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Lake Forest Park council reviews edits to governance manual, plans legal check and March 26 approval
Summary
Councilmembers walked through proposed edits to the city governance manual — including liaison conduct, email/records language, the three‑touch debate rule and appointment procedures — and agreed to ask the city attorney to review highlighted sections before a potential vote March 26.
Vice Chair Goldman led the Lake Forest Park City Council through final edits to the city’s governance manual at the council’s March 12 work session, asking members to flag specific sections and recommending a legal review before the packet returns for action.
Goldman said the revisions include clarification that organizations beyond the SCA may be listed in section 2.5 and a change to section 2.6 that "when a council member is acting as a liaison, that they shouldn't be participating or giving information unless requested by the committee chair." He directed attention to proposed wording that would confirm volunteers — such as planning commission and parks board candidates — at a regular business meeting rather than during a work session.
Council members spent time on language in sections 3.7 and 3.8 addressing email and document‑retention practices. Members emphasized that state law governs public‑records requirements and that the manual should avoid wording that could create unintended open‑meetings violations; one council member suggested the city attorney (Kim) review the phrasing. Goldman said staff will highlight the specific sections for the attorney to review.
The council also discussed reorganizing procedural text so definition‑type material and procedural instructions appear in the most appropriate chapters, and clarified logistics language for work sessions and transitions to the business meeting. Goldman walked members through a clarified two‑step approach to the "three‑touch" rule for debating items: first waive the three‑touch rule to open debate, then take a second motion either to place the item on consent for the next meeting or to approve it that night.
On appointments, Goldman proposed removing overly prescriptive parenthetical timing while retaining a guideline that applicants have five minutes to speak. Members supported the idea of drafting concise, non‑prescriptive language.
The council agreed there are no major outstanding changes and directed staff to get legal review. Goldman said the goal is to return the revised manual for consideration at the March 26 business meeting.
