EVERETT — For decades, the Everett City Council has flown by the seat of its pants.
It remains one of the few councils statewide without written procedures for how to do business.
No rules, for instance, on how laws get introduced or how votes happen.
City leaders are scheduled to take another stab at the matter at 12:30 p.m. today at council chambers, 3002 Wetmore Ave.
The council plans to take a look at a draft prepared by the city attorney and chat about the issue. The draft, available online at www.heraldnet.com, addresses:
how and when a council president gets elected;
how someone on council can bring forward an ordinance or resolution;
and some basic ground rules for voting.
The council began this self-examination after a public spat earlier this year over the timing of meetings.
It’s been a slow and sometimes messy process. Not all the elected officials, for instance, even agree the council needs procedures.
First an ad hoc committee put together a set of procedures and the council talked about them in March. That conversation didn’t get far because three of the seven council members were absent: Brenda Stonecipher, Arlan Hatloe and Ron Gipson.
The next month, the council talked about the issue again and asked the city attorney to come up with a draft. Council members Jeff Moore and Stonecipher said they also wanted to take a turn; Moore said he’s still working on that.
Meanwhile, a group of concerned neighbors spent weeks putting together their own 11-page draft. They gave copies to the council in March and haven’t heard anything back, said Barb Lamoureux, a local real estate agent and a member of the group.
That’s frustrated the neighbors, who don’t understand why a council that is trying to be more open isn’t letting people who want to help jump in.
“This is just not right,” she said. “They make these decisions and cut the rest of us out.”
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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