Chapter 2.08
COUNCIL MEETINGS

Sections:

2.08.010    Regular meetings — Study sessions.

2.08.020    Place.

2.08.030    Meetings public — Executive sessions.

2.08.040    Tape recordings — Preservation.

2.08.050    Tape recordings — Use and public availability.

2.08.060    Tape recordings — Unlawful practices.

2.08.070    Tape recordings — Penalty for violations.

2.08.010 Regular meetings — Study sessions.

(a) Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the first, and third Tuesdays of each month at seven-thirty p.m.

(b) The second and fourth Tuesdays of each month commencing with the applicable Tuesday following April 28, 1980, shall be deemed to be workshop or study sessions. The City Council shall not take a final vote on any item that comes before it at such a session. Participation by members of the audience at any designated workshop or study session of the Council shall be permitted only upon the concurrence of a majority of the Council members present.

(c) In the event there is no business to be conducted on either the second or fourth Tuesday of any given month, no meetings need be held and notice of cancellation of the same shall be posted at the entrance to the City Hall and/or the City Council chambers.

(d) Should any Council meeting, regular or study session, fall upon a date designated as a legal holiday, such meeting shall be held at the same hour on the next succeeding business day that is not a holiday, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, the City Council may by motion and a majority vote of those members present, change the date of any regular special or study session.

(e) No business shall be considered after eleven p.m. of each meeting except by leave of a majority of the Council members present. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may complete deliberations and vote on any motion which was pending before the body at eleven p.m. without the necessity of seeking leave of the majority of the Council members to continue. (Ord. 921 § 1, 1980: Ord. 553 § 1, 1971: Ord. 283 § 1, 1962).

2.08.020 Place.

(a) All meetings of the City Council, whether regular or special, shall be held at the Council chambers of the City Hall except as provided in this section. The City Council may, at its discretion, adjourn a meeting to any other appropriate place either within or outside the corporate limits of the city and notice shall be posted at the City Hall setting forth the location to which the meeting has been adjourned.

(b) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise limit the City Council from setting the location of either a special or regular meeting at a location outside the corporate limits of the city upon the giving of notice as may be required by the State Open Public Meetings Act as codified in RCW Chapter 42.30 and by also posting notice of the location at the City Hall. (Ord. 913 § 1, 1980: Ord. 283 § 3, 1962).

2.08.030 Meetings public — Executive sessions.

All meetings of the City Council, regular or special, shall be open to the public at all times; provided, that executive sessions of the Council may be held, from which the public is excluded, for purposes other than the final

adopting of an ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order or directive. (Ord. 283 § 4, 1962).

2.08.040 Tape recordings — Preservation.

The City Clerk is designated as the official custodian of magnetic tape recordings which have been made of meetings of the City Council and shall keep and maintain such tapes in the city’s vault or other secure place in the office of the City Clerk for a period of two years, after which the magnetic tapes may be reused or otherwise erased or destroyed. (Ord. 659 § 1, 1974).

2.08.050 Tape recordings — Use and public availability.

The magnetic tape recordings of City Council meetings are for the primary use of the City Clerk for assistance in the preparation of the minutes of the meetings for the journal of proceedings required under RCW 35A.12.110 and are not intended to replace such journal as a public record of such meetings. The City Clerk shall make the magnetic tape recordings available for listening by City Council members, staff, members of the public and other interested persons, but shall take necessary and appropriate precautions for the protection of the recordings. For this purpose, the City Clerk shall make a duplicate tape of the recordings and may adopt reasonable rules and regulations to provide an appropriate place, time and opportunity for listening to the tape recordings and to protect and safeguard the tape recordings from tampering, erasure or other misuse. (Ord. 659 § 2, 1974).

2.08.060 Tape recordings — Unlawful practices.

It is unlawful for any person to remove any of the magnetic tape recordings of City Council meetings from the City Clerk’s office or from the custody of the City Clerk, to tamper with, erase or intentionally misuse such tape recordings in any manner whereby the content has been altered, changed or destroyed, or to violate any of the rules and regulations established by the City Clerk pursuant to Sections 2.08.040 through 2.08.070. (Ord. 659 § 3, 1974).

2.08.070 Tape recordings — Penalty for violations.

Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of Sections 2.08.040 through 2.08.060 shall be punished as provided in Section 1.01.110 of this code. (Ord. 659 § 4, 1974).