Is Lynnwood council VP allowed to also serve on PUD board? Probably.

LYNNWOOD — A city code appeared to prevent Lynnwood City Council Vice President Julieta Altamirano-Crosby, who just won election to a seat on the Snohomish County Public Utility District’s board, from serving on both bodies.

An effort to change that law — a week after election day — led to a more than hourlong debate in a council meeting last week. But, as it turns out, the law may be moot.

At the meeting, City Council member Patrick Decker moved to repeal the section of Lynnwood’s municipal code preventing council members from holding other elected offices.

The code reads that “no elective officer or council member of the city of Lynnwood shall hold any other office, federal, state, county or municipal,” except in the military.

But Lynnwood City Attorney Lisa Marshall said the state hasn’t found serving as a PUD board member and as a City Council member to be “incompatible,” meaning Altamirano-Crosby could still serve on both positions without changing the city’s code.

The Doctrine of Incompatible Offices, originated from a 1957 state Supreme Court decision, prohibits holding multiple “incompatible” state offices at one time.

Incompatibility can arise when one office is subordinate to another, or when two offices are related such that someone trying to perform the duties of both would give rise to inconsistent loyalties to the public, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington, or MRSC, a nonprofit that provides information to local government entities.

“As of right now, there is absolutely no legal reason that I have read why the courts or the state would declare this an incompatible office,” Marshall said at the Nov. 12 meeting. “That was my advice, and I stand by that.”

The doctrine is not self-enforcing, meaning there are no penalties until a court determines two positions are incompatible, the MRSC says.

“Regardless of what the Lynnwood Municipal Code says, there is no action the City Council or City of Lynnwood could do to remove a seated Council Member in regard to this particular code or because of the Doctrine of Incompatible Offices,” said city spokesperson Nathan MacDonald. “That would be up to a court to render a decision.”

Board members on the utility’s Board of Commissioners are required by law to represent the interests of customers in the district, superseding any conflicting interest to advocacy groups, interest groups or membership in other organizations.

The PUD serves 875,000 residents in Snohomish County and Camano Island. Altamirano-Crosby won election to its board this month with 52.9% of the vote.

Lynnwood’s ordinance, passed by the City Council in 1988, states “the holding of other public office by Lynnwood councilmembers or the Lynnwood Mayor may result in a division of such dual office holder’s time and allegiance, thereby having a detrimental effect on the operations of the city.”

Other local government bodies, however, like the Everett City Council and the Snohomish County Council, allow members to hold more than one elected office, as long as it is a position outside of the city or county, respectively. Mary Fosse, an Everett City Council member, is a state representative, while Sam Low and Strom Peterson both hold County Council seats as well as seats in the state House.

But one Lynnwood council member, Josh Binda, raised concerns over ethics because the vote to repeal the Lynnwood code was taking place after election day.

“It is wrong to try and revise a city code after the aftermath of a council member’s election that same year, to benefit them to bend the rules,” Binda said at the Nov. 12 meeting. “It is wrong and unethical.”

Council members said the Nov. 12 motion surprised them. Decker raised the motion without prior notice at the end of the meeting. Based on the city attorney’s advice, most council members believed Altamirano-Crosby could hold both offices even if the municipal code remained the same. The council voted 5-2 to deny the change in the city code at that meeting, then voted unanimously to discuss and decide on it at a future date.

“I’m not in disagreement, necessarily, with council member Decker and council Vice President Altamirano-Crosby about making a change, but I am against doing anything tonight,” said council member David Parshall. “… I would support a motion to have a further discussion about this when we all have the opportunity to have equal research and look into this.”

The council is set to discuss the vote to change the municipal code in the near future, but an exact date is currently unknown. The county certifies election results Nov. 26.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.