About a dozen Puyallup residents regularly meet at the Daffodil bowling alley on East Main. They gather around a long table, sharing laughs and lunch.
Until recently, it wasn’t unusual to spot Rick Hansen, John Knutsen, John Hopkins and Steve Vermillion pulling up chairs. That changed this month, now that the four friends all sit on the Puyallup City Council.
All say they no longer attend the lunches on the same day, four at a time. Even though state law allows council members to get together socially, the four council mates say they want to avoid misconceptions that they might be conducting city business away from City Hall.
Yet questions about their fraternization have already arisen.
The four met up for a celebratory drink after their first council meeting of the year Jan. 3. They headed to Charlie’s Restaurant & Lounge near City Hall, along with some city officials and residents. Councilman Tom Swanson also briefly was there.
Another time, the four attended a resident’s birthday party, also held at Charlie’s.
Both gatherings have drawn flak from critics who didn’t like seeing a majority of the council together outside a public meeting without public notice.
The incidents underscore the narrow line that elected city officials must walk between public and private affairs, and the fishbowl of scrutiny in which they can find themselves.
The critics, including one fellow council member, say that while nothing improper may have happened, it doesn’t look good.
“We as politicians shouldn’t put ourselves in the position of saying, ‘Prove (we did something wrong),’” said Kent Boyle, a council veteran who represents Puyallup’s south end. “We’re elected representatives. What does it do to perception in the community?”
The four council friends acknowledge that social visits can give the public the wrong impression. They say they plan to avoid such gatherings as much as possible.
But they said they had limited – if any – interaction at the two get-togethers in question and that no city business was discussed.
“These things are way out in the public – it’s not people huddled in a darkened corner,” Hopkins said.
Vermillion said the men signed on to join the council not to completely give up their social lives.
“We’re big boys. We know what the rules are” and abide by them, he said.
4 NEW MEMBERS
The seven-member Puyallup council has four new faces and a new majority this year.
Hopkins and Vermillion won election to their seats in November. Hansen and Knutsen are council veterans who used to make up a vocal minority on the council.
Hansen and Hopkins are partners in some downtown property.
Knutsen and Hopkins represent the city’s north end. Hansen represents the central district, and Vermillion holds the at-large council seat.
Under state law, council members – even all seven at once – can meet socially outside a public meeting as long as they don’t discuss city business.
And they can talk about city business in small groups of two or three as long as there’s not a quorum, or council majority.
Last year, Knutsen received an award from a state open government coalition for opting out of small-group sessions at City Hall with the city manager and rotating groups of council colleagues. Officials described the sessions as purely informational, with no council agenda items discussed, no votes taken and no quorum present.
Still, they drew some criticism. Knutsen said his concern was that “they were in an office in City Hall with a closed door … basically it was out of public view and with a city official.”
That’s different from a group gathering socially over a drink in a public place, said Knutsen, the city’s new deputy mayor.
COMMITTED TO TRANSPARENCY
The four council mates all said they’re committed to transparency and are optimistic about the new council.
“There will be openness, and there will be input and more opportunity to have good dialogue. I think it’s going to be a good working council,” said Hansen, the newly named mayor. “There’s a rebirth of energy. I’m really excited.”
But Dave Churchman, a city watchdog, said the extracurricular gatherings have put doubts in his mind.
“This council campaigned on the issue of open government and transparency, but it only took them a few days before that promise has been questioned,” he said.
Toby Nixon, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, said he’s heard about the controversy in Puyallup.
It seems unlikely that city matters would be discussed at a birthday party, he said. But Nixon, who also is a member of the Kirkland City Council, said he’d personally avoid gathering right after a council meeting because of the temptation to talk about city business.
His coalition, which gave Knutsen the award last year, is planning a forum on open government in Puyallup this summer.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058 sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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