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Cmd50322 spec mtg Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 1 EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APPROVED MINUTES May 3, 2022 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Mike Nelson, Mayor Vivian Olson, Council President Kristiana Johnson, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Laura Johnson, Councilmember STAFF PRESENT Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Dave Rohde, GIS Analyst Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. by Mayor Nelson in the Council Chambers, 250 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. 2. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. RESOLUTION ADOPTING COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE Council President Olson explained this was first introduced by City Clerk Scott Passey who worked for the City of Shoreline before coming to Edmonds and felt their rules of procedure had been helpful to the process. Additionally, the parliamentarian who has provided training to the council in the past, Ann Macfarlane, says there is value to having additional rules above and beyond Robert’s Rules of Order which only focus on the meeting itself. The rules of procedure have been reviewed by a council committee in the past, the last time was September 21, 2021. She invited councilmembers to ask questions after which she would read each section followed by questions, comments, or amendments. There were no questions. Section 1. Authority, Paragraphs 1.1, 1.2 1.3 No questions/comments. Section 2 Council Organization • 2.1 (swearing in councilmembers) • 2.2 (election of council president and council president pro tem) Councilmember Buckshnis pointed out there was no reference to the unspoken rule that councilmembers planning to run for office cannot be council president. She recalled a certain councilmember had to be appointed because they were the only one not running for office and even through some councilmembers did not necessarily want that person as council president. There is also no reference to the situation when someone is leaving the council; she recalled two situations where councilmembers left and the decision Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 2 was left to the mayor due to a tie. She asked whether the intent was to have issues such as that addressed tonight, or to have councilmembers develop amended language. Council President Olson answered it may be more expedient to put amendments in writing so they can be displayed when this topic returns to council. She suggested councilmembers submit suggestions to the council assistants. Councilmember Buckshnis said she did not believe a councilmember should not be prevented from serving as council president just because they were retiring or running for office. If they feel capable of serving as council president and have the trust of other councilmembers, it should be allowed and there should not be an unspoken rule to that effect. Councilmember Paine commented she would like to be able to read an amendment before she votes on it. It is a best practice and cleaner for citizens not to have a council president who is running for office that year. It makes it more difficult to discern what is election behavior versus council president behavior. Councilmember L. Johnson referred to unspoken rules, pointing out the point of rules of procedure is to identify the procedures the council is agreeing to operate by. She did not see the need to address unspoken rules. She found it confusing to bring up unspoken rules instead of speaking directly to the document. Councilmember Buckshnis said she was just bringing up examples from the past 12 years. She was aware of two examples where the mayor selected the council president which was not the will of council. She was also aware of two councilmembers who wanted to be considered for council president but were told they couldn’t because one was running for election and the other was retiring. Sometimes it is helpful to understand what has happened in the past in order to address rules for the future. Council President Olson said bringing up those things may be helpful in deciding what should be included in the rules. She believed not allowing someone who was running for office to serve as council president was a good idea and if they ended up getting elected as council president before they made that decision, they could be replaced via another council election. She did not see a reason to exclude councilmembers who were retiring from serving as council president. She agreed the tie should not be broken by the mayor, it should be a vote of the council and some compromises would need to be made by the council as a body. She expressed support for that rule. She explained the intent was to take feedback on the rules; councilmembers could prepare the amended language or submit their suggestion to the council assistants and slides would be prepared for council review. Councilmember Tibbott expressed support for allowing councilmembers who are retiring to be considered for council president. From a political angle, it makes sense that councilmembers running for office should not be considered for council president. He expressed strong encouragement to have the council assistants draft that amendment and bring it to council at a future meeting. Councilmember K. Johnson said she submitted eight amendments regarding the rules of procedure to Mr. Passey today. She asked if she should make comments during the presentation or wait until the meeting when slides were prepared of all the amendments. Mayor Nelson suggested she raise the issue when it was relevant to the subject. Councilmember K. Johnson said no councilmembers should be council president two years in a row and she had a proposed amendment with that language. She also suggested it would be helpful to take longevity into account when selecting council presidents. Council President Olson relayed it was decided instead of making amendments today, amendments would be put in writing on a slide. She has written down Councilmember K. Johnson’s comments and will have a slide prepared for council action. