What’s going on backstage at the Pierce County Council?
Twice in recent weeks the council has taken a recess after a close vote – the first on a sewer rate increase, the second on an ethics code overhaul. In each case the council emerged from recess, voted again and arrived at a different outcome.
The actions suggest improper conversations among council members occurred during the recesses.
“I feel that violates the Open Public Meetings Act,” said Councilman Tim Farrell, D-Tacoma, who was on the losing end of the ethics vote. “It looks really bad.”
Other council members say nothing illegal happened during the recesses.
“I do understand why you ask the question,” said council Chairman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor. But he added: “There’s no shenanigans going on back there.”
The first vote occurred during a Nov. 20 meeting to discuss several ordinances related to the 2008 budget. Among them was a measure enacting a 3.5 percent sewer rate increase.
Initially, the sewer rate hike failed on a 3-4 vote. But after a recess of nearly two hours, Councilwoman Barbara Gelman, D-Tacoma, moved to reconsider the measure.
Gelman initially voted “no” to a sewer rate hike. On the second vote she switched sides, and the rate increase passed 4-3.
Last Tuesday, Gelman was involved in a similar situation involving an overhaul of the county ethics code. Initially a motion to postpone the ethics ordinance failed 3-4, with Gelman voting against the postponement.
But immediately after the vote, Gelman expressed confusion about what the council had done. Chairman Lee called for a 10-minute recess, and council members departed to their office suite.
When the recess was over, the council voted again on postponing the ethics ordinance. Gelman and Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, changed their votes, and the council postponed action on the ethics ordinance until Jan. 29 by a vote of 5-2. The majority cited unanswered questions, including uncertainty about who would be required to register as a lobbyist under the proposal.
The two council members on the losing end of that vote – Farrell and Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup – said the change of votes was suspicious.
“Why members flip-flopped within a 10-minute time span is perplexing to me,” Goings said.
The state Open Meetings Act requires the governing bodies of public agencies to conduct their business in public. Under the law, that business includes deliberations and discussions, as well as final votes.
Gelman said she did not discuss her sewer or ethics code votes with other council members during the recesses, except to request a reconsideration of each motion.
She said she changed her mind about the sewer rate increase after meeting with sewer department employees during the first recess. She said the employees answered several questions about the rate increase, which led her to reconsider her vote.
Gelman attributed her vote change on the ethics code to a “senior moment” of confusion about what the council was voting on. She said she supports an ethics code overhaul but wants more time to make sure the ordinance wouldn’t inhibit the rights of the general public to express their views to public officials.
Bunney likewise said he did not discuss the ethics code with fellow council members during the council recess.
He said he initially voted against postponing the ethics measure because he did not want a good ordinance to be “lost for the perfect.” He said he changed his mind on the second vote because he saw “the chance to do this right.”
Lee said the council complied with the Open Meetings Act during both the sewer rate and the ethics discussions.
“I would tell you honestly that there was no (effort), that I’m aware of, on either Shawn or Barbara to influence their vote,” Lee said.
Goings and Farrell said they can’t say for sure that there were behind-the-scenes discussions. Both said they spent the recesses alone in their offices.
“If there was wheeling and dealing being done, it did not include me,” Goings said.
But Farrell said the appearance of backstage discussions has consequences.
“I want people to trust what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to do that when stuff like that is going on.”
David Wickert: 253-274-7341
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