OMW Municipal Law Blog

On January 13 a Pierce County judge ruled that the Tacoma City Council may have violated the executive session provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act (RCW 42.30.110).  Earlier in the month the City Council held an executive session to consider the qualifications of finalists for two vacant council seats.  After the executive session, the Deputy Mayor made eight consecutive motions, each receiving a second by the same councilmember, to move eight candidates forward in the process.  Each motion was unanimously approved without discussion.  The City Council was to further consider the candidates the morning of January 14.

The way the votes took place raised concerns about what may have occurred during the executive session.  The News Tribune brought an action to enjoin the City Council from holding its meeting on the 14th.  The judge allowed the City Council to hold its meeting in executive session, but required that any executive sessions relating to the appointment process for the vacant seats be recorded.

To view the News Tribune article, click here.

This entry was posted on January 14, 2010 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Open Public Meetings Act. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.