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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 09/08/19881124 I CALL TO ORDER II ROLL CALL Staff Present: CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING /WORK SESSION Port Angeles, Washington September 8, 1988 Mayor McPhee called the special meeting to order at 5:35 P.M. The purpose of the meeting is the continuation of the discussion of the development of Goals and Objectives for 1989 -90 and beyond. Also the continuation of the selection of a citizen to fill the Council vacancy. Members Present: Mayor McPhee, Councilmen Gabriel, Hallett, Lemon, Sargent, Stamon. Members Absent: None one vacancy. Manager Flodstrom, Attorney Knutson, Clerk Maike, P. Carr, M. Cleland, R. Orton, S. Brodhun, L. Glenn, J. Pittis, D. Wolfe. Public Present: V. French, D. Vautier, J. DeBord, L. Bondy. III VII SUSPENDED VIII LEGISLATION 1. Continuation of Development of Goals and Obiectives for 1989 and 1990 and Beyond Councilmembers and staff discussed the amended list of Goals and Objectives established in February, 1988, and amended at the September 7th special meeting. Mayor McPhee read through the updated list. Councilmembers set aside those goals in which there were questions or discussions to be had at a later meeting. Councilman Hallett then moved Council continue its meeting until the work is completed; that there be no time -line set. Councilman Sargent seconded. Councilman Stamon stated this was with the understanding that there would be a 15- minute break at 6:45 P.M. Councilman Hallett stated this was correct. On call for the question, the motion failed, with Councilmen Hallett, Sargent and Stamon voting "Yes and Councilmen Gabriel and Lemon and Mayor McPhee voting "No Mayor McPhee then stated with the motion defeated, Council would be terminating the meeting at 9:00 P.M. Jim Jones, Jr., 2106 Seabreeze Place, Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Board, gave Council an extensive overview on his reasonings why Council should remove from its new Goals and Objectives Item No. 16 on the list, Community Recreation through YMCA Contract with the YMCA to Provide Community Recreational Program Currently Provided by the Recreation Division of the Parks Department. Mr. Jones felt this was not a wise decision, stating in summary that the Parks and Recreation Board has made a lot of strides and he felt they did not want to take any backward steps. He gave Council many reasons for the positive aspects of such programs within the City of Port Angeles, as well as reasons for not wanting to have this a contract service. Following lengthy discussion by Council and staff, as well as Mr. Jones, Councilman Stamon moved to eliminate this particular Coal. Councilman Hallett seconded. After a lengthy discussion of the motion by Councilmembers, the quEstion was called and the motion carried, with Mayor McPhee voting "No Councilman Hallett then moved Council add the exploration of privatization wherever possible. This would include Parks Recreation and many other organizations that the City is involved with, to see where the City may be able to increase efficiencies with cost not necessarily being the sole factor. Councilman Stamon seconded. Jim Lunt, 4006 South Fairmount, spoke to the Council regarding the contracting out of the Parks Recreation Department to the YMCA, urging Council to not take away the support from the system and spoke in support of the Parks Recreation Department as it now is. On call for the question, the motion carried. Mayor McPhee recessed the meeting for a short break at 6 :48 P.M. 2. 7:00 P.M. Selection of Citizen to Fill Council Vacancy (Continued from September 6. 1988, MeetinE) Mayor McPhee directed Clerk Maike to receive a ballot. Ballot One: Councilman Gabriel voted for John Hordyk. Councilman Hallett voted for Prosper Ostrowski. Councilman Lemon voted for John Hordyk. Mayor McPhee voted for John Hordyk. Councilman Sargent voted for Prosper Ostrowski. Councilman Stamon voted for Prosper Ostrowski. -2- 1125 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 Councilman Hallett moved that each Councilman name their first, second and third choices for candidates. Councilman Stamon seconded. Councilman Hallett stated the purpose of his motion was to see if there were any other candidates that the Council would be able to agree on. Councilman Lemon stated in reflecting back on the past few days, he feels that he and two other Councilmembers are supposed to compromise to create harmony. He stated he has looked at these different words and these are the meanings of those words to him: Compromise means to adjust or settle by mutual consensus; to bind by mutual agreement; or to make a shameful, disreputable condescension or surrender. Harmony he thinks of a tuneful or musical sound, but the actual word is a joint effort more at arms, dealing with a direction of war and the direction of an armed force, and the way they are going. Councilman Lemon believes Council can have a