Chartered territory: Waitsburg models innovation in a new era of challenges

Waitsburg, the only Washington city still operating under its original territorial charter, models innovation in a new era of challenges.

By Tiffany Hill

“It sounds fancier than it really is,” says Randy Hinchliffe, the city administrator, clerk, and treasurer of Waitsburg, a city of 1,185 in rural southeast Washington. He’s referring to Waitsburg’s distinction as the only city in the state still operating under the terms of its original charter, adopted in 1881, eight years before the Washington Territory was granted statehood. The classification also explains its motto: One of a Kind.

“The fact that we’re still operating under our territorial charter sets us apart from the other 280 cities in the state,” says Hinchliffe, who shares city hall with a deputy clerk, a public works director, and four public works specialists. “The charter lays out our general operational rules, but we still follow most of the same rules as other cities.”

One notable exception was the way Waitsburg conducted municipal elections. For 140 years, voters came to city hall, or the designated polling place, on the first Monday of April to elect or re-elect the mayor, councilmembers, and treasurer, who each served a one- year term.

“It was extremely inefficient and out of line with how voting is typically done,” Hinchliffe explains, noting that annual elections cost the city nearly $5,000 in legal notices, printing, postage, and other fees. “State law allows us to change our charter when it’s in the city’s best interest to do so.” So, in February 2020, Waitsburg’s council voted to amend its charter to follow general state election laws outlined in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), with elected officials all serving staggered four-year terms, and elections happening every two years.

Waitsburg has modernized in other important ways as well. During the pandemic, the city leveraged its share of American Rescue Plan Act funding, and a grant from the Port of Walla Walla, to initiate a $600,000 overhaul of its antiquated water and sewer system—the city’s largest-ever infrastructure investment.

These days, visitors flock to Waitsburg less for its history, and more for its proximity to outdoor recreation and Walla Walla wine country, its bustling foodie scene, and small-town charm. But there’s precious little real estate available for anyone who might be tempted to stay for good.

“People want to move here for the slower-paced community and a more-involved quality of life.”

“We are a small rural farm community that is very inviting and inclusive, but hasn’t really grown over the years,” explains Hinchliffe, a lifelong Waitsburg resident. “There’s a very low inventory of houses and, in both the short and long term, we could really use the development of new housing to help support the revitalization of our downtown.”

Although its charter is rooted in another era, the sweeping regulatory powers it grants the city (everything from prohibiting “opium smoking houses” to regulating the “transportation and keeping of gunpowder” to licensing and taxing “drinking saloons and beer shops and breweries”) give the city’s planning commission latitude when it comes to tweaking municipal code to spur residential and commercial development.

While plenty has changed in the one- of-a-kind city, in some ways governing happens much as it did in 1881.

“People want to move here for the slower-paced community and a more- involved quality of life,” Hinchliffe says, adding that Waitsburg “is where neighbors still know neighbors.”

For more information: cityofwaitsburg.com