End of dinners for Council

The Open Public Meetings Act, meals before council meetings and meeting times were all the subject of considerable discussion Tuesday by the Spokane Valley City Council.

Deputy City Attorney Cary Driskell presented a report about the Open Public Meetings Act and how to interpret it. The question came up in connection with the meals the former council had before each council meeting and whether those were a violation of the law, which is intended to give the public confidence that government is operating openly and no “backroom deals” are being made, Driskell said.

Any gathering where four or more council members discuss city business must be advertised as a meeting and be open to the public. If three meet to discuss an issue and then consult with a fourth council member, that is considered a meeting as well. Even an e-mail exchange that generates an online conversation about an issue is considered a meeting, Driskell said. “That constitutes a public meeting and must be noticed,” Driskell said. “Four of you participating in anything like that is a legal liability.”

Driskell said he would advise giving public notice about any gathering to be on the safe side. “We tend to be pretty cautious,” he said. “We take a conservative view of things sometimes. We don’t want to be a test case.”

A few weeks ago Mayor Tom Towey had decided to eliminate the dinners for council members and staff before each meeting. A few council members objected to him making the decision without the council members having a chance to discuss the issue in public. After having that discussion Tuesday, they agreed to stop having the meals.

The practice of having the meals started when the city first formed and council members were having numerous lengthy meetings, Towey said. The original resolution passed by the council called for meals only for special occasions. “It seems to me they had good reason for it,” he said. “I would rather not get into a regular meal situation. I don’t think that was the intent of the original resolution. I think it evolved into that.”

Councilwoman Rose Dempsey said she thought that having meals together allowed council members to get along better and “come to a more amiable conclusion than to sit across the table and scowl.” She also pointed out that the $10,000 the council spent on meals in 2009 went to local businesses. “It gave people jobs,” she said. “It wasn’t just thrown away.”

It was an argument that didn’t sit well with Councilman Dean Grafos, who has often spoken about the importance of local jobs while also complaining that the meals were wasteful spending. “Why don’t we just serve breakfast down here, Rose,” he said.

“I’m surprised you don’t gain weight, Rose, with all the meals you want to eat at city expense,” said Councilman Bob McCaslin.

There was also some discussion of changing the start time of council meetings to 6:30 p.m. instead of the current 6 p.m. Councilman Bill Gothmann pointed out that the maximum meeting length is 9 p.m. unless the council votes to extend it. “We need to think of others before we think of ourselves,” he said. “I don’t think the public wants to stay up past 9 p.m. for a council meeting.”

Dempsey said that if a later-starting meeting goes long and is then followed by an executive session, it could keep council members there until nearly midnight. “When I filed for office, I knew when the meetings were,” she said. “If we start later we’ll go home later.”

Councilwoman Brenda Grassel argued that starting later would give members of the public time to go home and have dinner before coming to the meeting. “That’s who I believe I’m representing up here,” she said.

“We’ve been down this road for seven years,” said Councilman Gary Schimmels. “I would really like to see this left alone.”

The majority of the council voted to keep the start time at 6 p.m., with Grassel and Grafos voting against it.