Oh, the pain... the searing heat... of the stupid.
With a death grip on the Idiot Ball, the County Prosecutor's office has opined that the County Council should not take public comments on the Gateway Pacific Terminal during Open Session at County Council meetings.
Take a peek at this blog entry from the Bellingham Herald... (Link Here.)
There has also been lively commentary on this matter at Get Whatcom Planning. (Link Here.)
It is difficult to know quite where to begin. So, I will wing it.
First of all. Bravo to the complete, entire, and all-encompassing Sierra.
I may not have a law degree, but I do have a highly calibrated B.S. detector. And when I heard this letter read aloud by the Chair of the Council, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I congratulate the Chair, Ms. Kershner, on keeping a straight face while reading this nonsense.
Now many fine snark-astic comments have already been posted on this matter, so I will leave that low hanging fruit be.
There are a few points that I don't hear anyone talking about, so I will take this opportunity to mention them now.
The opinion from the County Prosecutor's office is not binding on the Council.
I'm going to say that again for emphasis.
The Council does not have to do whatever the County Prosecutor's office says.
Based on the commentary online, I get the notion that the public posting of this note from the County Prosecutor's office means that, right now, the public is currently not allowed to speak to the County Council in Open Session on the Gateway Pacific Terminal.
But last I checked, no one in the County Prosecutor's office has a vote on the County Council.
It is the Council itself that must decide whether or not to take up the County Prosecutor's recommendation and uphold it.
No official action on the part of the Council has been taken to modify Open Session. That means that Open Session has not been modified.
As I see it, until the Council votes on the matter, no decision that changes how Open Session works in County Council meetings has been made.
Let me put this another way...
You know how at the state level when the Attorney General McKenna orders Governor Gregoire and the State Legislature do to something and then they just do it "because our attorney told us we had to"?
And did you notice at the state level how once the Attorney General says something has to be done a certain way... there is no need for the Governor to sign anything or for the Legislature to vote on anything "because our attorney decided this is how we do things"?
No?
Me neither.
Because that is clinically insane.
This is what doesn't seem to be understood about this matter.
See, there is this thing called separation of powers. It is not just for federal and state levels of government. In fact, it appears in the County Charter... take a look...
With a death grip on the Idiot Ball, the County Prosecutor's office has opined that the County Council should not take public comments on the Gateway Pacific Terminal during Open Session at County Council meetings.
Take a peek at this blog entry from the Bellingham Herald... (Link Here.)
There has also been lively commentary on this matter at Get Whatcom Planning. (Link Here.)
It is difficult to know quite where to begin. So, I will wing it.
First of all. Bravo to the complete, entire, and all-encompassing Sierra.
I may not have a law degree, but I do have a highly calibrated B.S. detector. And when I heard this letter read aloud by the Chair of the Council, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I congratulate the Chair, Ms. Kershner, on keeping a straight face while reading this nonsense.
Now many fine snark-astic comments have already been posted on this matter, so I will leave that low hanging fruit be.
There are a few points that I don't hear anyone talking about, so I will take this opportunity to mention them now.
The opinion from the County Prosecutor's office is not binding on the Council.
I'm going to say that again for emphasis.
The Council does not have to do whatever the County Prosecutor's office says.
Based on the commentary online, I get the notion that the public posting of this note from the County Prosecutor's office means that, right now, the public is currently not allowed to speak to the County Council in Open Session on the Gateway Pacific Terminal.
But last I checked, no one in the County Prosecutor's office has a vote on the County Council.
It is the Council itself that must decide whether or not to take up the County Prosecutor's recommendation and uphold it.
No official action on the part of the Council has been taken to modify Open Session. That means that Open Session has not been modified.
As I see it, until the Council votes on the matter, no decision that changes how Open Session works in County Council meetings has been made.
Let me put this another way...
You know how at the state level when the Attorney General McKenna orders Governor Gregoire and the State Legislature do to something and then they just do it "because our attorney told us we had to"?
And did you notice at the state level how once the Attorney General says something has to be done a certain way... there is no need for the Governor to sign anything or for the Legislature to vote on anything "because our attorney decided this is how we do things"?
No?
Me neither.
Because that is clinically insane.
This is what doesn't seem to be understood about this matter.
See, there is this thing called separation of powers. It is not just for federal and state levels of government. In fact, it appears in the County Charter... take a look...
Section 1.50 Separation of Powers and Cooperation of Branches. There shall be separation of powers into two branches of government: executive and legislative. Both branches are to dutifully fulfill their responsibilities and refrain from overextending their authority, as defined in this Charter. ...More to the point, the Council can't simply pass the buck to the County Prosecutor's Office, either. The only people who can decide how the Council conducts its business is... the County Council itself. Again... back to the Charter...
Section 2.22 Organization. [The County Council]... shall be responsible for its own organization, the rules of conduct of its business and for the employment and supervision of such persons as it deems necessary to assist it in the performance of its duties. ... ...That responsibility can't be delegated to anyone else. Not even the County Prosecutor.
So, I don't want to hear any Member of Council hiding behind that letter.
If the Council wants to make the decision to disallow commentary on the GPT during Open Session, then the Council... NOT the Prosecutor's Office... needs to pass a resolution or ordinance to that effect.
If the staff of the County Prosecutor's office wants to decide how County Council meetings are run, then they need to get elected to the Council and change how the Council is run that way.
This letter strikes me as a case of the Prosecutor's office overextending its authority, in derogation of the Charter, by the way.
Remember, in the attorney-client relationship, the attorney works for the client. The client doesn't work for the attorney. The client, in this case the Council, is not required to act on legal advice if that client disagrees with that legal advice.
I encourage you to attend the next County Council meeting and remind the council who is the boss over them.
(Spoiler Alert: It's not the County Prosecutor...)
(Spoiler Alert: It's... um... you. Shhhhh.)
Dude! Don't leave a link to TVTropes without warning me. Its a trap!!
ReplyDeleteThe lack of judgement and proper legal advice has NEVER stopped our County Council from doing what ever it wanted in the past. Why start now. Count up the money and time they have spent in preparing and passing and trying to defend in court stupid, partisan, pandering-to-the-folks-that-pay-to-get-them-elected rules and laws that are found to be AGAINST THE LAW when the final appeal is in at the Supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. It's unfortunate that some of our County Council Members have lost respect for the people they purportedly represent. In fact, it was Abraham Lincoln who said: "Democracy is the government of the people, by the people,..."
ReplyDeleteOf course, Lincoln also said, "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”