Liberty Lake council edits governance manual language on meeting roles, presentations and communications

The Liberty Lake City Council met in a special session Oct. 14 to continue a chapter-by-chapter review of a proposed governance manual, focusing on meeting roles and procedures, rules for outside presentations and media and communications policies.

Council members spent most of the workshop debating wording and practical application rather than adopting a final, comprehensive document. The council adopted one explicit change by vote: replacing language about who may grant extra time for presentations with wording requiring council approval when extensions are granted. Council members also reached consensus on several edits to be incorporated by staff for a future redline draft.

The council front-loaded a few specific changes. On presentations and related materials, members agreed to shorten the suggested lead time for written and media materials from 10 days to seven and to change the requirement that materials “must” be submitted to a weaker recommendation that they “should” be submitted in advance. “We will strike both tens and replace them with sevens,” Mayor Pro Tem said as the council reached consensus on that change. The council also agreed to remove a sentence that had required council members and staff to follow the outside-presenter process, so outside presenters and internal staff/ council presentations will be treated differently in the manual draft.

Members discussed limits on presentation length. The proposed rule suggested 10 minutes for a presentation and 15 minutes total including questions; members said that practice aligned with past advice to presenters. After debate over whether the presiding officer or the full council should control extensions, the council moved and approved new wording that extensions “may be granted by the council or by the presiding officer with the approval of the council.” Council member Kennedy introduced the motion endorsing the attorney’s recommended option; the motion passed 6-0. City Attorney Sean flagged a related drafting option—allowing extensions if the presiding officer proposes them, and the council fails to object—but the council chose the version requiring council approval rather than a “without objection” rule.

Council members also addressed media and presentation logistics. They changed the term “videos, DVDs” to the broader “media clips,” and agreed that references to materials submission should use “should” rather than “must.” The council asked staff to convert the draft wording accordingly and to prepare guidance for how media or electronic exhibits will be handled in the chamber. City Administrator Mark said staff would prepare training materials and briefings on the new “make a request” system and would return revised language for review.

On proclamations, the council debated whether to require a city sponsor and whether to set a 30-day lead time. Members agreed a sponsor should be a Liberty Lake resident or a group serving Liberty Lake and retained a limit of no more than two proclamations per meeting, but asked staff to clarify the process and exceptions for urgent items. The council also moved a block of language about disruptive public conduct (procedures for cutting off microphones, handling interruptions and removal) out of chapter 7 and into chapter 10 (citizen comments) to consolidate rules about public participation.

Other discussion items included a media-alert protocol that names the mayor and city administrator as official city media contacts and asks council members to notify the mayor or administrator when they initiate media outreach; several council members said that practice should be about transparency, not a requirement that would block council speech. Members also clarified guidance about contacting staff outside regular business hours; the draft was revised to say contacts should be during regular business hours “to the extent practical,” giving staff discretion while preserving timely responses for time-sensitive items.

Council members and staff agreed on a drafting process: staff and the city attorney will edit the manual for consistent terminology (for example, whether to use “presiding officer” or “chair”), produce a redline showing proposed consolidations and return the revised document for council review. No final adoption vote was taken on the full manual at the meeting.

Votes at a glance: The council excused the mayor (6-0), approved the amended agenda (6-0), agreed to add council comments to the agenda (6-0) and approved the procedural change about presentation-time extensions (6-0). Staff will prepare a revised draft for a future meeting.

The council did not adopt the full governance manual; staff will return with a revised, redlined draft that incorporates the wordsmithing, timing changes and consolidated sections the council requested.