Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to council rules and order of business; amending Ordinance 11683 as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.035 and declaring an emergency.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Section 220.40 of the King County Charter requires the council to adopt by ordinance rules of procedure governing the time, place and conduct of its meetings.
B. Consistent with the county charter, the council adopted by ordinance rules of procedure, which are codified in K.C.C. chapter 1.24, and passed motions related to the organization and administration of the council.
C. The rules ordinance and organizational motion have been amended from time to time to reflect desired changes in the council's rules of procedure and organization.
D. Currently, the council is scheduled to meet every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. However, because pressing, complex and time intensive issues that have recently come before the council, meetings have run into the afternoon, disrupting other scheduled meetings or otherwise required the council to schedule special meetings with earlier start times to accommodate these issues, with the attendant special meeting requirements.
E. To better serve the public, to provide greater consistency of the regular meeting time for the council and to avoid having to call special meetings, which imposes limitations on a meeting, this ordinance should take effect immediately in order that that the regular council meeting times are changed to 9:30 a.m. in an expeditious manner.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 11683, Section 4, as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.035 are hereby amended to read as follows:
= A.1.a. Except for a regular meeting of the council on Monday, April 1, 2019, at 10:30 a.m., the time of regular meetings of the council is ((10:30)) 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday of each week. However, the regular meetings of the council shall not take place from April 2 through April 12, 2019, from August 1 through August 16, 2019, and from December 19, 2019, through January 3, 2020. All regular or special meetings of council committees shall be regular or special council meetings, in accordance with subsection F. of this rule.
b. Each fifth Wednesday of each month from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. shall be reserved for special regional committee meetings as needed. Each fourth Wednesday from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. is reserved for meetings of the flood control district executive committee. Each Monday at 9:30 a.m. and the second and fourth Monday at 3:00 p.m. are reserved for special meetings of standing committees. In order to allow each member sufficient time to review legislation and to meet with constituents, staff and officials of other jurisdictions, no special committee meeting may be called for any other time without the prior written consent of the council chair or the consent of a majority of the members of the committee. If a special meeting for more than one standing committee is called for the same time and location, the meeting for which the agenda was first filed with the council clerk shall have precedence for use of the meeting location. This subsection A.1.b. does not apply to special meetings of the budget and fiscal management committee for purposes of considering the county executive's biennial budget proposal, which shall be called by the chair of the budget and fiscal management committee.
2.a. All regular meetings of the King County council and the council's committees, except for the employment and administration committee, shall be held in the council chambers on the tenth floor of the King County Courthouse in Seattle, Washington. All regular meetings of the employment and administration committee shall be held in the southwest conference room on the twelfth floor of the King County Courthouse in Seattle, Washington.
b. Whenever, due to an emergency, as defined in K.C.C. 12.52.010, it is imprudent, inexpedient or impossible to conduct the affairs of the council at the regular or usual place or places, the council may meet at any place within or without the territorial limits of the county on the call of the chair or any two members of the council. After an emergency relocation, the affairs of the council shall be lawfully conducted at the emergency location for the duration of the emergency.
B.1. Except as provided in subsection B.2. of this rule, the times for regular and special committee meetings are as follows:
a. Committee of the whole: except for April 1, 2019, the first and third Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m.;
b. Budget and fiscal management committee: the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
c. Employment and administration committee: the first and third Mondays of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
d. Government accountability and oversight committee: the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
e. Health, housing and human services committee: the first and third Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
f. Law and justice committee: the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 1:00 p.m.;
g. Local services, regional roads and bridges committee: the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m.;
h. Mobility and environment committee: the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 1:30 p.m.;
i. Regional policy committee: the second Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
j. Regional transit committee: the third Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.; and
k. Regional water quality committee: the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
2. The regular meetings of the committees shall not take place during the the times when the council meeting does not take place, as prescribed in subsection A. of this rule.
C. Council and committee meetings must be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act of 1971, chapter 42.30 RCW.
D. A meeting may be continued, in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW, to another date and does not conclude until adjourned in accordance with these rules.
E.1. An executive session may be held during a council or committee meeting if one of the specific grounds under chapter 42.30 RCW for an executive session exists.
2. Before convening in executive session, the chair of the council or committee shall publicly announce the purpose for excluding the public from the meeting place and the time when the executive session will be concluded. The executive session may be extended to a stated later time by announcement of the chair.
3. Only members of the council or committee, special invitees and those employees or staff members the council or committee determines to be necessary are allowed to remain in the room. Persons attending an executive session shall maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings.
F.1. A legal analysis of the Open Public Meetings Act by the office of the Attorney General, 2010 AGO No. 9, has advised that when a committee meeting is attended by a quorum of the governing body it must be noticed not only as a committee meeting but also as a meeting of the governing body. For this reason, all meetings of council committees shall be noticed both as committee meetings and as council meetings whose agenda is limited to the committee business.
2. In all committee meetings, which are council meetings in accordance with subsection F.1. of this rule, only the rules and procedures applicable to committees apply, and not those rules and procedures applicable to full council meetings. This includes, but is not limited to:
a. only those members who serve on the committee have the right to exercise parliamentary rights in the meeting, including, but not limited to, raising points of order, making motions and voting;
b. attendance shall be recorded only for members serving on the committee, and the quorum for the meeting shall be the committee quorum; and
c. committee meetings shall be chaired by the committee chair.
SECTION 3. The county council finds as a fact and declares that an emergency exists and that this ordinance is necessary for the support of county government and its existing institutions.