School Dist. No. 81 of Spokane County v. Taxpayers of, and Within, School Dist. No. 81 of Spokane County

• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: HILL
• Citation: School Dist. No. 81 of Spokane County v. Taxpayers of, and Within, School Dist. No. 81 of Spokane County, 225 P.2d 1063, 37 Wn.2d 669 (Wash. 1950)
• Decision Date: 22 December 1950
• Docket Number: 31644.
• Parties: SCHOOL DIST. NO. 81 OF SPOKANE COUNTY et al. v. TAXPAYERS OF, AND WITHIN, SCHOOL DIST. NO. 81 OF SPOKANE COUNTY et al.

225 P.2d 1063

37 Wn.2d 669

SCHOOL DIST. NO. 81 OF SPOKANE COUNTY et al. v. TAXPAYERS OF, AND WITHIN, SCHOOL DIST. NO. 81 OF SPOKANE COUNTY et al.

No. 31644.

Supreme Court of Washington.

December 22, 1950

Department 1.

Will Lorenz and Davis, Trezona & Chastek, all of Spokane, for appellants.

Burcham &amp Blair, John E. Blair, Robert E. Blair, and Lewis H. Orland all of Spokane, for respondents.

HILL, Justice.

This action was brought under Rem.Rev.Stat. (Sup.) § 5616-11 et seq. Laws of 1939, chapter 153, to secure a determination of the validity of a proposed bond issue.

School District No 81 of Spokane county filed its complaint seeking to have declared legal and valid both the proceedings in which the board proposed the commencement of a two-million-dollar school building program, and the election in which the question of whether the district should issue bonds to cover the cost of such a program was submitted to the voters of the district.

In accordance with the statutory procedure, the trial court designated one Fred Ashley as defendant in the action, as a representative of all the taxpayers in the district. The taxpayers interposed a demurrer to the complaint and, upon its being overruled chose to stand on their demurrer, and judgment was entered in accordance with the prayer of the complaint. This appeal followed.

The issue presented on the appeal is whether proper notice of the election was given. The following facts relative to notice were admitted by the demurrer: (1) that the election board adopted a resolution July 18, 1950, calling for a special election to be held September 12, 1950; (2) that there was compliance with that portion of Rem.Rev.Stat. § 5148-3, Laws of 1923, chapter 53, § 7, calling for the posting of a notice of special election at each polling place for such election, not less than thirty nor more than forty days Before the date of election (Such true and correct copies of the notice of election were posted at the 193 polling places within the district on August 9, 1950, and remained there until thirty-three days later, the date of the election); (3) that the official notice of special election was published in the 'Inland Empire News,' a weekly newspaper of general circulation within Spokane county and within School District No. 81, on August 31, 1950, and September 7, 1950 (twelve and five days Before the election); (4) that wide newspaper publicity was given to the bond issue proposition and to the date of the special election in two daily newspapers of general circulation within the district, such publicity continuing through the period from May 6, 1950, up to and including the election day; (5) that 13,000 pamphlets truthfully explaining the bond issue were distributed to parents of school children within the district; (6) that a citizens' committee composed of 5,849 volunteer precinct and block workers was organized and functioned to give publicity to the proposed school bond election; (7) that 320 posters were placed in public conveyances and public places urging people to vote for the bond issue; (8) that from September 4, 1950, to September 6, 1950, the members of the citizens' committee called at all of the residences within the school district, explaining the proposed bond issue to the occupants, pointing out the date of the election, and leaving at 75,000 of the residences pamphlets explaining the proposition; (9) that by radio broadcasts and in other ways the nature of the bond issue proposition and the date of the special election were brought to the attention of the voters of School District No. 81; (10) that the election was duly held, and that, of 40,147 votes cast, 31,896 were in favor of the proposition.

The sole basis for the appellants' contention that the bond issue is invalid is that the...