In October, when asked about the referendum proposals drafted by People First Portland, our city councilors danced around their substance. The proposals were called an attempt “to pass the Democratic Socialists’ agenda without consideration by local elected officials or members of the general public” – a bizarre claim about public ballot initiatives – that could not be “undone for 5 years.”

It’s clarifying now to read Martin Jones’ recent op-ed (Dec. 30) in this paper, which says straightforwardly what our councilors preferred to leave implicit: “Referenda are a terrible way to make policy.”
 If there exists an effective critique of citizen-initiated referenda, you won’t hear it from Mr. Jones.

I’m proud of many of Maine’s recent referendum decisions, especially ranked-choice voting and Medicaid expansion. It’s true that voters will be under-informed; it’s true that referendum questions will be sometimes half-baked. It’s willfully ignorant to believe that representative democracy will consistently do better. Remember that our duly elected former governor once tried to roll back a ban on BPA-laced plastics. (“Worst case,” said Paul LePage, “is some women may have little beards.”)

In an era when many of our representatives have succumbed to the riptide of corporate lobbying, citizen-initiated referenda may be our best hope.

Daniel Peach
Portland

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