Yakima City Council adopts resolution changing proclamation process; council-only sponsorship required

The Yakima City Council adopted a resolution amending the city’s proclamation issuance policy on March 11, 2025, changing how proclamations are proposed and processed.

City attorney Sarah Watkins presented the draft amendments, which would require that proclamations be proposed only by a member of the city council through a motion. If the council votes to have a proclamation, staff would draft the final language to ensure it meets policy guidelines; the city manager may consult outside entities for technical or specialized language if appropriate. The revised procedure removes a direct role for outside organizations to submit proclamations to staff for placement on the agenda and instead routes requests through a sponsoring councilmember.

Councilman Berg moved to adopt the resolution; Deputy Mayor Brown seconded. The council took a roll-call vote that recorded Brown, Byers, Glenn, Roy and Berg voting yes; DCO and Herrera voting no. The motion passed 5-2.

The resolution also preserves council discretion to determine whether a proclamation will be read aloud or handled without reading when it returns to the council agenda for final approval. The transcript does not include the full text of the adopted resolution; it reports the procedural change described by Watkins and the council’s vote to adopt the amendment.

The action was recorded as a council resolution amending the City of Yakima proclamation issuance policy; the transcript does not record subsequent implementation steps such as a timeline for publishing the revised guidelines or staff training.