Members of the public had a chance to express their thoughts Tuesday night on proposed amendments to the 2022 adopted City of Edmonds budget, although the council was only able to discuss a few of them during the time allocated on the agenda.

Those residents offering public testimony Tuesday night had a range of opinions on the list of budget amendments, which had been compiled by Councilmember Diane Buckshnis. Many of the amendments had been proposed by Buckshnis and Councilmember Kristiana Johnson for discussion during the 2021 budget deliberation process. However, due to schedule conflicts, neither councilmember was in attendance on Nov. 17 when those amendments were discussed and the final budget was approved.

Councilmembers Buckshnis, K. Johnson and Vivian Olson for several weeks last fall had argued that the 2021 budget was being approved too quickly, and that budget deliberations should include the participation of councilmembers who were elected by the voters. That would have meant including new Councilmember Will Chen, who was scheduled to be seated at the Nov. 23 meeting, following vote certification that same day. In the end, the budget was approved on Nov. 17 by a vote of 4-1, with current Councilmembers Paine and Laura Johnson, and former Councilmembers Adrienne Fraley-Monillas and Luke Distelhorst voting yes, Olson voting no, and Buckshnis and K. Johnson absent.

Now, with two new councilmembers — Chen, who took Distelhorst’s seat, and Neil Tibbott, who replaced Fraley-Monillas — the council could conceivably make changes to the existing budget if they can muster a 5-2 supermajority. The purpose of Tuesday night’s meeting was to hear from the public and have some discussion. The council is likely to continue its deliberations and take a vote at a special business meeting next Tuesday, Feb. 8 — which would be scheduled around the council’s regular committee meetings.

Those offering testimony during the public hearing Tuesday provided a range of perspectives. Brad Bernatek, a 12-year Edmonds resident who said he has an MBA and 25 years of financial experience, noted that despite his years of budgeting work, he found it difficult to address the merits of the proposed budget amendments. Instead, he chose to address the process, stating it was reasonable and prudent for the council “to have an adopted budget before early December, so that city staff can act on that budget in a timely fashion.” While there should always be an opportunity to revise the budget based on new information, “we are now 32 days into the new budget year and it’s hard not to wonder whether some of this is a game of tit for tat,” he said.

In addition, Bernatek said, “the hyperbolic rhetoric on any side of the issue is unhelpful. We’re talking about expenditures that represent a fraction of the city budget. It seems overblown to suggest these cuts will make Edmonds unsafe, polluted and uninformed,” he said, referring to Mayor Mike Nelson’s recent statement on the budget amendments, published here. “Likewise, it’s not financial Armageddon,” Bernatek added.

Former City Councilmember Adrienne Fraley-Monillas also weighed in during public testimony, calling a council amendment to remove an additional $200,000 allocated for the city’s human services department “incompetence at best.” She and several others also criticized an amendment that would return the city’s public information officer (PIO) from a full-time to a part-time job, pointing to the city’s need to increase its communication with residents, especially to those outside the downtown area.

The role of the PIO was also debated later among councilmembers, with Councilmember Laura Johnson speaking in support of having a full-time job, noting that nearby cities have one or more full-time public information positions on their staff. Edmonds Acting Economic Development and Community Services Director Doug Merriman, who oversees the PIO position, was invited to weigh in, stating that the position — which issues press releases, responds to media requests, monitors city social media accounts and helps to organizes a variety of community-facing events — plays a key role in city communication. A public information officer ensures the city takes a proactive approach to — and is transparent about — city-supplied information, Merriman said.

As for the value of having a full-time communications professional, “the world doesn’t wait for someone’s part-time hours,” he added.

Duh says there was an “intentional and focused” effort to reach out to the entire Edmonds community, in four different languages — Chinese, English, Korean and Spanish. Just over 2,000 participants were engaged in PROS plan process, with most of that occurring through a community survey. Of those responding, 99% feel parks and recreation is essential or important to community, Duh said.