Opinion ID: 2633669
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Legislation or Administration

Text: The Court correctly identifies the subject of the Coalition's petition as an ordinance for the placement of a monument in a city park. As the Court notes, if a subject is legislative, it is appropriate for action by initiative, whereas if the subject is administrative, it may not be enacted through an initiative election. I agree with the Court's observation that there is no bright line rule clearly distinguishing legislative matters from administrative ones. Nevertheless, we may look to courts in other jurisdictions for guidance. Under any of the frameworks presented, the subject of the Coalition's petition is an administrative act that does not qualify for the initiative process. One rule for distinguishing between legislative and administrative matters is that an initiative is legislative if it adopts a new policy or plan, whereas it is administrative if it merely pursues a policy or plan already adopted. Worthington v. City Council of City of Rohnert Park, 130 Cal.App.4th 1132, 31 Cal.Rptr.3d 59, 65 (2005). In this case, the requested action  the placement of a monument in the park  is clearly governed by an existing plan. The legislature has provided that the management of real property owned by a city rests with the judgment of the city council. I.C. § 50-1401. By an ordinance adopted in 1995, the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners was given the responsibility to direct the ornamenting, adorning, laying out and improving of the City parks. Boise City Code § 2-05-04. A plan establishing the procedure for the placement of memorial plaques and monuments in City parks was adopted in 1999, five years before the Coalition's petition was submitted to the City. Together, I.C. § 50-1401, Boise City Code § 2-05-04, and the 1999 monument plan can be considered the enabling laws providing the basis for the very specific actions contemplated by the Coalition's petition. Because the Coalition seeks to place a monument in the park, an act that falls within the purview of an already adopted plan, the petition is an administrative act beyond the reach of the initiative process. Another framework for distinguishing between the two has been used by the Supreme Courts of Kansas, Montana, and New Mexico. In addition to the making new law/executing existing law distinction, a relevant consideration is whether the act declares a general public purpose and provides ways to accomplish that purpose generally, in which case it is usually legislative; or whether it is an act that deals with a small segment of an overall policy question, in which case it is likely administrative. City of Wichita v. Kansas Taxpayers Network, Inc., 255 Kan. 534, 874 P.2d 667, 672 (1994); Town of Whitehall v. Preece, 288 Mont. 55, 956 P.2d 743, 749 (1998); Johnson v. City of Alamogordo, 121 N.M. 232, 910 P.2d 308, 312 (1996). In this case, the Coalition's initiative petition dictating the size, wording and placement of a particular monument in a particular city park is clearly not a law of general applicability. Another consideration is that decisions requiring specialized knowledge and experience in municipal government may be characterized as administrative, even though they may also be said to involve the establishment of a policy. City of Wichita, 874 P.2d at 672. Under this framework, the project-specific petition that involves specialized knowledge and experience in park layout is clearly administrative in nature. Also, many have noted the initiative power is restricted to measures which are quite clearly and fully legislative. 62 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 318; City of Wichita, 874 P.2d at 672; Town of Whitehall, 956 P.2d at 749. In sum, under any of these analyses, the subject of the Coalition's petition is administrative, so it does not fall within the scope of the people's power to enact legislation. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the Court's opinion and would affirm the decision of the district court.