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10-09-12 Public Safety and Personnel Committee MinutesPUBLIC SAFETY AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES October 9, 2012 Committee members present: Councilmember Joan Bloom Councilmember Kristiana Johnson Others present: Jim Lawless, Assistant Chief of Police Sandy Chase, City Clerk Citizen Ken Reidy Citizen Bruce Witenberg Council Member Joan Bloom called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m A. Amendments to sections of ECC 5.05 relating to Potentially Dangerous Dog definitions, declarations, and appeals. The meeting began with ACOP Lawless providing background as to the need for the language changes to ECC 5.05 resulting from the recent ruling by Judge Fair. There were general questions posed by both Councilmembers Bloom and Johnson relating to Potentially Dangerous and Dangerous Dog declarations. ACOP Lawless also advised that RCW 16.08 had never been codified by the city, and it was unknown when, how, or by whom that oversight had occurred. Codification is necessary so that portions of ECC 5.05 are in compliance with state law and can in turn be cited into Edmonds Municipal Court under ECC 5.05. Action: Forward to City Council Consent Agenda with a recommendation to approve. B. Discussion on City Council Meeting Procedures. Councilmember Bloom reported that she and Councilmember Johnson met to discuss how to proceed with the review of City Council Meeting procedures. She stated that they made a determination to identify the issues / procedures that need to be defined and addressed. Councilmember Johnson suggested the committee study the issues; however, she would like to see this topic discussed at a retreat or a work session as the consensus of the City Council is needed. The following issues were identified: • Council President's authority in terms of setting the City Council Meeting Agenda and also the Agenda for Committee Meetings. • Determine if Robert's Rules of Order, parliamentary procedures, or other rules will be used for meetings. • Identify when a Councilmember can participate in the meeting via speaker phone; under what circumstances and what the criteria are in order to do this. • Abstaining from a vote. • Absences; it was noted this issue is addressed in City Code and State law; however, it needs to be clarified by the City Attorney and written into the Council procedures. • Appointments to committees and boards; clearly indicate how appointments are handled; it is currently not consistent. • Written citizen comments being read into the record; clarify procedure; it needs to be consistent, fair and equal to all citizens. • Work Sessions; clarify if the City Council should be voting during work sessions. • Written rules and procedures for how to conduct executive sessions. • Committee Meetings — clarify how the agenda is set; procedure for conducting committee meetings; determine who takes minutes. • Clarify procedures related to resolutions and ordinances. C. Public Comments Ken Reidy commented on the difficulty for the public's voice to be heard. He stated it is critical that the city codes and procedures must be clear and consistently applied. The codes and procedures related to council meetings and committee meetings are limiting the public's ability to be heard. He referred to a public hearing held on September 16, 2008 related to the vacation of an unopened 7-1/2 foot wide alley. The public notice made no mention of the possibility that a Temporary Construction Easement on his property would be considered as part of the alley easement vacation. He described the effects of that easement and the impact on him and his family noting that his voice went unheard. He described his efforts to have the matter reconsidered. He provided another example of elected officials not making sure citizens are heard with regard to the recent vote on the issue of Executive Sessions. (Mr. Reidy submitted a complete copy of his comments for the record and they are on file in the City Clerk's Office.) Councilmembers Bloom and Johnson identified additional issues related to Council Procedures: • Define the procedure for when a citizen asks questions at a Council Meeting. • Define how a public hearing is handled at meetings. • Procedure for communicating via email between Council members. Bruce Witenberg joined the meeting at 7:15 p.m. and was provided an opportunity to comment. Mr. Witenberg commented that from his observation there are a lot of processes that seem to have been adopted over the years that may not necessarily be codified; it is the way people understand that business is being done. He further commented that if the Committee has the time, drafting procedures in some form is probably a good thing. He noted it will be extremely time consuming and the committee will need to determine where it fits in the priority of other issues facing the city. The Committee requested that this agenda item be scheduled on the November Committee Agenda. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m. Public Safety/Personnel Committee October 9, 2012 Page 2