The backer of an initiative that would see ordinary citizens in King County meet in an organized network of small groups to debate leading issues of the day said Thursday his measure has qualified for the November ballot.

Jim Spady, son of Dick's founder Dick Spady, says his Initiative 24 was confirmed by King County Elections to have enough petition signatures to make the fall election.

P-I reporter Gregory Roberts wrote about I-24 earlier this year.

Under the Spadys' Initiative 24, the county auditor would appoint a volunteer "citizen councilor coordinator" to organize the network of discussion groups, drawing on community, business, religious, educational and other organizations for volunteer participants.

They would meet in groups of a dozen or fewer in homes or workplaces to consider topics suggested to the auditor and endorsed by a committee of county and municipal elected officials, school superintendents, college presidents and others.

The coordinator also would assign "value reporters" to interview experts and produce evenhanded reports on the topics for discussion. Participants would fill out a questionnaire on the issue, and the results would be provided to county officials and the public via the Internet.

All the work would be performed by volunteers (except for the auditor), and all the costs would be covered by donations, Spady said. The network would not be set up until $20,000 was donated

I-24 backers say now that the measure has qualified for the ballot the King County Council can: enact the proposal directly into law; refer the proposal to the voters as part of the November 6 general election; or refer the proposal to the voters on November 6 along with a Council-drafted alternative.