19840202 City Council MinutesFebruary 2, 1984 - Special Meeting
A special meeting of the Edmonds City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Larry
Naughten in the small Plaza Meeting Room of the Edmonds Library.
PRESENT ABSENT STAFF PRESENT
Larry Naughten, Mayor Brian Stewart, Bobby Mills, Acting Public Works Dir.
Jo -Anne Jaech Student Rep. Irene Varney Moran, City Clerk
Jack Wilson Jo Pendergast, Council Resource Person
John Nordquist Wayne Tanaka, City Attorney
Laura Hall Jackie Parrett, Deputy City Clerk
Bill Kasper
Lloyd Ostrom
The purpose of this meeting was for the Council to continue voting to fill the vacant position
on the Council. Mayor Naughten.noted that the candidates were limited to those who applied,
and the Council had nominated four, but their voting now was down to. two. Mr. Tanaka noted
that a majority of the Council could vote to nominate any of the other three who had applied.
Councilmember Nordquist thought the Council should have some empathy for the people involved,
and he thought the ballots should be limited to ten. COUNCILMEMBER KASPER MOVED, SECONDED BY
COUNCILMEMBER JAECH, TO TAKE FIVE BALLOTS AND IF A PERSON WAS NOT ELECTED TO TAKE A TEN-MINUTE
RECESS AND THEN TAKE FIVE ADDITIONAL BALLOTS AND AT THAT TIME IF A PERSON WAS NOT ELECTED, TO
DECIDE THEN WHAT TO DO. MOTION CARRIED. The voting commenced, with five ballots taken, a
recess, and then another five ballots, with neither of the candidates getting a majority vote.
In all the ballots the results were Dave Earling with three votes and Barry Birch with three
votes.
Councilmember Kasper requested that the City Attorney again advise the Council of their options.
Mr. Tanaka advised that they could continue on voting, or that they could stop voting and the
Mayor could make the appointment from one of the four candidates the Council nominated, after
this evening, and if the Mayor should not make the appointment the Council could still do it if
the Mayor did not act before they did. He said by majority vote the Council could vote to •
nominate others and then take a vote, or they could vote by majority to consider either of the
other two the Council had so far nominated.
Councilmember Nordquist thought the process they had used should be reviewed in the future. He
said it has been very trying for those involved and he expressed his sympathy to them for
having to sit through this kind of procedure. He thought the most appropriate thing to do
would be to move to adjourn and let the Mayor make the decision. He hoped the Mayor's deliberation
would be between the two candidates, Mr. Birch and Mr. Earling, as the Council could not reach
a majority on one or the other but the Mayor knew how the Council felt. Councilmember Nordquist
said he would.not be comfortable starting down the list again.
Mayor Naughten said he would hope the Council would make the decision but if it was left to him
he would review the people who were nominated for this ballot and make a decision which he
thought to be best for the City and the Council. He advised the Council that they would have
to trust his judgment, and he would select from the four.
Councilmember Ostrom said he agreed with Councilmember Nordquist that they should adjourn and
leave it to the Mayor. Councilmember Kasper thought they should reopen nominations completely
and if the Mayor moved in the meantime that would be fine. He thought any of the candidates
who had applied for this position or the one in December would be fine, but he thought they
should submit new letters. He said the Council had a chance to correct the process. He had
advocated the -single vote and he said maybe he was wrong ('selecting one Councilmember at a time
instead of selecting two when it was known that there would be two vacancies). He noted that
this was not a matter of personalities but was a matter of balance. Councilmember Hall said
they had tested the democratic process and had the luxury and -responsibility of interviewing
and talking and being.lobbied for candidates of high caliber. She agreed with Councilmember
Kasper. Councilmember Wilson thought that basically, even though they had stretched the system
some, none of them had anything to be ashamed of, and they had voted their convictions and had
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February 2, 1984 - continued
two good candidates. He thought the Council should make the appointment, if possible, but that
would depend on what the Mayor did. Councilmember Jaech thought the selection had been drawn
out too long and. that the Council.had other business that needed attention and that they needed
to get a full Council on board. . She concurred with Councilmember Nordquist, and said they
should get on with the business at hand and turn the selection over to the Mayor.
A question was asked as to whether the Mayor, could vote to break the tie, and Mr. Tanaka stated
that the Mayor could only vote after the 30th day with no result from the Council, and that he
could not vote to break the tie.
COUNCILMEMBER JAECH MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NORDQUIST, TO DISCONTINUE THIS PROCESS
BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT MAKING PROGRESS AND TO TURN THE DECISION OVER TO THE MAYOR. A ROLL CALL
VOTE WAS TAKEN ON THE MOTION, WITH COUNCILMEM3ERS JAECH, NORDQUIST, AND OSTROM VOTING YES, AND
WITH COUNCILMEMBERS KASPER, HALL, AND WILSON VOTING NO, RESULTING IN A TIE VOTE. Mr. Tanaka
said the Mayor could vote to break the tie on a motion, and MAYOR NAUGHTEN VOTED YES TO BREAK
THE TIE. THE MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Naughten said as far as he was concerned the Council still
had five hours to do something, but at midnight lie would be obligated to appoint someone. He
felt that the Council had had,plenty of opportunity to interview people and vote on this and
that there had been plenty of opportunity to settle the issue. He told them that if they did
not make a decision he would do so at midnight, and they would not all agree with him but they
should remember that they were giving him the decision to make. Mr. Tanaka advised the Council
that they could not reconvene this evening after adjourning this meeting. COUNCILMEMBER JAECH
MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NORDQUIST, TO ADJOURN. A ROLL CALL VOTE WAS TAKEN ON THE
MOTION, 'W'ITH COUNCILMEMBERS JAECH, NORDQUIST, OSTROM AND WILSON VOTING YES, AND WITH COUNCILMEMBERS
KASPER ANDHALL VOTING NO. MOTION CARRIED. The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
IRENE VARNEY MORAN, City Clerk 1ARRY S. NAUGHTEN, May r