Sister City?

Several folks mentioned the article in The News Tribune today about Puyallup's city manager appointment, and the concern that consensus on the decision had been reached behind closed doors - either in executive session or in private conversations by council members.

Here is a teaser from the article written by Melissa Santos: "The Open Public Meetings Act stipulates that elected officials cannot take final action or make a vote outside a public meeting. A consensus can be a type of vote, even if it occurs through a string of one-on-one conversations or an e-mail chain, Ford said." (Tim Ford is an ombudsman for the state attorney general)

Dan Albertson's appointment to the Ruston council had clearly been pre-planned at the Dec. 3rd council meeting; with a quick motion and second by Everding and Stebner within seconds after the surprise resignation Bob Pudlo was announced. Although the council is taking applications for the current vacancy, they will not allow any public input. If the majority of the council give any indication that they have spoken privately about which candidate they will appoint, they will have violated the open meetings law.

Funny how Puyallup gets in trouble for things that have become routine in Ruston.

Karen