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Port Orchard council debates neighborhood meeting: selective invitations, quorum rules and OPMA concerns
Summary
Councilors split over an announced neighborhood meeting at McCormick Woods after some members said it was announced without full council coordination. City legal staff advised that gatherings where a quorum attends and city business is discussed must be noticed under OPMA; councilors disagreed about inclusivity and logistics.
A dispute over a recently announced neighborhood meeting in McCormick Woods dominated the 'good of the order' portion of Port Orchard’s Dec. 16 meeting.
Some council members objected that the event had been described publicly as a quarterly program and that invitations were selective, calling that approach divisive and urging council‑wide coordination. Council member Rose (speaker 6) said a meeting announced without broader council input "puts the council in a reactive position and is not an effective way to build consensus."
City legal counsel Miss Archer (speaker 9) advised the body on noticing requirements under the Open Public Meetings Act: "If a quorum of the council attends, then we do need to notice it as either a quorum or as a potential public meeting, if city business is being conducted," she said. Archer suggested that for neighborhood‑specific events the council could decide in advance to limit attendance to avoid triggering quorum notice requirements, or treat the event as a formal, noticed meeting open to all.
Other council members pushed back in different ways: some said neighborhood meetings are an appropriate venue for council members to engage directly with their neighbors and that members should be able to attend so long as a quorum and OPMA rules are respected. The exchange included questions about when a presentation or agenda turns an informal neighborhood meeting into a formal public meeting.
The council did not take formal action on the issue; members were advised to coordinate invitations and clarify format ahead of events to avoid unintentional OPMA obligations.