parliamentary harmony but considering harmony, we as a Council, must realize there are at least two different realities and philosophies, which is okay. He stated he has realities, morals and principles which he will not compromise. In looking at harmony in a broader sense, the importance of such needs to take place with the citizens and public servants. This, he stated, was not apparent through the last Council and the results at the polls and what took place at the polls shows there is not harmony with the officials and the citizens. He stated he believed he was put into office to make sound decisions, to act upon them, and to bear the consequences. As an individual, he has been responsible in that areA and will continue. He stated he is responsible to first, his morals and principles, and second to the vote, and because of the seriousness of the issue before them, he, as one Councilmember, will not compromise, but rather would be making a decision. Councilman Gabriel commented that he has had time to take careful consideration of some of the candidates that have been brought before the Council, stating he had picked out three candidates, those being John Hordyk, Sam Haguewood, and Prosper Ostrowski. He has eliminated Mr. Haguewood and in talking to Mr. Ostrowski, has eliminated him, also, for various reasons. He felt John Hordyk would be a better candidate. Councilman Gabriel said he has received an inordinate amount of calls this week and one subject that has resurfaced each time is that this Council has not been getting anything done. However, he strongly disagreed, as every item that has come before the Council has been taken care of. He stated the problems Council is having are with leadership. He encouraged the people who had applied for the opening to come down and get involved with the Goals and Objectives meetings. However, Council was looking at a short period of time and they needed to bring someone in who has the experience to help them 1126 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 accomplish the Goals and Objectives that the Council has put together, and he did encourage those candidates to run again in the upcoming elections. He stated he did not think that any Councilman had come up with any radical changes. They are not coming up with any crazy ideas, and he did not believe it was the intention of any Councilmember present to go wild on changes. He stated he was very firm in his decision. Mayor McPhee stated he did have difficulty with the motion, as they were to give three names. However, he did not have three names because of the criteria he had established. He did, however, have two names. He questioned Councilman Hallett if it would be all right for him to submit one name more than once, stating he felt it would defeat the purpose. Councilman Stamon, however, stated she did not see where it would defeat the purpose, but the intent of the motion was to discern if there are any common names to be considered; that this is an attempt as a discussion tool. On call for the question, the motion carried, with Councilman Lemon and Mayor McPhee voting "No Clerk Maike then received three names from each Councilmember for consideration for the open position. Councilman Gabriel chose John Hordyk. Councilman Hallett chose Dick Wight, William Anabel and Prosper Ostrowski. Councilman Lemon chose John Hordyk, John Hordyk, and John Hordyk. Mayor McPhee chose Sam Haguewood and John Hordyk. Councilman Sargent chose William Anabel, Prosper Ostrowski, and Dick Wight. Councilman Stamon chose William Anabel, Prosper Ostrowski, and Dick Wight. Mayor McPhee, in light of the situation, stated he felt that proceeding on to vote would be pointless. He then stated he would call for one more vote and would declare this portion of the meeting closed, unless there was a motion from the Council to do otherwise. Councilman Sargent moved to recess the meeting to executive session for approximately 30 minutes. Councilman Stamon seconded. �1 Councilman -�stkr stated she had spoken to Attorney Knutson and he had informed her that Council could, in fact, do this, to discuss the candidates. Attorney Knutson stated there is a specific exception to the Open Public Meetings Act that allows for discussion in executive session to discuss the qualifications of candidates for appointment to elective office. Council cannot, however, interview candidates in executive session and they cannot take final action in the selection during an executive session. Dennis Bragg, 322 Cottonwood Lane, addressed Council, speaking on behalf of KAPY Radio and the other media, asked that the City Council would postpone consideration of going into executive session until various media have a chance to check out this decision with legal counsel and also review the specific provision of the Open Public Meetings Act. K Councilman Stamon commented that she holds the public's right to know and to be involved in any deliberation that goes on which affects their welfare in high esteem, stating