Port Angeles eyes code changes for advisory panels

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council will consider today code revisions that would encourage citizen participation at advisory board and committee meetings.

The proposed ordinance would require one public comment period at each meeting with agendas posted online five days prior to the meeting.

When practical, all meetings would be moved to the City Council chambers at City Hall.

The proposal would create a recruitment and interview policy, change Port Angeles Forward Committee meetings from monthly to quarterly and eliminate the Real Estate Committee.

Matters involving real estate would go directly to the seven-member council.

“What we’re talking about is introducing, in my estimation, a dramatic and significant change to our committee meetings,” Mayor Patrick Downie said during a first reading of the ordinance Aug. 15.

No council member objected to the ordinance when it was discussed last month.

The council will consider adopting the changes when it gathers today.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.

Port Angeles City Council members serve with citizen volunteers on panels such as the Utility Advisory Committee and Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, which make recommendations to the full council.

City Council member Brad Collins said the advisory boards and committees have operated in traditional-yet-inconsistent ways that have allowed public comment informally.

No city advisory board or committee has prohibited public comment.

“I think this is a good step forward,” Collins said of the ordinance.

“I don’t think we’ve ever tried to not accommodate public comment, but I think formalizing it makes a huge difference.”

The code changes were championed by City Council member Lee Whetham in a May 23 council work session.

Whetham, who also serves as vice chair of the Utility Advisory Committee, had sought ways to allow for a second public comment period to address non-agenda-related topics that arise during the meetings.

“I think it’s very important that the people are given a chance to address our actions,” Whetham said at the Aug. 15 council meeting.

Council member Sissi Bruch said advisory boards and committees have time constraints and that a second public comment period might interfere with the panels’ ability to conduct business.

Under the proposed code changes, permanent advisory boards and committees would have one public comment period with the same rules that apply at City Council meetings.

The City Council limits public comments to three minutes per person.

Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd said public comments can also be made to individual council members by email, phone, letter and text.

“The committee will send their decision to the council,” Kidd added at the Aug. 15 meeting, “so they’ll have another opportunity for communication with the full council.”

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.

More in News

Port Angeles teachers’ union votes to honor paraeducators’ picket line on April 8

Members of the Port Angeles Education Association voted overwhelmingly… Continue reading

Funding needed for Port Townsend homeless shelter

Operation at Legion Hall to close April 30

Port of Port Angeles renews lease for Composite Recycling Technology Center

Agreement covers 26,000 square feet at airport business park

Fire district volunteers lauded

Clallam County Fire District No. 3 recently recognized seven members… Continue reading

Clallam to continue providing deputy to Forks

Contract includes wages, mileage and maintenance reimbursement

Maintenance closes section of Olympic Discovery Trail

A portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail is closed… Continue reading

Hanna Paoluccu of Alexander, N.Y., and Rosie Berg of Nevada City, Calif., members of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and working with the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Board, remove poisonous hemlock weed from along the Larry Scott Trail in Port Townsend on Monday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Poison hemlock removal in Port Townsend

Hanna Paoluccu of Alexander, N.Y., and Rosie Berg of Nevada City, Calif.,… Continue reading

YMCA to build childcare facility

$1-2M still needed for $6.7M project

Port Townsend Police Department recognizes award recipients

The Port Townsend Police Department recognized officers, employees, volunteers… Continue reading

Port Angeles High School evacuated due to bomb threat

Nothing suspicious found, principal says

A tree that has grown out of its tree box and shattered a nearby curb and sidewalk in the 100 block of North Oak Street is among those targeted for removal and replacement in downtown Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Angeles tree and sidewalk replacement to begin Monday

The Port Angeles downtown tree and sidewalk replacement project… Continue reading

Grant for Forks treatment plant to be discussed

The Clallam County Opportunity Fund Advisory Board will discuss… Continue reading