Snohomish County Charter Review Commission
8th Floor Robert J. Drewel Building 
Jackson Board Room
 Wednesday, Feb 3, 2016
7:00 p.m.
MINUTES

 

PRESENT:
Chair Gregerson
Vice-Chair Terwilliger
Vice-Chair Miller
Commissioner Stanford
Commissioner Donner
Commissioner O'Donnell
Commissioner Kelly
Commissioner Valentine
Commissioner Matthews
Commissioner Roulstone
Commissioner Koster
Commissioner Barton
Commissioner Chase
Commissioner Fior
Commissioner Liias (by phone)
Sara Di Vittorio, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Matt Otten, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Sheriff Ty Trenary
Carolyn Weikel, Auditor
Garth Fell, Elections
Debbie Eco, Ex-Officio Clerk

Call to Order
Chair Gregerson called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
 
Flag Salute

Roll Call
All commissioners present. Commissioner Liias by phone at 7:34 p.m.

Special Presentation:

Open Public Meeting Compliance by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sara Di Vittorio (201601)
Sara Di Vittorio, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, provided Public Records Act training. Matt Otten, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, provided Open Public Meeting Act training.


Guests:
1. Sheriff Ty Trenary
    Sheriff Ty Trenary spoke about the function of the Sheriff's Office. He touched on Search and Rescue, Office of Neighborhoods, drug epidemic, homelessness and mental health issues, and the jail.

Sheriff Trenary addressed public comments made at the last Charter Review Commission meeting related to animal control being better served under the Sheriff Office. He provided background information and explained that animal control originally left the Sheriff's Office due to funding issues and also explained the current funding issues with having animal control return to the Sheriff's Office.

Commissioner Roulstone asked Sheriff Trenary if there is anything currently in the Charter he would like changed. Sheriff Trenary said he didn't believe so; there are not a lot of issues in the current Charter regarding public safety, but said he is available for anything related to public safety that the Commission may have questions about.

Sheriff Trenary responded to questions from Commissioner Terwilliger regarding moving Corrections to the Sheriff's Department. He said he believes Corrections should be under the Sheriff. He responded to additional animal control related questions and questions related to jail beds.

Commissioner Matthews asked about the Sheriff's current budget. Sheriff Trenary responded and said they are just under 56% of the County budget.


2. Auditor Carolyn Weikel
    Carolyn Weikel, Auditor, distributed and spoke about information related to proposed timelines for re-districting. She responded to various questions from commissioners.

Ms. Weikel addressed public comments from the last Charter Review meeting regarding animal control.

Ms. Weikel responded to Commissioner Chase's inquiry about addressing issues from concerned citizens and not being able to please everyone.


Public Comments
Carolyn Weikel, as a resident and voter of Snohomish County, provided public comment and expressed her concerns with councilmembers being able to abstain from a voting.

There were no further persons present wishing to provide public comment.

Approval of the Minutes: January 20, 2016
Commissioner Chase made a motion to approve the January 20, 2016 Charter Review Commission minutes. Commissioner Koster seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

Report from Chair
Chair Gregerson stated that she found archived records from the last Charter Review Commission and has forwarded all of them to the commissioners.

She said she is aware that commissioners are still having e-mail troubles and said the County will provide tech support for the commissioners.


Business Items
1. Procedures for Amendment Proposal Committee Report (201605)
Commissioner Matthews distributed a proposal to change the language on the front page of the Charter Review's web page. He said this change would clarify the intent of the Charter Review Commission.

Commissioner Matthews also distributed and explained a proposed submission form for charter changes.

After lengthy discussion regarding the proposed website language and the submission form. The commissioners agreed that they all would like the public to be encouraged to attend and participate in the Charter Review Commission meetings. They also agreed that the draft submission form should be less formal.

Chair Gregerson said she will write up a statement for the meetings reflecting that the Commission will listen to all public comment, but may or may not be able to help with all concerns.

Commissioner Terwilliger made a motion to have the Chair and the Committee prepare and finalize the form discussed tonight and post it on the website as soon as possible. Commissioner Barton seconded the motion.

Commissioner Chase expressed her concern with the language related to enhancing government efficiency and would like that language removed. Commissioner Barton would like it left in. Commissioner O'Donnell suggested the Committee and the Chair prepare the form and post on website as soon as possible and leave it open for language changes.

The question was called for and the motion was carried unanimously.


2. 8:50 p.m. Staff Hiring Committee Report (201602)
Chair Gregerson said there has been eight applications for the staff person and interviews are set up for Friday. She stated there are good candidates to choose from.