she seconded the motion with hesitation, because she does not believe that public business ought to be conducted behind closed doors; but she feels in this particular instance that possibly if Council could spend a short period of time and discuss things, hopefully calmly, that maybe there is a chance of avoiding what appears to be about to happen and that is the reason she seconded the motion. Further, she would not be uncomfortable, if anything other than a deadlock comes out of this meeting, with sharing the discussion that Council has had publicly. Councilman Sargent stated the reason she had suggested this motion is to try to resolve the situation, stating it was a last resort; that she felt very strongly about this being a Council appointment. She feels that she is responsible to the vote of all the people, not only to those who voted for her, but also a representative of all the people. She wants to make a responsible decision and felt Council needs a fresh face on the Council and that the voters also would like to see a fresh face. Mr. Hordyk was -3- 1127 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 defeated the last time he ran and she did not feel comfortable appointing someone who was defeated by the taxpayers. Mayor McPhee stated it was true that John Hordyk was defeated; however, he felt Mr. Hordyk was vindicated in the last election and as far as the question of putting someone on who has been defeated, he reminded Council of the appointment of Mr. Whidden to the position in September of 1981, after he had lost in the primary six weeks prior. He spoke at length on some of the other issues brought up regarding the candidates. Councilman Stamon rose to a point of order, stating that the motion on the floor was whether or not to go into executive session and requested that Council stick to the issue at hand. Councilman Hallett offered a friendly amendment to have Council recess for five minutes before going into executive session so that the press could assure themselves of the propriety of the action being taken Councilman Sargent concurred. On call for the question, the amended motion carried unanimously. Mayor McPhee then recessed the meeting for five minutes at 7:33 P.M. Kevin Dolan, reporter for the Peninsula Daily News, stated it is true that the State does allow Council to go into executive session to evaluate the qualifications of the candidates. He did not agree with the law. He asked that Council not recess to executive session. However, the law does require Council to interview candidates in an open session and since Council would be basing their decision on an open public interview, then why should they go into secret? Also, the law says it should be liberally construed, which means if there is a question over interpretation of the law, it should always be in favor of openness. Therefore, if Council decided to go into executive session, the only thing they could talk about would be the qualifications of the candidates. They could not talk about the political ramifications of a certain appointment, or lack of the appointment. He again reiterated that he felt Council should make the decision publicly. Dennis Bragg, KAPY Radio, stated Council has them at a disadvantage and it was really a question of how the law is construed. When Council gets to this stage and starts talking about the political ramifications of this appointment, that is where the press has its concern and they wanted to go on record expressing that concern; and again point out with the law being liberally construed, which, if there is a question about the law, then the governing body should respond to that question. Mayor McPhee thanked the press for being available and stated they really do serve an important function. Attorney Knutson stated the Open Public Meetings Acts requires the Council to do all governmental actions in open session and when Councilman Sargent appraached him with the question, it was in the context of a similar situation that apparently arose a number of years back with the previous City Council that was deadlocked after a number of votes and went into executive session and apparently came out with a consensus as to an acceptable candidate. He had indicated to Councilman Sargent that he had concerns about that approach and he still does. Subsequently, however, Attorney Knutson had discussed the matter with Municipal Research Services of the State of Washington which had informed him that this process of going into executive session in this same situation has been followed by a number of cities in the State of Washington and he agreed with the press that Council should not go into executive session and come out with the final decision made. On the other hand, however, he felt in discussing qualifications in executive session, there is definitely an ability to be more candid than there is in open session, when talking about specific individuals, and it is possible that there could be some movement based on the ability to be