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Council holds workshop on procedures, ethics and Open Public Meetings Act compliance; staff to draft redline procedures
Summary
Councilmembers discussed adopting a code of ethics, clearer staff expectations for meeting materials, notifications for quasi‑judicial matters and OPMA compliance. Staff will prepare a redline procedures document and bring it back for council review.
The Anacortes City Council held a workshop discussion on Sept. 15 about council procedures, committee structure, ethics and Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) compliance. Staff said they will compile council feedback into a redlined procedures draft for future review.
Councilmember T.J. Fantini said he had proposed a council code of ethics to clarify expectations for elected officials, conflicts of interest and when members speak as individuals. ‘‘I also think it's important, as a gesture to our community and constituents,’’ Fantini said, arguing the code would be educational for new councilmembers.
City Attorney Amy Swetnam and staff discussed implications. Swetnam cautioned that adopting an ethics code can raise enforcement and process questions and suggested research of other jurisdictions and possible training rather than immediate ordinance action. Several councilmembers supported exploring an ethics document but suggested the topic be treated as a separate project, possibly at a future retreat.
Council and staff discussed clearer expectations for staff deliverables — for example, ensuring maps and key materials are included in council packets and avoiding situations in which a PowerPoint presented at the dais introduces substantive new material not available to council in advance. Councilmembers requested a more reliable system to capture follow-up requests from council so items are not lost in subsequent department workflows.
OPMA-related topics included the risk of serial meetings where the same topic is presented to different committees with overlapping membership, and when council attendance at public events requires formal notice. Council suggested revising committee rules to discourage substitutes that create quorum risks, and staff said they would clarify guidance about when attendance constitutes a convened public meeting requiring notice.
Next steps: staff (City Attorney and Clerk) will produce a redline draft of council procedures incorporating the council’s direction, and the item will return to council for review; the interlocal/ethics topic may be scheduled to a future retreat for deeper discussion.
