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Resident raises permit and code concerns; city manager says staff and attorney have been responding
Summary
A resident told the council he sent detailed emails citing specific city code sections and received no reply; the city manager read a statement explaining open forum is not for debate, that staff has engaged with the resident and the city attorney is preparing final ordinance interpretations.
During open forum at the Nov. 3 Blaine City Council meeting, resident Bruce Mathai said he had emailed council in October with statutory citations and complained that he had not received responses from council or counsel. Mathai read portions of the city code he said were relevant to a permit matter and urged the police chief and counsel to follow up.
Mathai said he had provided the council counsel copies of specific code sections (he referenced a "sight distance triangle" provision and a parking restriction section) and asked why staff issued a permit despite what he described as conflicting code language. "I sent each of you an email, October, and none of you guys replied back to me," Mathai said.
City Manager Thorbig later read a prepared statement responding to the open forum remarks. Thorbig said the city values resident input but that open forum is not intended for debate and staff typically follows up outside the meeting on technical matters. "Staff has been working with the city attorney and will be providing final interpretations on all of the ordinance and statutes so that the city has provided information on this particular issue," Thorbig said. He added that staff had been corresponding with the director of engineering and that technical responses had been provided to the resident, though the resident might disagree with them.
The manager's statement clarified the city's process for handling technical questions raised at open forum and reiterated that staff will follow up with residents and provide formal interpretations through the city attorney as needed. The council did not engage in debate during open forum; the manager said that is by design.
