Federal Way city attorney Amy Jo Pearsall determined on Monday that a proposed citizen’s initiative aimed at limiting the city’s spending on the Performing Arts and Events Center was invalid.

Federal Way residents Matthew Jarvis and Byron Hiller, who filed the initiative with the city on Sept. 22, said they hoped the measure would prevent the cost of operating the nearly $33 million events center from becoming a financial burden to the city. The initiative sought to prohibit the city from spending more than $100,000 annually on the facility.

However, Pearsall determined the topic contained in the initiative is “not appropriate for a citizen initiative measure.”

“Frankly, I’m heartbroken,” Jarvis said in an email to the Mirror. “Not because [Mayor Jim Ferrell’s] attorney rejected our attempt at democracy, but because Jim responded with the same vitriol and bullying that has become characteristic of so many [events center] supporters. Instead of finally honoring his campaign promise of giving voters a say on the [arts center], Jim made the same personal attacks against Hiller and myself that we have also endured from council member Dini Duclos and unofficial spokesperson Joann Piquette.”

After seeing the mayor “sink to this same level,” Jarvis said he was ready to give up the fight. However, since he and Hiller filed the initiative, he has heard from “hundreds of people” who not only asked to sign their initiative, but also offered to gather signatures from their friends.

“Because of this support, we will re-file and re-file again,” Jarvis said. “If the mayor’s attorney continues to deny us a voice, we will either appeal to the courts and/or find candidates to support who will give voters a voice.”

However, Ferrell said he is “surprised” at Jarvis’s reaction. After the city attorney issued her decision Monday, Ferrell said he called Jarvis and they had a “warm” conversation and focused on “being positive and sticking to the merits of this.”

He also does not believe he is bullying Jarvis or Hiller.

“To point out factual inaccuracies is not bullying,” he said, noting that Jarvis’s claim that the city will cut police officers is inaccurate, as the city added five positions under his leadership. “It is my obligation to do so and I’ve done so in a manner that I think is consistent with my role as mayor … My effort is to approach this on facts, on merit and while I appreciate their passion, it has to be matched with correct facts and a proper and legal way of proceeding. What they want to do is not proper nor legal. And that’s not bullying — that’s telling the truth.”

Piquette said Jarvis “has never considered” the benefits of the events center. She said she has tried to provide him with facts about the facility’s potential use, which “didn’t seem to impress him.”

“I’m so sorry Matthew has spent so much time trying to delay or stop this project,” Piquette said, adding, “Matthew has made some pretty strong insults to me, as well, telling me he is shocked at how little I know about the project. I responded that we see this from totally different views, that I see white where he sees black, and there was no reason to continue communicating. I hope he will now use his considerable skills in a more productive way and let the elected officials make the decisions, as they were elected to do.”

Duclos said she didn’t recall making any personal attacks against anyone.

Pearsall said her determination is based on the proposed measure’s attempt to limit the City Council’s ability to appropriate money for the maintenance and operation of the events center. Federal Way Revised Code 1.30.020 defines those topics that are inappropriate for direct legislation and includes those that appropriate money, Pearsall said in a letter the city sent to Jarvis and Hiller on Monday.

“Furthermore, appropriation of funds for the [events center] is an administrative function of the City Council, which is a power granted directly to the City Council by the state Legislature,” the letter continues. “Both the Federal Way Revised Code and state law are clear that the topic of Initiative Petition No. 15-002 is not an appropriate one for direct legislation by the people.”

Pearsall noted because she deemed the proposed initiative invalid, she is unable to move forward with formulating an initiative statement for the petition, which would have gone on the November 2016 ballot with the city’s approval.

Ferrell said Jarvis and Hiller are attempting to “take away the legislative authority of the duly elected representatives of our community. The people have voted for its leaders and those leaders decide how much money they’re going to spend on police, on roads, on improvements in our community. To try to selectively take away or limit is a dangerous slope to enter. What would prevent the next person from saying we’re going to limit the amount of money we spend on police, arbitrarily, or roads, arbitrarily. That’s why this is not a valid initiative.”

Admittedly, Jarvis said their efforts to re-file this initiative again will be “a long and expensive process, but still much easier than moving our families and businesses from Federal Way when the inevitable [events center] losses erode public safety and infrastructure. At the end of the day, we are just trying to put Jim’s promises about the [event center’s] finances into law and we can’t figure out why Jim is so opposed to this idea.”

Ferrell emphasized that he values Jarvis and Hiller as people and admires their passion.

“My hope is that we can move forward together as a community and I’ll hope that they are there on opening day and that we can really come together as a community,” the mayor said. “And I this community will be glad when it’s all done that we took this step to make such a transformational project.”