Bellevue council raises maximum exclusion period to 180 days and narrows board service rules

Bellevue’s City Council on Sept. 9 directed staff to prepare rule and code changes to (1) increase the maximum exclusion period for disruptive behavior at council and advisory meetings and (2) limit service on council‑appointed advisory boards and commissions to two consecutive terms across those bodies.

What the council approved to send to staff: the council voted to update council rules to allow a maximum exclusion of up to 180 days for individuals whose conduct is found to have disrupted meetings. The council also instructed staff to prepare enabling legislation and updates to bylaws so members would be limited to two consecutive terms on any of the six council‑appointed advisory bodies (arts, environmental services, transportation, parks, human services and the planning commission); after two consecutive terms a two‑year break would be required before a person is eligible to serve again.

City Attorney Trisna (city attorney name in the record) and City Clerk Charmaine Arredondo presented the staff recommendation and described existing procedures: notices of exclusion must include a written rationale, prior warnings are required and excluded individuals can appeal. Staff said the proposed change to exclusion timing would also provide more time to prepare materials for council consideration of appeals: appeals would be scheduled for the next council meeting that is at least three business days after the city receives the appeal, to allow staff time to compile the record.

During discussion council members debated whether to add a more prescriptive, tiered matrix tying specific misconduct categories to specific exclusion lengths. Deputy Mayor Malcoutian and others urged clearer guidance for presiding officers and volunteer chairs of boards and commissions; other council members cautioned that the discretionary nature of certain threats and intimidating conduct makes a rigid tiered schedule difficult to craft. Several council members described personal or staff experiences of threatening or harassing behavior at public meetings and said clearer authority and a stronger exclusion tool were needed to protect participants and volunteers. The council voted to direct staff to prepare the necessary resolutions and ordinances to enact the recommended changes.

Board service change: the ordinance staff will draft will apply the two‑term limit across the six council‑appointed bodies; partial terms under two years will not count toward the term limit. Staff said there are currently no board or commission members who would be immediately ineligible under the change. Council members asked staff to explore ways to retain and leverage experienced volunteers—including mentorship roles—to preserve institutional knowledge while widening opportunities for new members.

Timing and next steps: staff will prepare a formal resolution to amend council rules, direct advisory boards and commissions to amend bylaws for conformance and draft ordinances to amend the Bellevue City Code. Council took no final legislative action tonight; the motions direct staff to prepare the necessary legislation for future action.