Injection site opposition continues push against King County

The initiative to ban safe injection sites may be a thing of the past, but proponents are still pushing back against King County officials and alleged attempts to thwart initiative efforts.

The Washington State Attorney General’s office has handed over a complaint to the Public Disclosure Commission — waged by the I-27 campaign — according to The Bothell Reporter. The PDC may decide to investigate allegations that King County acted unethically last July. In short, I-27 organizers argue that the Department of Health — Seattle King County used taxpayer money to fund online advertising against the initiative.

RELATED: I-27 leader calls out King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg

“The concern is that employees are using their time — which is paid by taxpayers — and using taxpayer funds to campaign against an initiative, falls in line with the whole obstructionist campaign against us by Seattle and King County to prevent the citizens from voting on Initiative 27 – to ban heroin injection sites,” said Josh Freed who spearheaded the I-27 campaign.

“Now those people who are elected are taking actions against the citizens to prevent them from having a voice and using tax dollars to do so,” he said.

The initial complaint was filed by Freed over the summer. The AG’s office had 45 days to respond. According to Freed, the office did not. It prompted him to send another letter stating the I-27 campaign would file a lawsuit if the office remained silent on the issue. That’s when the AG’s office turned the matter over to the PDC.

Initiative process and King County

The issue began when Redmond City Councilmember David Carson authored a pro-I-27 opinion piece, published in the Redmond Reporter on June 29. A couple weeks later, The Reporter published a letter-to-the-editor from the Department of Health, countering Carson’s opinion. The health department posted that published letter on its Facebook page, then paid Facebook to promote the post — essentially a paid advertisement.

I-27 alleges the paid push by the health department violates state regulations that prohibit officials from meddling in the initiative or election process.

“It’s absolutely a violation of the law when tax dollars are used to obstruct the voice of the people,” Freed said. “Using employee time and tax dollars to actively campaign against an initiative of the people is not only inappropriate, it’s illegal.”

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