Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
Liberty state organizers fail to follow through on ballot measure
PASCO — Franklin County voters will not likely have the opportunity in November to vote on creating the "51st state" out of Eastern Washington’s 20 counties.
During a Franklin County Commission meeting this morning, Aug. 4, commissioners unanimously rejected the idea due to the organizer’s non-responsiveness.
According to county Administrator Keith Johnson, during a meeting in July commissioners agreed to put the measure on the ballot if the Liberty state organizers paid the $4,000 cost of adding it. They also said approval of putting it on the ballot was subject to approval of the language.
“The consensus was that if the private party wants to pay the extra cost, the board would consider it,” Johnson said. But since that time, “we’ve receive no communication from the Liberty state folks.”
Johnson said he polled several other counties and found that four have decided not to put the measure on their county ballots. Those counties are Grant, Whitman, Ferry and Columbia.
“I think this is too fractured to pursue this any further,” Commission Chairman Robert “Bob” Koch said.
“I’m out,” added Commissioner Brad Peck.
“Looks like it isn’t feasible at this time,” Commissioner Clint Didier said.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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