PORT ANGELES — Three city ethics board members relived key moments of a Feb. 2 City Council meeting Thursday by viewing a video of the session in preparation for deciding on an ethical conduct complaint against Port Angeles Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd.
Ethics board members, who have pledged transparency as they consider Port Angeles resident Marolee Smith’s grievance, said afterward they will deliberate on the complaint behind closed doors before deciding in public on whether Kidd failed to conduct herself at the Feb. 2 meeting “in a civil and professional manner,” as Smith has alleged.
Smith also accused Kidd of violating the ethical code by engaging in “abusive conduct” toward the public and bringing the city “into disrepute.”
After watching the video provided by Clallam Public Eye on Thursday in City Council chambers, the ethics board composed of Frank Prince Jr., Grant Meiner and Danetta Rutten tentatively decided to take statements from Kidd and Smith at 9 a.m. Tuesday in council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
Afterward, they expect to make a decision on the complaint, they said.
Kidd and Smith will be allowed to present witnesses.
Kidd said later Thursday she will be able to attend the meeting. She would not comment on the proceedings.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to make a statement to the ethics committee,” she said.
Smith did not respond to calls requesting comment.
The video of the Feb. 2 meeting reviewed by the ethics board showed a session dominated by comments against the City Council’s Dec. 15 decision to continue fluoridation, which Kidd voted for.
During the first public comment session of a half-hour, Kidd gaveled short some speakers for exceeding the three-minute limit for individual comments, including former Clallam County Commissioner Rosemary Cockrill, and stopped at least one speaker from speaking for the full three minutes.
According to the video, a half-dozen speakers made comments before Kidd adjourned the meeting during the second public comment session after cutting short Robert Flood with seven more speakers scheduled to make comments.
Four Horsemen
Flood had compared council members to government officials responsible for the Flint, Mich., water crisis and to “The Four Horsemen,” whom he described as famine, pestilence, death and destruction.
He identified them as Mayor Patrick Downie, Councilmen Brad Collins and Dan Gase, and Kidd, saying they rode in “with ignorance and stubborn demeanor” before Kidd called Flood out of order after two minutes as he listed the council members.
“Personal insults are inappropriate,” Kidd told the restless audience.
“This meeting is adjourned; this meeting is adjourned,” she said.
The video showed her adjournment was followed by several seconds of boos and hooting from the audience before Ron Richards, who has since announced his candidacy for the Port Angeles-area Clallam County commissioner seat being vacated by Mike Chapman, tried speaking at the podium above the noise, saying the adjournment amounted to a denial of free speech.
“We have the right to speak,” he said.
“Calm down,” Kidd said.
“This is uncivil, and we can do better than this. We can all do better than this.”
After viewing the video, ethics board members huddled at the council chambers dais to discuss their next steps.
City Attorney Bill Bloor said the board could choose to deliberate in closed session — without the public present — under state public meetings law that also allows them the option of deliberating in public.
“I recommend you do as much in public as you are comfortable with,” Bloor said.
Meiner, a retired county Superior Court judge, at first said the board’s deliberations are not open to the public, comparing them to a jury deciding a verdict.
Rutten also said that meeting behind closed doors would allow board members to be “more open” and speak “how they really feel.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.