Jan 9 - Seattle Bag Ban in No Danger From "Crazy" Efforts to Overturn It
Media reports indicate that a Seattle man is trying to stir up trouble for the city’s recently passed bag ordinance. According to the Seattle Times, the man is quoted as saying, "I really am crazy." Seattle passed a bag ordinance in December of last year, which becomes effective this coming July.
In 2008, the city had passed a different version of the bag ordinance, which was later overturned by voter referendum after an intensive, industry-funded campaign. The plastic bag industry spent $1.4 million dollars to gather signatures in opposition to the 2008 ordinance.
This time around, it won't be so easy to defeat the well-written, well-supported bag ordinance. With just over a week left to meet the deadline for 16,000 signatures in order to put the ordinance on the ballot, not even 200 have been collected thus far. That’s less than 1% of the amount needed.
The Seattle resident is reportedly printing petitions in several Seattle area newspapers to gather more signatures before his deadline, but his chances of success are slim. Not even the plastic bag groups who paid for the 2008 anti-ban campaign are willing to join the fight and told the Seattle Times that they are focusing their attention elsewhere.
See lists of local bag ordinances in California and throughout the United States, and take action on current proposed ordinances in California.