01/03/2012 City CouncilEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL APPROVED MINUTES
JANUARY 3, 2012
The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Earling in the Council
Chambers, 250 5`" Avenue North, Edmonds. The meeting was opened with the flag salute.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT
Dave Earling, Mayor
Strom Peterson, Council President
Frank Yamamoto, Councilmember
Joan Bloom, Councilmember
Michael Plunkett, Councilmember
Lora Petso, Councilmember
Adrienne Fraley- Monillas, Councilmember
Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember
ALSO PRESENT
STAFF PRESENT
Al Compaan, Police Chief
Phil Williams, Public Works Director
Shawn Hunstock, Finance Director
Carl Nelson, CIO
Frances Chapin, Cultural Services Manager
Jeff Taraday, City Attorney
Sandy Chase, City Clerk
Jana Spellman, Senior Executive Council Asst.
Jeannie Dines, Recorder
Alex Springer, Student Representative
1. ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE TO NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS
Pastor Barry Crane, Captain, United States Navy, swore in Frank Yamamoto to Council position 6.
Faye May swore in Joan Bloom to Council position 5.
Retired Judge Joseph Thibodeau swore in Diane Buckshnis to Council position 4.
Retired Judge Joseph Thibodeau swore in Councilmember Petso to Council position #7.
Retired Judge Joseph Thibodeau swore in Dave Earling as Mayor.
2. RECEPTION IN HONOR OF NEWLY ELECTED OFFICIALS
At 7:12 p.m., Mayor Earling recessed the Council meeting to a reception in honor of the newly elected
officials.
The meeting was reconvened at 7:34 p.m.
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
COUNCILMEMBER PETERSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FRALEY-
MONILLAS, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY.
4. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
COUNCILMEMBER PETERSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FRALEY-
MONILLAS, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
The agenda items approved are as follows:
A. ROLL CALL
Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes
January 3, 2012
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B. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 20, 2011.
C. APPROVAL OF CLAIM CHECKS #129556 THROUGH #129659 DATED DECEMBER
22, 2011 FOR $453,665.10, AND CLAIM CHECKS #129660 THROUGH #129743 DATED
DECEMBER 29, 2011 FOR $191,717.26. APPROVAL OF REPLACEMENT PAYROLL
CHECKS #51077, #51078, #51104 AND #51105 AND PAYROLL DIRECT DEPOSIT AND
CHECKS #51079 THROUGH #51103 FOR THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1, 2011
THROUGH DECEMBER 15, 2011 FOR $622,336.43.
D. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES FROM CAROL LAWSON
(AMOUNT UNDETERMINED), LANCE AND JULIE HORTON ($5,144.84), KARLAN S.
BREKNE ($18,393.92), AND JSH PROPERTIES ($929.85).
E. AMENDMENT #1.5 TO SEATTLE FIBER PARTNERS AGREEMENT.
F. AMENDMENT #1.6 TO SEATTLE FIBER PARTNERS AGREEMENT.
G. AMENDMENT #21 TO SEATTLE FIBER PARTNERS AGREEMENT.
H. CONFIRMATION OF REAPPOINTMENT OF JOANNE OTNESS FOR A SECOND
TERM ON THE ARTS COMMISSION.
5. SELECTION OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT FOR 2012
COUNCILMEMBER FRALEY- MONILLAS NOMINATED STROM PETERSON FOR THE
POSITION OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT FOR 2012. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS
SECONDED THE NOMINATION.
There were no other nominations.
THE VOTE ON THE NOMINATION FOR STROM PETERSON FOR THE POSITION OF
COUNCIL PRESIDENT FOR 2012 CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
6. SELECTION OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM FOR 2012
COUNCILMEMBER PLUNKETT NOMINATED LORA PETSO FOR THE POSITION OF
COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM FOR 2012. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS SECONDED
THE NOMINATION.
There were no other nominations.
