Council moves into executive session under RCW 42.30.110 to consider complaints against a public officer

The chair of the Mabton City Council called a special meeting to order and announced the council would go into a closed executive session "pursuant to RCW 42.30.110" to receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a public officer or employee. The chair stated the meeting was called to order at 06:34PM and read the statutory basis for the closed session: "The city council will now call will now go into executive session pursuant to RCW 42.30.110 to receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a public officer or employee."

Council members discussed timing for the closed session. The chair noted the meeting materials showed a one-hour statutory duration but the group agreed to begin with 30 minutes and add time as necessary. The chair said, "no action will be taken during the executive session," and that the council expected to return to open session afterward. The transcript records the chair saying, "We expect to return to, open session at approximately 6," a line that is unclear in context because the chair earlier recorded the start time as 06:34PM.

The transcript does not record any formal motion with a mover or seconder, nor a public vote; the action recorded in public proceedings was the council's entry into an executive session under the cited state statute. The council's roll call before the closed session shows five council members present. The transcript does not show any formal decisions or disciplinary actions taken in open session; the chair explicitly stated that no action would be taken during the executive session.