Anacortes council approves consent items including prosecutor contract; one abstention

The Anacortes City Council on Dec. 22 approved amended consent agenda items and, after briefly pulling a prosecutor contract for discussion, approved that contract by voice vote with one abstention.

Mayor Miller introduced the consent agenda (items 5a–c). Councilmember Hubick moved to approve the consent agenda as presented; after another member requested item C be pulled, the motion was amended so the council first approved items a and b. The council voiced approval of the amended consent agenda.

Before the separate vote on the pulled item, a councilmember asked to abstain from a vote because the prosecutor is a relative. Councilmember Milton said the item before the council was a contract for the prosecutor and raised a previously discussed but unfunded proposal to hire a full‑time assistant city attorney; she noted that the assistant position had not been feasible because of budget constraints and asked that the council revisit the option in the future.

Councilmember Moulton then moved to approve the pulled consent item C (the prosecutor contract); the motion was seconded and the council approved the contract by voice vote. The mayor announced the motion carried with one abstention; the abstaining member stated the reason was a family relationship with the prosecutor.

The record does not include a precise numeric roll‑call tally for each councilmember on these voice votes. The council took no additional formal actions on staffing at this meeting; councilmembers asked that the idea of an assistant city attorney be reconsidered given budget implications.

Notes: the transcript records inconsistent spellings for one departing councilmember’s name (Hubick/Huebick/Hubig); the reporting above uses the spelling "Hubick" for consistency with the council’s references to "Amanda" in the record.