Old Business
Commissioner Kelly inquired about e-mail and asked for commissioners' contact phone numbers.

New Business
Commissioner Terwilliger announced he has a meeting scheduled in District 4 March 23rd from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Mill Creek Council Chambers.

Commissioner Fior announced she has a meeting scheduled in District 3 on Saturday, March 12th from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Edmonds City Hall. She is verifying availability and will check in with Councilmember Wright.

Commissioner Chase said she has served on the Snohomish County Human Rights Commission so she will be recusing herself when related items will be voted on.

Chair Gregerson said Councilmember Klein, Judge Beth Fraser, and Judge Linda Krese are scheduled for the next meeting. She asked commissioners to think about areas of interest they would like to discuss.

Commissioner Valentine requested that people who are presenting and have significant amounts of information, submit it prior to the meeting. Chair Gregerson responded and said the Commission can let presenters know that they may not receive an immediate response.

Commissioner Terwilliger also responded to Commissioner Valentine. He also said he assumed that commissioners would be obligated to use the same submission form that was discussed tonight.


Adjournment

With no further business, Chair Gregerson adjourned the meeting at 9:03 p.m.


Future Agenda Topics
     ● Round Table Discussion of Amendment Ideas

FYI Attachments
     ● Finalized Commission Rules and Procedures
     ● Extended Agenda

SNOHOMISH COUNTY CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 2016-07
SUBJECT TITLE:  Process for Receiving Charter Amendment Proposals	Meeting Date:  February 17, 2016
Estimated Presentation Time:  20 minutes	Exhibits:  1. Process for Receiving Charter Amendment Proposals 2. List of Proposed Charter Amendments

 

RECOMMENDATION: The Commission should adopt a procedure for receiving and reaching decisions on proposed amendments to the Charter.

A motion to adopt the committee’s recommendation would take the form of “I move to adopt the procedure for receiving and reaching decisions on proposed amendments to the Charter as seen in Exhibit 1.”

SUMMARY:
During the January 20, 2016 meeting, the Commission appointed Commissioners Matthews, Roulstone, and O’Donnell to serve on a committee to develop a procedure for how proposed Charter amendments shall be added to the agenda for further action and discussion.

The committee recommends a process that would require individuals to submit a form with their proposed amendment, a preliminary vote by the Commission to determine if more analysis is necessary, followed by further actions by the Commission, which may include placing the amendment on the ballot for ratification by the public. This process would ask for committee action at the meeting following a submittal of a charter amendment, and 5 affirmative votes would allow a proposal to move forward for further consideration.

Currently, there are three proposals awaiting Commission action.

BACKGROUND:

The Charter Review Commission is tasked with reviewing the Snohomish County Charter to determine its adequacy and suitability of the needs of the county. The Commission accepts public comment and submissions from the public for amendments to the Charter, and there is a separate agenda item at tonight’s meeting to have a roundtable discussion of proposed revisions to the Charter initiated by members of the Commission. The Commission previously agreed that all submissions must be received by April 15, 2016.

During the January 20, 2016 meeting, the Commission appointed Commissioners Matthews, Roulstone, and O’Donnell to serve on a committee to develop a procedure for how proposed Charter amendments shall be added to the agenda for further action and discussion. The committee met on February 10, 2016 to finalize recommendations (as seen in Exhibit 1).

In 2006, the Commission received 56 proposed amendments to the Charter. In May of that year, the Commission voted to “have more information presented and be further discussed as to whether they will be put on the ballot.” In 2006, it took a vote of eight members of the

Commission to add an item to a future agenda. The Commission passed 16 proposals to receive additional analysis.

The committee recommends a procedure that would include a preliminary vote of the Commission to occur at the meeting following the proposal of an amendment. In order to receive further analysis and discussion, a proposal would need the affirmative vote of five Commissioners. The committee suggests that the Commission should consider whether the proposal fits within the scope of the Charter Review Commission.

Currently there are three proposed Charter amendments received by the Commission (see Exhibit 2). If the proposed procedures are adopted, these proposed Charter amendments would come before the Commission at the March 2, 2016 meeting during new business.

The committee also recommends that all submissions are published on the Commission’s webpage. 

ALTERNATIVES:
The committee discussed two other proposals for processing Charter amendment proposals. The first included reviewing the Charter Article by Article, determining whether changes were needed. A second proposal would delay a preliminary vote on proposed Charter Amendments until all proposals were submitted