Appellant says Vancouver officials short-circuited initiative process

Jackson Maynard, counsel for Save Vancouver Streets, told the court the city failed to follow the charter's initiative procedures and that city officials effectively prevented voters from deciding the issue. "The city attorney got to be judge, jury, and charter itself," Maynard said, arguing that the attorney's review was advisory in purpose but was used as a de facto validity determination. He said his client collected "6,572 signatures, significantly more than the 4,000 required."

Maynard asked the court to reverse the trial court on process grounds and cautioned against premature pre-election adjudication: pre-election challenges are disfavored, he said, because voters should have the first opportunity to weigh in and, if the measure passes, any legal challenge could be brought afterward. He relied on Rental Housing Association v. Federal Way to argue the city attorney cannot act as a gatekeeper to prevent an initiative from reaching voters. Maynard reserved two minutes for rebuttal and later reiterated that nothing in the charter gives the city attorney a veto over the initiative.