Nelson off on wrong foot - who is trying to recreate history?
During the March 3, 2020 City Council Meeting, the following took place:
Mayor Mike Nelson stated that the “next item on the agenda is approval of the agenda”. Mayor Nelson then stated:
“And before Council approves, I just want to let you know that both Council President and I have pulled item 8.1, which is the Resolution adopting Council Rules and Procedure and updating the Council Code of Conduct because it still needs some updating and review.”
After a pause, Mayor Nelson asked: “Is there a motion to approve the agenda?”
Council President Adrienne Fraley-Monillas said: “So moved” and Councilmember Luke Distelhorst said “second”. The Motion carried unanimously.
Nobody made a Motion TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER AS AMENDED. The agenda had NOT been amended by vote of the Council. Instead, Mayor Nelson and Council President Adrienne Fraley-Monillas had pulled an item from the agenda on their own.
The next morning, March 4, 2020, 9:21 am, citizen Ken Reidy emailed City Council, cc City Attorney Jeff Taraday, an email that included:
Last night, an item was removed form(sp) the agenda without a vote – the Mayor stating that he and the Council President had pulled item 8.1 from the agenda. What authority does Mayor Nelson have to pull an item from the agenda? Why didn’t the City attorney advise that a City Council vote was needed to pull an item from the agenda?
A little over 2 hours later, 11:45 am, Reidy emailed City Council, cc City Attorney Jeff Taraday, the following:
The City Council voted to adopt Roberts Rules of Order, as modified. I think the related Resolution was No. 1295.
I believe the proper procedure is:
- A motion to approve the agenda is made and seconded and then;
- Once the adoption of the agenda is the pending item of business, a councilmember can move to amend the agenda, exactly as any other motion could be amended. For example, a motion can be made to remove an agenda item. If the motion is seconded, a vote takes place.
- After the vote on the amendment takes place, the agenda itself can then be approved (unless there are further amendments).
Please confirm the above. If I am wrong, please provide clear procedures so all know how this is supposed to work. Thanks.Ken Reidy
Two days later, March 6, 2020 7:04 am, citizen Ken Reidy emailed City Council, cc City Attorney Jeff Taraday, the following:
Please know that March 3, 2020 City Council Agenda packet page 169 represents that Robert's Rules were adopted via Resolution No 1295:
City Council Agenda Item
Meeting Date: 03/3/2020
Resolution adopting Council Rules of Procedure and updating the Council Code of Conduct
Staff Lead: Council/Laura Johnson
Department: City Council
Preparer: Maureen Judge
Background/History In 2013, the City Council passed Resolution No. 1295, which adopted Robert's Rules of Order as its parliamentary authority for the conduct of City Council meetings. In December 2013, the Council passed Resolution No. 1306 adopting a new Code of Conduct and in June 2015, the Council approved a new Code of Ethics.
I hope this information is helpful.
Ken Reidy
Reidy received no email responses to any of his three emails.
Fast forward to the City Council Agenda Packet for the March 24, 2020 City Council Meeting, an Agenda that includes approval of the Edmonds City Council Draft Minutes for March 3, 2020.
The minutes represent that Council President Fraley-Monillas MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER AS AMENDED. That is not true. See above. She never made such a motion. Also, the minutes fail to disclose that it was Mayor Nelson and Council President Fraley-Monillas that removed the item from the agenda. Furthermore, as previously discussed, there never was a motion to AMEND the agenda and Council never voted to AMEND.
How does this happen? Where did the words TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER AS AMENDEDcome from and how did they end up in the Edmonds City Council Draft Minutes for March 3, 2020?
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