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Snoqualmie council holds three executive sessions on potential litigation; no action expected
Summary
At a special April 7 meeting the Snoqualmie City Council approved an agenda that included three executive sessions under RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) to consult with legal counsel on enforcement matters or potential litigation. No formal action was expected and the council planned to adjourn directly from the executive sessions.
The Snoqualmie City Council met in a special session April 7 and moved into three consecutive executive sessions to consult with legal counsel about agency enforcement matters and potential litigation, city officials said.
Under the agenda approved at the start of the meeting, the council cited RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) of Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act as the basis for closing the sessions to the public. City Clerk Dean read the roll, and the council approved excusing Councilor Vinson and Councilor Johnson before taking up the executive sessions. The council then approved the meeting agenda by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.
Why it matters: Executive sessions under RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) permit a public body to meet privately with legal counsel to discuss litigation or potential litigation. The council’s notice and the list of invited participants indicate the matters were legal in nature rather than routine administrative briefings.
Meeting details show three sessions were scheduled back-to-back. The first was set for about 1 hour and 10 minutes and listed the following attendees: City Attorney Dina Burke; City Administrator Mike Chambliss; Human Resources Manager Kim Johnson; Peter Altman of Summit Law Group; and Brenda Bannon of Ogletree Deakins. The second session, also about 1 hour and 10 minutes, listed City Attorney Dina Burke, City Administrator Mike Chambliss, Captain Gary Horace, and Finance Director Drew Batey. A final, shorter session of about 10 minutes was listed to include City Attorney Dina Burke and City Administrator Mike Chambliss.
City officials told the council that no action was anticipated following the executive sessions and that the meeting recording would stop before the closed meetings began. The council planned to adjourn directly from the executive sessions and not return to open session; the city clerk was to record the concluding time in the official minutes. The meeting notice stated the executive sessions would be held in an in-person conference room upstairs and that the public Zoom recording would end before those closed meetings began. Council members estimated the closed sessions would conclude by 7 p.m.
Votes and procedural actions at the open portion of the meeting included a motion to excuse Councilor Vinson and Councilor Johnson, moved by Councilor Christiansen and seconded by Councilor Washington; the motion passed by voice vote. The council later approved the agenda on a motion by Councilor Washington, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Holloway; the transcript records the vote as unanimous by voice.
No substantive public discussion of the legal matters was held in open session, and the transcript contains no details about the subject matter or the parties involved in the anticipated enforcement actions or litigation. The council’s use of RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) and the list of outside counsel indicate the discussions were intended to be privileged attorney–client consultations rather than public policymaking.
The city clerk will include the exact ending time of the executive sessions in the official minutes, and no further action was expected to be reported in the council’s open-session minutes following adjournment.
