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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 r� u 313 1 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