Anacortes council debates committee-of-the-whole, remote attendance and public-comment rules

Anacortes City Council members spent a Sept. 8 workshop debating whether to move from small standing committees to a more open “committee of the whole” approach, and discussing related changes to meeting conduct, remote attendance and public-comment rules. Council members and department heads agreed staff should compile tonight’s feedback and return a formal draft of revised council procedures for future action.

The council’s discussion focused on two competing priorities: expanding equitable, direct access for all seven council members to the same information early in a topic’s development, and preserving the informal, in-depth review that smaller committees provide. Mayor Miller opened the workshop by summarizing the packet of council suggestions and staff materials and said the format was intended to spur conversation that staff would later capture and turn into proposed language.

Supporters of a broader structure — including some…