THE VOTE ON THE NOMINATION FOR LORA PETSO FOR THE POSITION OF COUNCIL
PRESIDENT PRO TEM FOR 2012 CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
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Council President Peterson read the following Committee appointments:
Committee
Representative
Community Serv./Dev. Serv. Committee
Councilmembers Frale - Monillas & Petso
Finance Committee
Councilmembers Buckshnis & Yamamoto
Public Safety /Human Resources Committee
Councilmembers Bloom and Plunkett
City -wide Parking Committee
Councilmembers Plunkett and Fraley- Monillas
Community Technology Advisory Committee
Councilmember Yamamoto
Community Transit
Mayor Earling & Council President Peterson (Alt)
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Economic Development Commission
Councilmembers Bloom & Buckshnis (Alt)
Disability Board
Councilmembers Fraley - Monillas & Bloom
Highway 99 Task Force
Councilmembers Plunkett & Fraley- Monillas
Historic Preservation Advisory Commission
Councilmembers Plunkett & Petso
Lake Ballinger Work Group
Councilmember Petso
Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
Councilmember Bloom
PFD Oversight Committee
Councilmember Petso
Port of Edmonds
Councilmember Yamamoto
Regional Fire Authority
Mayor Earling, Council President Peterson &
Councilmember Petso
SeaShore Transportation Forum
Councilmember Bloom
SNOCOM
Councilmember Yamamoto
Snohomish County Health District
Councilmember Fraley - Monillas
Snohomish County Tomorrow
Councilmembers Yamamoto and Buckshnis
Salmon Recovery - WRIA -8
Councilmember Buckshnis
Council President Peterson relayed a suggestion to discuss at the Council retreat appointing a Council
liaison to the Tree Board and reinstating the Community Outreach Committee.
COUNCILMEMBER PETSO MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO
CONFIRM THE COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
8. RESOLUTION APPOINTING A COUNCILMEMBER TO THE SNOHOMISH HEALTH
DISTRICT BOARD.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT PETERSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER
BUCKSHNIS, TO APPROVE RESOLUTION #1269, APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER
FRALEY-MONILLAS TO THE SNOHOMISH HEALTH DISTRICT BOARD. MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
9. RESOLUTION APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBERS AS REPRESENTATIVE AND
ALTERNATE TO THE SNOHOMISH COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT AREA
CORPORATION.
Council President Peterson recommended Mayor Earling to represent the City at Community Transit due
to his previous extensive background on that Board.
COUNCILMEMBER FRALEY- MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER
BUCKSHNIS, TO APPROVE RESOLUTION #1270, APPOINTING MAYOR EARLING TO THE
SNOHOMISH COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT AREA CORPORATION AND
APPOINTING COUNCIL PRESIDENT PETERSON AS THE ALTERNATE. MOTION CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY.
10. AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Dave Page, Edmonds, expressed his excitement with the seated Council and his expectation of great
things. He relayed Will Rogers' statement about politicians that a politician is somebody who gets up,
says nothing, nobody listens and everybody disagrees. He relayed a blog post regarding the United States
Congress. He urged the Council not to talk badly about each other in public and to not mention what
political party they are affiliated with. Citizens want Councilmembers to do the City's work, get the City
out of debt, increase economic development and create a positive attitude about the future. The City has a
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terrific leader, all Councilmembers are leaders and he anticipated the community will support the Mayor
and Council.
Mayor Earling referred to a current political joke in today's comic strip Prickly City.
11. CITY ATTORNEY ANNUAL REPORT.
City Attorney Jeff Taraday commented he did not plan to talk about pending cases because many of them
cannot be discussed in public without violating the attorney - client privilege. He was unaware what the
prior City Attorney discussed in his annual report or whether most cities had their City Attorney provide
an annual report. It would be appropriate to discuss the City's expenditures on legal services because that
was of broad interest to the public and appropriate to discuss in public.
Mr. Taraday prepared a spreadsheet comparing legal expenditures for the cities the Council agreed to use
in the non - represented salary survey (Des Moines, Issaquah, University Place, Bothell, Lynnwood,
Puyallup, Bremerton, Sammamish, Burien, Kirkland, Lacey and Olympia). He described the difficulty
comparing legal expenditures because some cities reflect their City Attorney expenses differently, some
have in -house City Attorneys and some contract for City Attorney services. Cities with in -house City
Attorneys frequently do not distinguish between civil and criminal expenditures. Edmonds' own budget is
not completely transparent with regard to the City Attorney expenditures; the City Attorney line item is
$334,000 but there is also a $50,000 allocation in the City Council portion of the budget for a total of
$384,000. He expected other cities did the same but he did not have that specific information.
The spreadsheet compared population, number of employees, whether the City Attorney is in -house or
contract, number of FTE in the city's legal department, civil City Attorney expense, criminal City
Attorney expenses, and City Attorney plus prosecution expenses. He commented the more employees a
city has, the more legal work that is generated. He noted Edmonds is the only city on the list that has a flat
fee contract for legal services such as Lighthouse Law Group offers.
