A discussion on how to best provide public defender services through Edmonds’ municipal court system was a major focus of discussion during Tuesday night’s Edmonds City Council meeting. The council agreed to bring to its next meeting a recommendation by an independent panel to select the Snohomish County Public Defense Association as the city’s new public defender. Also during the meeting, the council appointed the first members to the city’s newly-formed Diversity Commission.

Since 2014, the city has been working to comply with recent state and federal court rulings regarding public defender case load. The city hired a contract staff person to ensure compliance with the court rulings and engaged in a competitive bid process — overseen by an independent panel — to secure public defense services for 2016 and beyond.

The panel recommended that the Everett-based Snohomish County Public Defense Association replace Feldman and Lee, which has been contracting with the City of Edmonds to provide public defender services since 1986. While using the non-profit association would cost $30,000 more than the city’s existing contract with Feldman and Lee, the new contract provides for additional staffing to meet new case load requirements and also includes provisions for cost reductions if the city’s number of public defender referrals go down.

As for the Diversity Commission, a total of 15 applications were received for nine openings and out of those, each councilmember made one commission appointment, with initial terms staggered for one-, two- and three-year periods — all ending Dec. 31 of the time period in question. The mayor, meanwhile, appointed two members, one with a one-year term and another with a three-year term.

The appointees are, by councilmember and expiration year:

Tom Mesaros – Adam Khan, 2018

Joan Bloom – Mario Brown, 2017

Kristiana Johnson – George Basioli, 2016

Mike Nelson – Maria Montalvo, 2016

Lora Petso – Gayle Ketzel, 2018

Diana Buckshnis – Patricia Valle, 2017

Adrienne Fraley-Monillas  – Tung Bui, 2017

Mayor Dave Earling’s appointees were Ed Dorame (2016) and Diana White (2018).

The council also held a public hearing on the city’s proposed 2016-21 Capital Facilities Plan/Capital Improvement Program. Among the updates included by staff in the plan, which will be adopted by the council later this year:

• Engineer Rob English noted that the construction of a new roadway on 228th Street Southwest between Highway 99 and 76th Avenue West is progressing on schedule, with completion set for early 2016.
• Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Carrie Hite said that the city’s new spray park at City Park has been tested and is nearly complete. It will be winterized soon, with a ribbon cutting planned for May 2016.
• Hite also mentioned that a feasibility study is almost finished on daylighting Willow Creek through the Edmonds Marsh; that the city is close to having a purchase and sale agreement to acquire Civic Center field from the Edmonds School District; and that a downtown restroom is in the Mayor’s budget for 2016.

In addition, the council:

• Heard a presentation from Ron English regarding a grant agreement with the State Department of Ecology for $633,750 to design and build a stormwater control facility in Seaview Park. The project will remove stormwater runoff produced on about 53 acres of urban development in Perrinville. The Ecology grant represents 75 percent of the project’s total $845,000 cost. The remaining 25 percent will come from the city. Design will occur later this year through 2016, with construction in 2017.
• Received additional staff presentations regarding 2016 budget requests. The council will ask questions about these requests at upcoming council meetings.
• Heard a proclamation regarding Arbor Day.

The next council meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 2 — a day earlier than usual to accommodate Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.