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Redmond council suspends disruptive commenter 28 days; adopts county code update and consent items
Summary
At its Jan. 21 meeting the Redmond City Council voted to exclude a repeated public commenter from public comment for 28 days, approved an ordinance aligning city code to King County code, and adopted consent agenda items including payroll and other routine matters.
The Redmond City Council voted 5‑2 on Tuesday to exclude a public commenter, identified in the meeting as Alex (Alex Zimmerman), from participating in public comment periods for 28 days after the speaker spoke at consecutive meetings and was ruled out of order.
Council Vice President Jessica Forsyth moved to exclude the individual under the council’s public‑comment rules; the motion was seconded and carried in a roll‑call vote. The council president announced that staff will notify the speaker of the 28‑day suspension. The council read the rule aloud during the motion, noting that the chair or any council member may propose exclusion of an individual from participation in future public comment periods by majority vote when the participant has violated rules across consecutive meetings.
In other council votes, the council adopted Ordinance No. 3208 by a 6‑1 vote. Ordinance 3208 amends Redmond Municipal Code chapter 155.16 to reflect changes in the King County code adopted by reference; the ordinance passed on a roll‑call vote. The transcript identifies the ordinance as “an ordinance of the city of Redmond Washington amending the Redmond municipal code chapter 155.16 to reflect changes in the King County code adopted by reference.”
The council also approved the consent agenda items by roll‑call (motion and second). Item number 2 passed 7‑0 on a roll‑call vote; item number 5 passed 6‑0 with Council Member Anderson recusing due to a personal conflict (the facilitator for that item is a friend). Council members discussed the practice of pulling items from the consent agenda when a member intends to vote no.
Nut graf: The meeting’s formal actions combined procedural governance (alignment of city code to county code, routine consent agenda approvals) with a disciplinary action enforcing the council’s public‑comment rules. The exclusion decision followed council discussion about whether the speaker’s remarks constituted city business and a review of the council’s exclusion procedure.
Vote details and outcomes - Exclusion of public commenter (Alex Zimmerman): motion to exclude for 28 days (mover: Council Vice President Jessica Forsyth; second: not specified in transcript). Outcome: passed 5‑2. Council will send notification to the speaker. Vote record: roll call began with Council President Kritzker and concluded with the mayor announcing the result; individual yes/no votes were recorded on the roll call but the transcript provides only partial namings during the roll call; final tally reported as 5 yes, 2 no.
- Ordinance No. 3208 (amending RMC ch. 155.16 to reflect King County code changes): Outcome: passed 6‑1 (roll call vote). Motion and second recorded; ordinance adopted.
- Consent agenda: Item number 2: passed 7‑0 (roll call). Item number 5: passed 6‑0 with Council Member Anderson recused (recusal stated on the record because the facilitator for the item is a friend).
Ending: The council closed items from the audience and proceeded to adopt the consent agenda and ordinances. Staff will notify the suspended commenter and will implement the council’s directive on removal from public comment for the stated period.
