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Home My WebLink About05/17/2022 12. Update to Governor Inslee's Emergency Orders and Public Meetings Y�'1114'+ `c,...41 4)? CL3LOril BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. 12. For Meeting of: May 17, 2022 ITEM TITLE: Update to Governor Inslee's Emergency Orders and Public Meetings SUBMITTED BY: Robert Harrison, City Manager Sara Watkins, City Attorney SUMMARY EXPLANATION: See attached. ITEM BUDGETED: STRATEGIC PRIORITY: APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL BY THE CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Upload Date Type 5/11/2022 Corer Memo 2 -0Yy (.....„,---- •:.�rry r t + 0 q ah • +'1+1,,`FOR OR ATV, $ Office of the City Attorney City of Yakima MEMORANDUM May 10, 2022 TO: Mayor Janice Deccio and Honorable City Councilmembers Robert Harrison, City Manager FROM: Sara Watkins, City Attorney SUBJECT: Update on Governor Inslee's Emergency Orders and Public Meetings On Friday, April 29, 2022, Governor Inslee issued Proclamation 20-28.16 which will rescind the emergency proclamation that required remote public meetings.' Under the Proclamation, the City was not allowed to hold entirely in-person public meetings and had to offer a remote option. Therefore, as of June 1, 2022, the City Council no longer is required to provide a remote option and is required to have a physical location for meetings where members of the public may attend, although hybrid meetings are still allowed. This includes not only the City Council, but also committees, commissions and boards that are subject to the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). Concurrently with the Governor's Proclamation, the Washington State Legislature adopted a number of updates to the OPMA in light of technological advances since the 1971 adoption of the legislation. Many of the changes to the OPMA are things that the City of Yakima already does, such as providing interested parties the opportunity to watch a Council meeting live on the internet, or go back and access old council meeting videos online. What does that mean for Council meetings going forward? First, as of June 1, 2022, there is no requirement that the City provide zoom opportunities for anyone to appear at a City Council meeting. However, there is also no prohibition from continuing a hybrid format for meetings if the City Council determines that is how it would like to hold its meetings moving forward. 1 The Proclamation also rescinded some Public Records Act matters which are not discussed in this memo. 200 South Third Street,2"d Fl. I Yakima,WA 98901 P:509.575.6030 I F:509.575.6160 3 Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers May 10, 2022 Page 2 The City Council's rules do not currently provide for hybrid meetings. As you know, City Council rules can be changed at any time. As such, the City Council can decide to: 1. Go back to fully in-person meetings with no hybrid remote option (as meetings were held pre-pandemic); or 2. Change meetings so that all meetings of the City Council are held in hybrid format, allowing City Councilmembers and the public to appear remotely (likely via zoom as the City has operated recently). Second, the new OPMA laws require that there be public comment at all regular meetings of a governing body and that if the body allows for oral comment at a meeting, it must allow for those with difficulty attending in person to also be able to comment remotely "when feasible." Remote comment, however, does not require a zoom connection, but instead can be done telephonically. Where remote commenting is not feasible, comments must be taken in writing and distributed to the Council or committee members before the meeting. Unfortunately, the law does not provide a definition of "feasible." The Council prior to the pandemic allowed members to appear telephonically, and appearance by telephone is allowed in the Council rules. As such, it would be difficult to argue that it is not feasible for someone to call into the meeting and provide public comment. Since telephonic appearance is feasible, people wishing to participate in public comment via telephone should be allowed to do so if they contact the City ahead of time and let the City know that they will have difficulty attending in person and wish to participate by telephone. What does that mean for committee, commission and board meetings going forward? Because many of the committees, commissions and boards of the city fall under the definition of "governing body" in the OPMA, they also need to adhere to the public comment and in-person meeting requirements. Committees, commissions and boards are required to cease their remote-only meetings pursuant to the Governor's Proclamation. Committees, commissions and boards will be instructed to return to fully in-person meetings, without hybrid options, as of June 1, 2022.2 As for the updated OPMA requirements and public comment, committees commissions and boards that are subject to the OPMA will now include in each of their agendas a public comment opportunity. With an in-person public comment opportunity, these bodies will also have to allow for remote or written comments under the law. Telephonic public comment may or may not be feasible for committee, commission and board meetings, depending on meeting location and other factors. Staff can evaluate each committee, commission and board and determine if The City Council could allow committees, commissions and boards to also conduct all of their meetings as hybrid meetings,but due to staff capacity as well as the fact that only the City Council chambers has the ability to run a hybrid meeting(and many of the committees meet in other locations such as the 2nd floor conference room), staff is recommending that the council committees, commissions and boards return to in-person meetings only. 4 Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers May 10, 2022 Page 3 telephonic public comment is possible. If it is not, then public comment will be provided by writing and distributed to each of the members prior to the meeting. Staff will need to create a procedure with timelines for the public to follow to get written comments into such committees, commissions and boards in a timely manner to ensure that the comments can be forwarded to members prior to the meeting. What does the Council need to determine? The Council has an opportunity to either go back to required in-person attendance for Councilmembers (with the ability to appear telephonically on occasion under the Council's Rules of Procedure), or choose to change its meeting structure to a hybrid format. Due to the upcoming effective dates of the proclamation and OPMA rule changes, that decision should be discussed at the May 17, 2022, Council meeting. As a reminder, the two options are: 1. Go back to fully in-person meetings with no hybrid remote option (as meetings were held pre-pandemic); or 2. Change meetings so that all meetings of the City Council are held in hybrid format, allowing City Councilmembers and the public to appear remotely (likely via zoom as the City has operated recently). A motion as to your choice is requested. If changes to the Council Rules of Procedure need to be made as a result of the Council's determination, those changes will be brought for your review at an upcoming Council meeting.