Reply to Mayor Foutch's Comments

author : Carrie Lybecker topic : Nuclear Free Zone | Olympia City Council

by Carrie Lybecker

September 25, 2005

The mayor has not answered my questions:

Why did the city council meet in executive session? Why did the council accept behind closed doors the legal analysis it had previously requested publicly and knew it needed for 2 ½ months? Why wasn't that analysis discussed publicly? Why would it have been acceptable to receive the attorney's analysis publicly at any of the previous city council meetings, but not this one? Who threatened the city with, presumably, litigation, and what was the basis of that threat? How is it possible that the text of an ordinance can be significantly altered in secret, based on information withheld from the public? How is it possible that the city council can pass into law an ordinance, the text of which has not been made public?

Further, the mayor claims that "the ordinance was brought forward in August, when traditionally most folks have their minds on other things and don't . . . watch their City Council every minute. Most ordinary citizens just don't get involved that directly. They wait for the next ballot to show up." How unfortunate. Maybe they would get involved if they realized that the city council is actually making decisions that impact their lives.

However, this ordinance did not just slip under the community radar in late August during that one week when Joe Citizen happened to be on vacation, as the mayor implies. In fact, by June 11, Councilman TJ Johnson had already submitted its first draft to the city manager and held several discussions with him about it. The General Government Committee met and proposed to the full council options and revisions in June and July. The ordinance was mentioned, discussed, debated and/or revised at city council meetings in June, July and August.

Council meetings are open to the public, televised live and then rebroadcast. Minutes of council meetings and its committees, as well as draft, revised and final resolutions and ordinances, are posted on the city's Web site. Anyone can call or email the council and receive an almost immediate reply. The Olympian published numerous articles and Letters to the Editor on the NFZ ordinance as early as June 09. In short, Olympians had every opportunity to know about and comment on the ordinance. If citizens cannot, over nearly 3 months, read a newspaper, attend a council meeting or watch it on TV, read documents on a Web site, or pick up the phone and make a call, then they can hardly complain about lack of opportunity. The mayor's argument is further defeated by the fact that the city council does in fact make critical policy decisions routinely without awaiting the next election. That's what we elect council members to do.

And his effort to shuttle blame onto the General Government Committee just doesn't fly: it was the city council as a whole, not its General Government Committee, that met behind closed doors and passed an ordinance that had been amended, based on information withheld from the public. Lastly, I find it somewhat alarming that the city attorney did not have time in 2 ½ months to research the pertinent legal issues. And why wasn't this stated at any of the numerous council meetings at which the ordinance was discussed?