EVERETT — City leaders put a decisive end Wednesday night to the debate over what time City Council meetings should be held.
The council voted 7-0 to approve three night meetings a month and one 12:30 p.m. meeting the fourth Wednesday of each month.
After all seven council members said “yes” to the ordinance, citizens gathered in council chambers broke out in applause.
Council members touched off the flap over meeting times when they abruptly decided Jan. 6 to move three meetings a month to mornings — without public notice. People wrote letters and e-mails complaining that the move curtailed access to the council’s doings.
Councilman Shannon Affholter proposed a compromise: three night meetings and one at 8:30 a.m. Councilman Jeff Moore took that proposal one step further, and asked his colleagues if they might consider moving that daytime meeting to the lunch hour to provide “maximum opportunity” for people to participate.
Wednesday night, Councilman Drew Nielsen also released a set of recommendations for creating procedures that would foster more open government. He’s part of a three-member committee set up to look at how the council handles its business.
The first recommendation on the list is discussing these issues in a workshop at a regular City Council meeting so the public may attend.
Other ideas include reducing the number of council committees; only setting broad public policy in meetings when all council members are present; holding council committee meetings in a single location that is easily accessible to the public; posting meeting times and locations on the city’s Web site; and maintaining minutes at all committee meetings. Nielsen said they will discuss the recommendations at future council meetings.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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