Saturday, May 12, 2012
To: Whatcom County Council
Cc: Karen Frakes
Fm: Shane Roth
Re: Memo from County Prosecutor's office on Open Session
On May 8, 2012, the Council chair read aloud a letter from the Prosecutor's Office regarding a specific limit on what the Council could hear from the public during the Open Session portion of a Council meeting.
There is a perception based on how this legal advice was announced that the Council has come to a decision to adhere to this legal advice.
That is simply not possible.
I remind all Members of Council that it is the ordained will of the people of Whatcom County that the Council determine how its meetings are run.
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. ...
I can find no provision within the Whatcom County Charter, or the Whatcom County Code, that allows for any soul on this planet other that you seven to decide how to conduct your business, including how to handle business such as Open Session during regular meetings.
The only way the Council can change how it does business is by council action. Council action is taken by passing ordinances or resolutions, not by reading a memo from the Prosecutor's Office out loud at a meeting. As of this writing, the Council has not passed any resolution or ordinance that would have the effect of changing how Open Session is to be handled by the Council in keeping with advice of legal counsel.
I further remind all Members of Council that the last time you modified Open Session, you passed an ordinance that changed the Whatcom County Code. So, you have already established a precedent for yourselves.
Even if the memo from the Prosecutor's Office gave you sound legal advice (which I don't believe it did), it would still not serve as a substitute for taking council action on that legal advice.
The County Prosecutor's office does not get to decide how Open Session, or any other aspect of a Council meeting, will be handled. That job has been appointed to you by the citizens through the County Charter. And as a citizen, I expect you to do your job.
The notion that the Prosecutor's Office can micromanage how Council meetings are run by legal fiat is offensive on its face. No one elected the County Prosecutor to administer the legislative branch of County government by proxy.
Until you act to change Open Session, Open Session remains unchanged, no matter what the Prosecutor's Office may write.
If you are inclined to heed the advice of legal counsel on this matter, then vote to pass a resolution to that effect at a regular Council meeting. If you are inclined to dissent from advice of legal counsel on this matter, then vote against a resolution to that effect at a regular Council meeting.
At least four of you are going to have to vote to uphold the legal opinion of the Prosecutor's Office before that opinion actually legitimately affects how Open Session functions. What you are not going to be able to do is to shrug your shoulders and say that your attorneys won't let you make a decision.
In an attorney-client relationship, it is the attorney that works for the client, not the other way around.
You don't work for the Prosecutor's Office. You work for the rest of us. And it is time for you to earn your pay.
I expect you to resolve this matter, one way or the other, by actual council action at the next Council meeting.
Sincerely,
Shane Roth
Bellingham, WA
You make some very good point, Shane. And specific reference to Open Session is found in the County Code, which means that the right to Open Session also requires amendment to be eliminated.
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