Mayor Earling requested Mr. Taraday provide the spreadsheet to the Council and the City Clerk.
Councilmember Buckshnis asked whether he planned to provide a list of outstanding cases. Mr. Taraday
responded every year the City Attorney must provide an audit letter; they recently received that request
from the auditor in late December and are in the process of preparing that information. He agreed to copy
the Council on the audit letter which includes more detail regarding pending matters.
Councilmember Buckshnis asked whether any other cities posted on their website a list of closed cases
with the outcome. Mr. Taraday answered he has never seen a city that provided that information.
Councilmember Petso suggested either in the audit letter or another document that Mr. Taraday indicate
the range of the claim and whether it is insured by WCIA or is the City's responsibility.
12. EDMONDS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION CODE AMENDMENT.
Councilmember Plunkett, Council liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), explained the
Commission receives more applicants than they have positions available. The HPC requested he propose
the membership be expanded from 9 to 12.
COUNCILMEMBER PLUNKETT MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PETSO, TO
DIRECT THE CITY ATTORNEY TO BRING BACK ON THE CONSENT AGENDA AN
ORDINANCE INCREASING THE MEMBERSHIP ON THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION
COMMISSION FROM NINE TO TWELVE. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
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13. DISCUSSION REGARDING 2012 CITY COUNCIL RETREAT.
Council President Peterson explained the Council retreat is typically held on a Friday and Saturday.
Following a brief discussion, the Council agreed to hold the Council retreat on February 10 -11, 2011.
Council President Peterson welcomed the involvement of as many staff members as possible. He
requested staff and Councilmembers email him with ideas /issues to address during the retreat. He recalled
one of the issues the Council discussed last year was the creation of ethics guidelines for the City Council.
Staff may also want to identify code rewrites, etc. He also invited the public to inform him of issues they
want the Council to address at the retreat.
Mayor Earling requested Council President Peterson provide a timeline for each day so that all staff
members do not necessarily need to attend the entire retreat. Council President Peterson assured he will
email a rough outline of the agenda to staff and the Council.
Councilmember Plunkett suggested Council President Peterson consider Mr. Taraday's availability due to
the potential for executive session issues. Mr. Taraday advised he is available both days and can attend as
much of the retreat as the Council wishes.
14. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Mayor Earling commented he looked forward to working with the Council over the next 2 -4 years. He
welcomed Councilmembers Yamamoto and Bloom and the fresh ideas they will bring to the Council.
Mayor Earling reported Association of Washington Cities (AWC) is holding a 2 -day conference for local
elected officials. Councilmembers Bloom and Yamamoto plan to attend and he encouraged other
Councilmembers to attend as a refresher. Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) also offers a session
regarding regional issues.
Mayor Earling thanked the Council for appointing him to the Community Transit Board; he looked
forward to being involved on a regional level.
15. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilmember Plunkett congratulated new Councilmembers Bloom and Yamamoto, Mayor Earling and
reelected Councilmembers Buckshnis and Petso.
Councilmember Buckshnis wished everyone a Happy New Year. She commended the City's Park &
Recreation and Stormwater staff, announcing dog waste bag dispensers will soon be installed in 4 -6
locations in the City using grant funds the City received.
Councilmember Yamamoto thanked the citizens who voted for him, commenting he will do his best to
serve the community. He congratulated Mayor Earling and Councilmembers Buckshnis, Petso and
Bloom. He looked forward to serving on the Council and knew the Council would be positive and
effective and make the citizens proud.
Council President Peterson congratulated Councilmembers Yamamoto, Bloom, Petso and Buckshnis. He
looked forward to a dynamic Council. He encouraged Councilmembers to attend the AWC Legislative
Conference on January 25 -26, a great opportunity to meet State representatives and other elected officials.
Councilmember Bloom expressed her delight at serving on the Council. She thanked everyone and looked
forward to working with staff, Councilmembers and the Mayor for the benefit of the citizens of Edmonds.
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Councilmember Petso welcomed Councilmembers Yamamoto and Bloom.
Councilmember Fraley- Monillas pointed out there are now four women on the Council.
Student Representative Springer welcomed Councilmembers Bloom, Yamamoto, Buckshnis and Petso.
He looked forward to working with them throughout the coming year.
Mayor Earling recalled a time when he was on the City Council that there were seven men. Whenever a
Councilmember resigned, the question always arose why there were no women on the Council. His
response was no women applied. He was delighted there were four women on the Council, an indication
of a dynamic shift that will be great for the community.
16. ADJOURN
With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
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