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Council adopts ordinance to codify municipal policies and improve online access to codes
Summary
Ordinance 5022 creates a new chapter in the Anacortes Municipal Code to standardize codification, distinguish ordinances and resolutions, and publish long‑term resolutions and policies (personnel, purchasing, unified fee schedule) on the city’s code website.
The Anacortes City Council adopted Ordinance 5022 on Feb. 17 to create a new chapter in the municipal code (proposed chapter 1.01) that standardizes the organization and online codification of ordinances, long‑term resolutions and city policies.
City Attorney Darcy Swetnam said the change would make policies — such as personnel policies, purchasing rules and the unified fee schedule — more accessible in one searchable location on the city’s online code platform. Examples shown to council included interfaces some Washington cities use to present municipal code and related policies together for public reference.
Swetnam emphasized the ordinance is nonregulatory and may be adopted at the same meeting; council voted by roll call to adopt the measure (6–0). The codification work will be handled by the code reviser and will ease future updates to policies such as the unified fee schedule.
Councilmembers said improved public access to policies and clearer organization will help staff, council and residents find authoritative policy documents.
The ordinance passed unanimously on a roll‑call vote and will be implemented through upcoming code publishing steps.
