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Remote commenter urges fairness in public comment, asks council to scrutinize water and sewer fees
Summary
A resident attending remotely criticized inconsistent handling of public comments and alleged council involvement in critical social-media posts; he asked the council to add an agenda item to ensure fairness and to investigate reports that some water and sewer connection fees were not collected from developers.
John Lompa, speaking remotely, told the council he has seen unequal treatment in public comment and that on a prior meeting a council member addressed him directly in a way he described as putting down his comment. He said the city's code requires public comment be addressed to the council rather than to other members of the public and asked the council to add a future agenda item to address fairness in how public comments are handled.
"Your code says that public comment will be made to the council and not to the public," Lompa said. He also told the council that he believes social-media posts criticizing him and his businesses involved council members and asked for the record to reflect concern over such conduct. Lompa additionally requested a future agenda item on uncollected city water and sewer fees by developers: "there's some city water and sewer fees that have not been collected by developers, and I'm asking that to be put on a future agenda as well to look into it." The City Manager said the public-records request (PRA) had been responded to and that staff could present an informational item to explain the documents and the city's position.
Council members agreed an informational item could be useful to address optics and public questions; no formal action was taken beyond requesting staff follow-up.
