Sammamish City Council to form committees, close some meetings
February 4, 2010
By J.B. Wogan
New: Feb. 4, 1:52 p.m.
The Sammamish City Council is forming committees in 2010 to study and recommend policy decisions.
Council members will sit on the committees, a major difference from citizen advisory boards like the Planning, Parks and Arts commissions, which are appointed by the council.
In the past, the council has reviewed the recommendations of its commissions, but often modified or rejected major portions of commission proposals.
The implications of committee work isn’t clear yet. Councilman Tom Odell said the council wouldn’t rubberstamp recommendations from its committees.
He was also quick to point out that this wasn’t a harbinger of more committees in the future.
“There’s not a lot of appetite for creating organizational hierarchy,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Nancy Whitten said the benefit will be more productive discussions earlier in the lifespan of an issue.
The council formed (and later dissolved) committees once before.
In that case, the committees often made reports at the end of council meetings.
Odell said the intent was for the committees to hold closed meetings.
They may be permitted to hold closed meetings, but they must be careful to watch what they discuss in order to stay within the law, said Tim Ford, open government ombudsman for the Washington Attorney General’s Office.
Under the law, if the committee acts on behalf of the council, the meetings must be open.
The way to define ‘acting on behalf’ is not always crystal clear. Some things, such as accepting public comments or acting to kill a measure before it reaches the council would definitely trigger open meetings.
“I would argue that ‘acting on behalf of’ could be construed very broadly,” Ford said.
It would be difficult to hold council members accountable for crossing that line, he noted. Council members do not need to record closed meetings or to keep minutes.
Of the new committees being formed, one would focus on the city budget and ways to curb spending.
The other would look at public safety issues, specifically related to police and fire protection.
Odell said the public safety committee was essentially already formed before the retreat, with three councilmen working closely on Eastside Fire & Rescue issues.
That committee includes Odell, Councilman John Curley and Mayor Don Gerend.
Odell said the council felt that police and fire was a topic that deserved special scrutiny because it constitutes such a large portion of the city’s operating budget.
Whitten added that Odell, Curley and Gerend would already have been meeting with staff about EFR issues and reporting back to the council. Now they would be discussing police protection as well.
The other committee would focus on finance issues and would include Whitten, Odell and Councilman Mark Cross.
The council also appointed Councilman John James as a special liaison for city issues related to the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club.
Editor Ari Cetron contributed to this story.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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“It would be difficult to hold council members accountable for crossing that line, he noted. Council members do not need to record closed meetings or to keep minutes.”
Way to go for accountability in the new Council.
FAIL.
Frank Blau
Sammamish