Attorney General counsel briefs Tumwater council on Open Public Meetings Act; council agrees to trial agenda-referral form

Morgan Damoreau, chief transparency counsel at the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, told Tumwater City Council on Tuesday that the Open Public Meetings Act exists to let the public see how local decisions are made and warned that routine communications can unintentionally become meetings if they involve a quorum or serial deliberations.

Why it matters: Local officials said they wanted practical guidance. Damoreau’s presentation emphasized common traps—email chains, social-media exchanges, and one-on-one conversations that aggregate into a quorum—and the real consequences when courts find OPMA violations, including civil penalties, attorney fees and the possible nullification of decisions.

Damoreau advised council members to treat agenda and meeting rules as guardrails rather than obstacles. “The point is it’s not supposed to be scripted,” he said, describing the…