Edmonds Council levy workshop back in council chambers; will be televised

Following an outcry from two councilmembers and some citizens, the three-hour Edmonds City Council workshop scheduled Tuesday night to discuss ideas for a possible November levy has been moved from City Hall’s Brackett Room back to the Council Chambers, where it can be televised.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Public Safety Complex, 250 5th Ave. N.

Edmonds City Council meetings are not shown live but are taped in the Council Chambers and rebroadcast at noon and 7 p.m. daily on Comcast channel 21 and Verizon channel 39. The Brackett Room, located on the third floor of City Hall, does not have cameras that can record meetings, but it had been suggested by City Council President Strom Peterson as a more suitable location for the workshop format.

Councilmembers Michael Plunkett and Diane Buckshnis sent emails to supporters and the media Saturday stating that they would boycott Tuesday night’s workshop unless was moved back to the Council Chambers.

In addition to discussing a levy, the council is scheduled to approve collective bargaining agreements between the City of Edmonds and two unions — Public, Professional and Office-Clerical Employees and Drivers Local Union No. 763, and the Service Employees International Union, Local 925. Those agreements are currently on the consent agenda, meaning that they aren’t discussed, but could be pulled off that agenda and discussed publicly if any councilmember chooses to do so.

According to Peterson, the meeting will start at 6 p.m. for regular business and then the council will move from the elevated dais to tables on the floor for a work session on possible levy options. The full agenda for the meeting and workshop can be found here.

 

  1. A modest proposal:

    The City of Edmonds should have a camera crew follow each counsel person around 24/7. The purpose of this would be two fold:

    First, we would absolutely know that there is transparency in Edmonds government; including but not limited to ad hoc meeting at Engles. (Remember that meeting?) Second, we could sell the tape to C-SPAN or MTV as a reality show. Personally, I would dial in every week just to know whether Mr. Plunkett wakes up with bad breath or what Mr. Wilson’s hair looks like in the morning? Does Ms. Buckshinis actually only spend $40 per month on groceries? The income from the reality show will help us fill the deficits in our City’s income.

  2. Ron B. I assume by COLA’s you are refering to all things that can cause labor cost to go up, like CPI esculators, Step esculators, Longivity esculator, and changes in benefit payments, any changes in days off for vacations and sick leave. Any call our expenses for calling an employee back for work during off hours. These all impact cost, some my up the costs, some may reduce the costs.

    As Ron W pointed out the contracts are part of the consent agenda so other than looking at the contracts that are posted on line it does not look like any discussion will occur or any explanation of the changes will be presented. I would suggest if anyone is interested to see what is in the contacts they are posted on the City web site, and can be found by navigating to the council agenda items for tues.

  3. Darrol:

    Very good question. I understand there are people on the internet who pay to watch all kinds of unusual sites. I would add to my proposal to include the internet as an outlet. However, those get the un-blocked version would be required to provide the City with a credit card that can be charged a minimum fee on a monthly basis. I would suggest $25 per month. The City should open a Pay Pal Account so that those who do not have credit cards or would rather pay with a checking account can still participate.

  4. Ron B.,

    What exactly was Peterson trying to get away with? I know you don’t like him and continue to lump him with DJ (which shows how little you pay attention to council dynamics) but that isn’t the issue here.

    This meeting being scheduled in the Brackett Room has been public knowledge since the end of May. The fact that Mr. Plunkett and Ms. Buckshnis only noticed on Friday is indicative of their lack of attention, not some great plan to obfuscate the truth. They could have reacted anytime but instead chose to send press releases threatening a boycott. Really?

    They had a month to talk with Peterson but choose to grandstand instead. His response was to reschedule and calm the people they whipped up for no reason. I’m sure the fact this is an election year played no part in their false hysteria.

    We have enough hyperbole and histrionics in politics now. Enough talk of riots in the streets to determine the direction of city government. Please focus on the issues.

  5. Michael Young different subject . Where is your restaurant at I would like to eat there thanks

  6. We should be sure to heed a consideration that Mr. Young just brought up, “I’m sure the fact this is an election year played no part in their false hysteria.” Every election year brings this sort of last-minute grand-standing and Chicken-Hawk childishness.

    Problem solving is what we need. Not acting that is worthy of a World Cup soccer match.

    As for the City employee pay, I don’t care what the indexes say the pay raise should be – those rules are all based on an economic model that no longer exists; the well has run dry. We need to renegotiate, in good faith, for a fair bargain, based on realistic assumptions. I don’t think we need a revolution in the streets to accomplish that. We need to patiently lay out our common goals and the limitations of what we are able to accept, and work from there.

    Enough of that cynical tone, though. Here’s my best wishes for the Council in their meeting tonight. Hope they can be productive with the cameras rolling. We need them to succeed.

  7. Just a thought the dog park seems to support itself pretty good with donations and volunteer workers , why can’t the other parks and yost pool do the same sort of thing, I help with the dog park and make donations . I think you will find that people who use the pool and other parks will do the same thing, There a lot of creative ways to raise money and people like helping if they enjoy the place there helping with. I don;t have a problem with the city needing more money but why pay somebody when you might get volunteers to do it, as far as the complaining on this website goes to all who do it it isn’t doing anybody any good

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