candid. Councilman Lemon moved to go into executive session. The motion died for lack of a second. Councilman Gabriel moved to not go into executive session. Councilman Lemon seconded. -4- 1128 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 Councilman Stamon, as a point of order, stated there needed to be a motion to reconsider. Councilman Gabriel withdrew his motion and moved to reconsider the motion to adjourn to executive session. Councilman Lemon seconded. On call for the question, Councilmen Gabriel, Lemon and Mayor McPhee voted "Yes and Councilmen Hallett, Sargent and Stamon voted "No The motion failed. The meeting adjourned to executive session at 7:58 P.M. The meeting returned to open session at 8:33 P.M. Councilman Hallett moved to schedule a public interview session so the entire community could benefit from questions and answers with Mr. Hordyk and Mr. Ostrowski, to see if those interviews can answer questions that have been raised, and to somehow focus on those two candidates to see if Council can reach a collective decision. Councilman Stamon seconded. Councilman Hallett, in speaking to his motion, felt it was important that Council collectively make the decision. He felt in his mind there are some questions he would like to ask both candidates in light of things heard from the public, and in light of issues researched by himself. He felt the public as a whole could benefit from the collective thoughts on the issue and the candidates as a whole could then put their best foot forward and that would be as close as Council could come to having an advisory ballot or an election. He suggested doing this interview prior to the September 20th City Council meeting, at least one to two hours prior to the beginning of the regular meeting. Councilman Hallett then restated the motion to conduct public interviews with Mr. Hordyk and Mr. Ostrowski; to do those one hour prior to the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting, which would give Council one -half hour for each candidate, and to invite the public to attend. Councilman Stamon seconded. Mayor McPhee stated Council has interviewed the candidates and he believed Council has unnecessarily dragged out the process. Council has settled into narrow choices quite some time ago, and currently they were running into time that should be used for their Goals and Objectives and to interview again, in his opinion, would not alter the fact that local experience appears to be the big issue, and he felt any amount of interviews would not change the local experience on the Council. He stated he would dearly love to see the Council vote to bring a man on board who has a good amount of local experience on the Council and to make a statement to that candidate that although he was not the first choice of everyone, that Council would want him on board. Councilman Sargent corrected Mayor McPhee's statement that Council wanted local experience, as she felt this was his personal opinion. Mayon-McPhee then corrected his statement to say "some people Councilman Hallett stated the law allows thirty days and he did not believe the Council had to rush the decision and he felt the public deserves the right to know what each Councilmember feels and w iy they feel the way they do, since they are representing the public. He felt this would afford them an excellent window and insight into how this Council has arrived at the decisions they have over the past nine or ten months. On call for the question, Councilmen Hallett, Stamon and Sargent voted "Yes with Mayor McPhee and Councilmen Lemon and Gabriel voting "No The motion failed. Councilman Hallett questioned Mayor McPhee if he had made a decision regarding which person he would appoint to this position. Mayor McPhee stated he has already dropped his first choice and at this point, his choice would definitely be Mr. Hordyk. Mayor McPhee could not see anything which would alter the fact that Mr. Hordyk has so much local experience. Councilman Sargent then moved that the appointment to the Council not be made until the September 20th meeting. -5- Councilman Stamon, as a point of order, stated there were thirty days from the vacancy in which the Council has the opportunity to select a new member and that it cannot occur until that time. Councilman Sargent then withdrew her motion. Councilman Stamon, posing a question to Mayor McPhee, asked if he in fact believed that he was carrying out the will and wishes of the people in making the appointment. Mayor McPhee stated yes. 1129 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 Councilman Stamon then moved that the Council will consider the Mayor will make a provisional appointment on the first of October or after such date that would be effective until the general election, and at that time the Council will direct to be placed on the ballot in the City of Port Angeles an advisory vote as to whether or not the appointment of the Mayor should be confirmed, with the understanding that if the appointment