Hold on a second: WHAT?! They need to get it in by mid May for an August deadline? I may disagree with 15Now, but even I think it's crazy to have that big a gap between handing in paper work and getting the okay that something will be on the ballot. So they're suppose to just wait and see if it gets approved, and just spend money on a campaign that may not get the go ahead?
City Clerk needs some Red Bull or something.

Whoa . . . @1. Good on ya.

I imagine they need some time to make sure the signatures are valid. I would assume that they could assume that it would be accepted unless for some reason the signatures aren't valid. Typically about 25% are invalidated. That would take some time.

Well that's dodgy a May deadline for an August deadline for November ballot.

This, Collectivism_sucks, is where your naive political philosophy collapses, reality is much more ridiculous.

@1 The vast majority of November voters aren't looking for or listening to political messages in May, June & July. The delay between signature submission and verification is no big deal. But the compressed timeline chosen by the proponents raises questions about how well prepared they are to run an effective campaign.

As far as tip misappropriation, take that, Meinert.

In addition to counting signatures, verifying signatures and allowing for recounts and potential challenges to the signatures, you have to include time to draft a ballot title and permit that to be challenged. Then, the City Council has to decide whether it will adopt the measure or adopt a competing measure. In other words, just because you can hire a bunch of paid signature gatherers to turn in a bunch of petitions doesn't mean you automatically get on the ballot, whether you're Tim Eyman or 15 Now.

@4
Huh? How is saying that it is a bit absurd for the city to need a May Deadline for an August announcement "politically naive"? How is it "naive" to think that one month, and not three, should be good enough to get the work done of ensuring they measure gets on the ballot? And what does this have to do with "my politics"? I may be against 15Now, but I understand and am grateful that we live in a society in which people can vote for who ever or whatever they choose with reason.