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 3 Councilmember Buckshnis asked Councilmember K. Johnson what she defined as longevity, whether it was 2 or 3 years, noting it was difficult to define longevity when councilmembers have 4 year terms. Mayor Nelson requested councilmembers address the body and not specific councilmember. Councilmember K. Johnson said she would define longevity as number of years as a councilmember. • 2.3 Duties of Officers o A. (presiding officer) Council President Olson pointed out under state law, the mayor is the presiding officer. o B. (duties of presiding officer) Councilmember L. Johnson suggested the rules also state the presiding officer adjourns the meeting. Regarding duty #4 (state each motion before it is voted upon), Councilmember Tibbott commented the motion is often not restated before it is voted on. In general that is a good practice but is not always done. He asked whether the council wanted that to be optional or a requirement. His preference would be to follow this rule. Councilmember Paine expressed appreciation for the suggestion and agreed the best practice would be to restate motion, however, sometimes the motion is somewhat garbled. She suggested the councilmember who made the motion restate it so their intent is clear rather than getting locked up in an interpretation loop. Council President Olson the intent of the rules was what councilmembers think the council should be doing and what they want to have as guidelines; it does not necessarily reflect what the council is doing now. o C. (questions of order) • 2.4 Appointments to Boards and Committees Council President Olson questioned whether circulating the final appointment list to the council at least seven days prior to appointment was practical based on the election of the council president at the first Tuesday in January and councilmembers are expected to attend meetings that month. Councilmember Paine said last year she surveyed councilmembers asking for feedback and gave the list to the incoming council president. She felt circulating the final appointments seven days prior to appointment would not always be a problem. Councilmember Buckshnis said the legislative assistant used to send out the list to councilmembers and the council president would make the committee assignments the night they were elected. She was unsure a timeframe needed to be included in the rules. It does not necessarily need to be a task for the council president and could be delegated to the council assistants. However, when there are new councilmembers, there should be an opportunity for them to understand the committees before making a selection. Councilmember Chen suggested 14 days. He recalled during the last election, there was also a transition in the council assistant. Council President Olson asked if the seven days was just to circulate information or give councilmembers seven days’ notice after the assignments are made. She requested councilmembers with further information reach out to her. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 4 • 2.5 Filling a Council Vacancy o A. (procedures in RCW) o B. (application form) Councilmember Paine suggested including a draft application in the rules of procedures. o C. (interviews) o D. (executive session to discuss qualifications) o E. (term of appointed councilmember) Section 3. Agenda Preparation • 3.1 (preparation of meeting agenda) • 3.2 (placing items on agenda) Council President Olson offered an amendment, instead of a majority vote, a vote of 3 or more councilmembers and also changing the majority vote in the last paragraph. Her rationale was three councilmembers wanting to talk about something should be enough to have it heard. Councilmember K. Johnson pointed out in the past, she was able to work with the council president to get something on the agenda and she did not think a majority should be required to have something on the agenda. Council President Olson commented that was addressed in 3.2.B, if the council president agrees, something can be placed on the agenda which is how it has worked this year. In the case when the council president does not think something is a good idea, does not want to put it on the agenda, there should be some recourse for a significant minority to say they want to talk about something. Councilmember Buckshnis suggested on issues that the council president does not deem necessary to place on the agenda, an item could be put on the agenda via a vote. She recalled many instances in recent years where items were not added to the agenda because there were not four votes. Councilmember Paine asked if this would be a departure from Robert’s Rules. City Attorney Jeff Taraday said it probably would be. It is one thing to have an item added to the agenda in advance of a meeting, but if a majority of the council does not want to talk about that item, it can be tabled. At the end of the day, the majority will always control the agenda. An item might be on agenda for the public to see, but it may not get more than 10 seconds of discussion if the majority does not want to talk about it. Councilmember K. Johnson said that would be a way for the majority to rule, but she objected to the fact that she had agenda items prepared and ready to go, asked for them to be put on the agenda, and it was not done, to the point where they became irrelevant. That has been the practice during the two previous years, but prior to that, she was always able to get something on agenda. There is too much power with the council president deciding whether or not a councilmember’s agenda memo is appropriate for the meeting. She wanted something in the rules of procedures that acknowledges the ability for a councilmember to get an item on the agenda and it could be tabled if the majority did not want to discuss it. • 3.3 (agenda memos) • 3.4 (agenda item prioritization) • 3.5 (ordinances readings) o A. (first reading) o B. (second reading) Councilmember Buckshnis commented the three touch rule has been discussed by council often. She suggested there be exceptions to that rule, instances where an item does not require three touches. The first reading, publication on the extended agenda, is not actual a reading. She recalled instances in the past where only the PLN number was listed on the extended agenda so people did not know what the item was Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 5 about. She suggested land use items listed on the extended agenda include more than the file number and include the topic such as the tree code. Having an item on the extended agenda is actually notification, not first reading and first reading occurs at either committee or at council. She suggested revising this section because it is not really a three touch rule; it is notification, committee and then council. Council President Olson suggested it may not be three readings, but it is three touches. She offered to assist with revising the language of this section. Councilmember Tibbott asked if it would be possible to have the extended agenda included at the end of the packet. He recalled that was done when he was on the planning board so board members knew what was coming up. It would serve as notification for the public as well as the council. Council President Olson advised the extended agenda is available on the website and