is confirmed by a majority of the people voting in the election, then that would be the person who would continue to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Hesla. If not, then the Mayor, who has indicated that he is carrying out the will and wishes of the people, along with the new member, would step down. Councilman Hallett seconded for purposes of discussion. Mayor McPhee asked Councilman Stamon to please clarify her motion. Councilman Stamon stated she had asked him if he was in fact carrying out the will of the people and he had said yes. Therefore, she believed Council ought to put this to a test; to put an advisory ballot on the general election and the people then can confirm the appointment and if not, then the Mayor would agree that he had not represented the will of the people and would step down, along with the new member, and the remainder of the Council would then be able to appoint two new Councilmembers. After some discussion of the motion, Councilman Lemon offered an amendment to the motion: That if the majority of the people accept the appointment of John Hordyk, then Councilman Stamon would step down from the Council also. Councilman Gabriel seconded. On call for the question, Mayor McPhee and Councilmen Gabriel and Lemon voted "Aye with Councilmen Sargent, Stamon and Hallett voting "No The amendment was denied. Councilman Gabriel then offered a friendly amendment to the main motion: That Mayor McPhee would step down from the Mayoral position. Councilman Stamon concurred, as did Councilman Hallett. Clarification of the amendment: That the Mayor step down from the position of. Mayor if the appointment made is not confirmed in the general election by the advisory ballot. The Council would then collectively appoint both a new member and a new Mayor. On call for the question, the amended motion carried, with Councilmen Gabriel, Hallett, Sargent and Stamon voting "Aye and Mayor Mayor McPhee and Councilman Lemon voting "No Mayor McPhee suggested Council entertain a motion to adjourn. Councilman Stamon called for a point of privilege, stating there have been several members of the Council who have had an opportunity to express their opinions in terms of the appointment and the direction that Council is taking, and she believed that opportunity ought to be afforded to the other members of the Council at this point. Councilman Stamon then moved to continue the meeting until the remaining three members of the Council have had the opportunity to speak. Councilman Sargent seconded and the motion carried, with Councilman Lemon and Mayor McPhee voting "No Prior to any further discussion, Attorney Knutson stated he believed there was a definite legal issue involving the previous motion regarding the advisory ballot and indicated he would look into the issue further, if the Council so directed, but before Council got to the point where the motion -6- 1130 CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 8, 1988 CC. 23 would be put into effect, he believed Council needed to consider the legal ramifications, as it may not be legal in the form that it was passed. Councilman Stamon then commented on the issue at hand. Some of the points she touched upon were the Council has a broader scope of responsibility in this issue and that is to remember that they all are elected and they all represent constituencies and points of views, but their duty is to the public as a whole. She believed there has been overwhelming support that the Council as a whole make the appointment and not the Mayor; and further, she believed there is a very strong feeling that an agreement has been made between some members of the Council for a deadlock. She stated that as an opinion and as comments being made to her; she also believed there could be accord and peace on the Council. She did not think, however, if John Hordyk was appointed to the Council there would be accord and peace, but instead there would be a four -man railroad of agendas that are cleverly hidden and give no consideration to the minority viewpoint; if that occurs, three members of the present Council would be accused of doing exactly what previous Councils have been accused of doing, and that is not listening to the people. Councilman Hallett stated he has been silent over the events of the past week but would like to make a few comments. He stated he was very embarrassed for his community and believed the community was looking to the Council for leadership. He believed Council has the opportunity to step forward as leaders and to be listening to the public to try to do things up- front and aboveboard, and he believed the wise way to make a decision was to select someone that is acceptable to all six members of the Council whether it be their first choice, second, or third. Councilman Lemon moved to adjourn. Councilman Stamon seconded. On call for the question, the motion carried, with Councilman Gabriel voting "No IX ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:10 P.M. Clerk Mayor