Our editorial Monday on a secret-meetings lawsuit involving the Shoreline City Council was a step behind the news, but the point remains the same: The public’s business should be done in public.
On Friday, the four non-defendants on the council voted to pay $159,000 to settle the suit, which accused three current council members and a former member of violating the state’s Open Meetings Act. The four admitted privately discussing plans to fire the city manager in 2005, but they insisted they never met as a quorum.
But the four had signed a letter to an attorney saying they wanted to fire then-City Manager Steve Burkett. The letter showed the four had secretly made a decision on Burkett without the knowledge of the other three council members – let alone the public. A few days later, Burkett resigned.
In addition to the settlement, the city is also on the hook for at least $340,000 in legal expenses for the defendants.
Sad to say, holding round-robin meetings without a quorum in order to circumvent the open meetings law is not an unusual tactic in local government. The Shoreline Four knew perfectly well what they did was devious and unethical. If they had simply accepted fines, Shoreline taxpayers would have been far better served.
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