  essential that this type of legislation be clear.  But as  I move on from the title to the "whereases" section, I see that nothing could be foggier than  this listing of allegations which attempt to lay  a foundation for what follows.  The confusing language cuts the legal legs out from under the BOR without even getting to the much discussed legal problem of multiple topics.  And this brings up an issue:  The statements in support of this Bill are invariably  mom and apple pie simple such as, it supports democracy..  This just doesn't jibe with the garbled actual text which leaves much room for mischief in the carrying out of the eventual law.

"Whereas the City of Spokane wish to build a healthy, sustainable, and democratic community:"  Is this saying that we do not now have a healthy, sustainable, and democratic community?   I guess so since it is proposed to pass a law that "ensures" that we "build" one.  Isn't this the kind of language one would use in chartering a new city?  Yes it is, and so a note of revolution creeps in.

One more whereas and then we'll wait  for part 3.  "Whereas the people of the City of Spokane wish to build that community  by securing the rights, freedoms, and well-being of residents, workers, neighborhoods, and the natural environment;"   Normally we think of rights as certain negative rights because that is what we are granted in our federal and state Bill of Rights. There, we are protected from government infringement.   Government can not force us to shut up, testify against ourselves, allow it in our houses without a warrant, and so forth.  But positive rights are a little different.  They are more like what a baby demands.  You say you want something, you say you have a right to it.  You want a $20 an hour job, you have a right to it.  Now, there are clearly some natural positive rights such as the right to life; but most of these are universal and do not need to be in writing.   Note the use of the plural freedoms.  This tips me off we are going to looking at a claim of positive rights on down the page.  And next, I see any right granted to a resident as granted to that resident whether he or she is a worker or a non-worker; and every resident is a member of a neighborhood.  Why the specificity?  This brings us to the rights of the natural environment.

 I say you can only grant rights to those who can appear to claim those rights, or in the case of the incapacitated, have designated representatives appear for them.  Now how should the representative, however selected, figure out just what these rights and freedoms of the natural environment are?  Shall one go way back to some past truly natural environment and seek to restore it.  How else to say what is natural?  Must  the downtown dam be removed?.  Should all cars be removed from the city? Where is this band of experts to be found that will determine the number of fish of each species to be maintained in the Spokane River?  And once found to whom are they to answer?