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Bonney Lake council invites ASCA board member after members raise governance concerns
Summary
Council members debated the value and governance of the Alliance for Sustainable Climate Action (ASCA), questioning its representativeness and agenda. The council voted to invite at least one ASCA board member to a future workshop to explain governance, funding and accountability.
Deputy Mayor Swatman and several council members spent much of the council’s open-discussion period debating whether the city’s participation in the Alliance for Sustainable Climate Action is delivering value to Bonney Lake.
Councilmember Baldwin said she and other council members are concerned that ASCA’s materials and presentations sometimes reflect policy positions the council does not support, urging caution about endorsing those positions implicitly. “I feel like the things that we're hearing... it's like you're drinking the Kool Aid,” Baldwin said, characterizing some ASCA materials as out of step with the council’s priorities.
Other council members described the meetings as useful for technical sessions such as wildfire preparedness, with Councilmember Hubler calling the wildfire session “a great session to sit through” and saying ASCA can help the city spot grant opportunities and coordinate regional responses.
Councilmember McClymonds (who has previously questioned ASCA’s leadership composition) said the group’s governance and staffing are concentrated in a few counties and that the organization needs broader leadership to represent Washington’s diversity. “Until I see the staff and leadership not predominantly in King County, Snohomish County and Pierce County, I don’t think you’re going to see a different result,” McClymonds said.
After discussion, Councilmember Davis moved — and councilmembers seconded — a motion to invite at least one ASCA board member to a future council workshop to explain ASCA’s method of governance, sources of funding and accountability. The motion carried by voice vote.
The invited board member will be scheduled for a future workshop in an Open Public Meetings Act–compliant format so council members can ask questions about ASCA’s role, decision-making and the potential implications for city policy.
Next steps: staff and the City Clerk will coordinate and schedule the invitation and workshop; no changes to Bonney Lake’s participation were adopted at the meeting.