asked if he preferred to have it as part of the council packet each week. Councilmember Tibbott suggested notification would be more accessible that way and it could eliminate the possibility that people are not aware of upcoming agenda items. Councilmember Buckshnis recalled when there were paper packets, the extended agenda was included as part of the packet and some council presidents even included when councilmembers would be on vacation. She agreed it was important to have the extended agenda as part the of packet so councilmembers do not have to search for it on the website. Councilmember Paine expressed support for having the extended appended to the back of the electronic packet or printed for those who receive paper packets, with the recognition that the extended agenda is a snapshot in time on the Friday it is included with the packet. o C. (third reading) Section 4. Consent Agenda • 4.1 (placing items on consent agenda) Councilmember Paine commented if committees are used effectively, all the low hanging fruit items go to committees and then to the consent agenda. She suggested adding that one of the council touches can be at council committee. Consent agendas can be used very effectively, be great time savers, and help meetings flow smoothly. Councilmember Buckshnis said she did not like the first sentence as all items that go to committee then go to the consent agenda, full council or back to committee for further discussion. She suggested including the fact that consent agenda items are often referred by committee. • 4.2 (adoption of consent agenda) • 4.3 (removing items from consent agenda) Councilmember Buckshnis commented pulling something from the consent agenda and moving it to a future agenda would be a council decision, not the mayor’s decision. 3. INTERVIEW FOR APPOINTMENT TO CITY BOARD OR COMMISSION 1. INTERVIEW CANDIDATE FOR APPOINTMENT TO BOARD/COMMISSION Mayor Nelson said he recommended Mr. Toretta for appointment to the sister city commission. Councilmembers interviewed Colin Toretta for appointment to the sister city commission position #11 (responses in italics). Council President Olson welcomed Mr. Toretta and invited him to describe his interest in the sister city commission. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 6 My wife and I have lived in Edmonds for nine years. We were both born and raised in Washington and have fallen in love with Edmonds. Last year I started thinking about ways to get more involved with the community and happened to run into Mayor Nelson at a ribbon cutting and asked his advice. He mentioned Edmonds has a number of citizen boards and encouraged me to see if anything interested me. I looked at the options, and as exciting as the cemetery board sounds, the sister city commission sounded more up my alley, both from my personal interest and work experience. I think I can add value to the board. Councilmember Paine commented it sounded like he had great experience and asked if he spoke Japanese. No, but this could finally give me good justification to learn. Councilmember Tibbott commented this is a fun committee. Although he has not been on the committee himself, he has participated in the social events. He asked Mr. Toretta if he had participated in any of the social events in the past. Not with the sister city commission. It wasn’t until I looked at the boards that I realized Edmonds had a sister city program. I was fascinated by sister city program in Spokane where I grew up which was also a Japanese town. Councilmember Tibbott asked if he would have time available to participate in social events when the Hekinan delegations visit Edmonds. Absolutely. This is what I’m looking for, an opportunity, a way to spend time with the community, give back to Edmonds and what better way than to introduce people from another country and culture to all the cools things in Edmonds and Washington. Councilmember K. Johnson said she has participated in some of the activities, both with adult and student delegations. The student delegations are very exciting because the kids have so much energy. She asked what prompted his lifelong interest in Japan. Part of it is Spokane’s sister city program and growing up in 1980s, that was about as much multi-culture I was exposed to. My father was art an major at Gonzaga and infused a love of art in his children from an early age including Japanese artists such as Hokusi’s crashing wave painting. I became interested in other aspects of Japanese artistry such the artist who turned graphic design for video games and anime into world class art. More recently my wife and I had an opportunity see Yayoi Kusama’s traveling exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum who does amazing things with perspective, shape and emotions. I cannot say for sure what caused that to resonate so much for me, but it has definitely something that interested me from an early age. Councilmember K. Johnson commented it was interesting that the arts communicated cultural diversity to him in such a way. I believe in the power of art to connect people of different cultures. Councilmember L. Johnson referred to his application which states he was always fascinated with Spokane’s sister city and asked him to expand on how the program connected two different cultures. In a place like Spokane in the 1980s, there weren’t a lot of ways to get exposure to other cultures. The sister city programs offered a way for people pre-internet to understand how big and different the world is, provide an opportunity for student and adult exchanges, and make it more real and tangible and less theoretical. Councilmember Buckshnis commented this is a really fun committee. She recalled one year when the adult delegation made beer and another time there was a Halloween party. It is really a multicultural experience. His job as director of program management for Oracle is a perfect position for him because he collaborates with many people. Councilmember Chen thanked him for devoting his energy to this fun commission. He asked his thoughts about Mt. Fuji versus Mt. Rainier, which one is more attractive. Mt. Fuji has definitely had a larger impact on art and culture than Mt. Rainer, although I’ve only seen one of them firsthand. I have definitely Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes May 3, 2022 Page 7 appreciated Rainier, but would like to have an opportunity go to Japan and see such a storied mountain that has featured so prominently in so many aspects of Japanese culture, from movies to art, video games, TV shows and everything in between. Council President Olson advised confirmation is on the consent agenda; once it is approved, his appointment will be approved. 4. ADJOURN With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.