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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-09-30 Special MinutesSeptember 30, 1991 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT OFFICIALS CITIZEN'S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS Ord. #1608 amending certain provisions of Ord. #1599 relating to sensitive areas and SEPA requirements, and amending Tukwila Municipal Code Chapters 18 and 21. Selection of legal Counsel. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers Mayor VanDusen called the Committee of the Special Meeting of the Tukwila City Council to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. DENNIS ROBERTSON, Council President; JOE DUFFIE, JOAN HERNANDEZ, CLARENCE MORIWAKI, ALLAN EKBERG, STEVE LAWRENCE, JOHN "Wally" RANTS. JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; RON WALDNER, Police Chief; BOB MCQUEEN, Assistant Police Chief; ALAN DOERSCHEL, Finance Director; TOM KEEFE/NICK OLIVAS, Fire; RICK BEELER /JACK PACE, DCD; RON CAMERON, Public Works; DON WILLIAMS, Parks Recreation. None. MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY LAWRENCE, THAT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE BE READ BY TITLE ONLY. MOTION CARRIED. City Attorney Kenyon read an Ordinance of the City of Tukwila, Washington amending certain provisions of Ordinance No. 1599 relating to sensitive areas and SEPA requirements, and amending Tukwila Municipal Code Chapters 18 and 21. MOVED BY MORIWAKI, SECONDED BY RANTS, THAT ORDINANCE #1608 BE APPROVED AS READ.* Council President Robertson referenced Section 2, Chapter 21.04.300 of the proposed Ordinance and inquired if this section essentially maintains the intent of the Council as defined in the original SAO. Jack Pace, DCD, responded "Yes." *MOTION CARRIED. MOVED BY MORIWAKI, SECONDED BY EKBERG, THAT THE CITY AUTHORIZE A CONTRACT WITH THE LAW FIRM OF SKELLENGER, BENDER, MATHIAS, BENDER AND GOULD TO PERFORM IN THE ROLE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE COUNSEL FOR THE CITY OF TUKWILA; AND TO EXECUTE THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS DEFINED IN THE SCOPE OF WORK DATED SEPTEMBER 30, 1991.* Councilmember Hernandez informed the Council that the Finance and Safety Committee met September 27 at 4:45 p.m. Those in attendance were Wally Rants, Steve Lawrence, Lucy Lauterbach, John McFarland and Alan Doerschel. Four clients from three different law firms were interviewed: Richard Yarmus, of Cope, Gutterson and Grader; William Bender and Rita Bender of Skellenger, Bender, Mathias, Bender and Gould; and Richard Tomlin of Bogle and Gates. Hernandez stated the Finance and Safety Committee's recommendation (should the Council agree to legal council) is to employ the services of William and Rita Special Meeting/Committee of The Whole Meeting September 30, 1991 Page 2 Selection of legal counsel (Con't). Bender at an hourly rate of $150.00. However, the City Administrator and the Finance Director have suggested waiting until the State Attorney General's office submits their report. Councilmember Lawrence commented that since the interviewing process for legal counsel was held, more facts have been presented; therefore, he withdrew his original recommendation to wait for the Attorney General's report and recommended the Council pursue outside legal counsel. Council President Robertson suggested the Council hire the independent counsel, and read a memo to the Mayor and other members of the Council stating "The questions surrounding any potential problems concerning the City Attorney have severe implications for the legal and ethical responsibility of elected officials, as well as severe impacts on the reputation of the City of Tukwila... City Council Minutes state that Mike Kenyon was officially appointed as the City Attorney by the Mayor and legally confirmed by the City Council on February 19, 1991. Kenyon is also employed at Revelle, Ries Hawkins, P.S. at the fixed rate of $1500 per month... Neither the contract between the City and Mike Kenyon nor the agreements between the City and Revelle Reis or Mike Kenyon and Revelle Reis, were ever presented to or reviewed by the City Council." The memo concluded that: "The information stated in this report is all that can be reasonably determined without the use of professional, independent, legal and accounting firms by the City Council... To do otherwise would be neglecting our responsibilities to the citizens of Tukwila." Mayor Van Dusen commented that Council President Robertson speech contained a lot of implications, and asked where does the State Auditor and the State Attorney General fit in his plans. Robertson responded that all information that the City has; and that the legal counsel gathers should be presented to the Attorney General's office; however, there are a lot of legal questions that could not be dealt with by the state office, and prefers outside, independent legal counsel be obtained. Councilmember Rants commented that his understanding is the attorney general's office will offer the same determination as that of an independent legal counsel. Councilmember Duffie commented he was not in favor of the action the Council wants to take and stated the Council has gone overboard in its accusations. This matter should have been addressed in- house. Duffle continued that the City has never had a Council to conduct themselves in the manner this one does. Duffie criticized the Council for not trusting the City Attorney and for wanting to "call all the shots." Councilmember Moriwaki commented that it is not a matter of trust, but rather, questions have been raised and the City Attorney cannot fairly judge himself. In this country's system of law there are no provisions for a people to judge themselves. He supports independent legal counsel for this reason. The independent counsel can look at this issue objectively, away from the Council, City Attorney and the Mayor's office. The investigation would dispel any questions of conflict of interest or any problems with contracts, statute, ethics, codes, or policy. Special Meeting/Committee of The Whole Meeting September 30, 1991 Page 3 Selection of legal counsel (Con't). Moriwaki concluded that public officials owe it to their constituents to expose any violations of the laws which govern them. Councilmember Rants commented that elected officials are obligated to uphold the laws and are accountable for what goes on in the City. If something has illegally been done it needs to be resolved as soon as possible. He suggested that the direct route to obtain a determination would be through the Attorney General's office. Councilmember Hernandez commented that the letter from Dennis Robertson dated September 30, 1991, "QUESTIONS CONCERNING POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE," was not available to the Finance and Safety Subcommittee when they met. However, one of the options discussed was that the Attorney General would provide a fact finding search and apply their findings to the Tukwila Municipal Code (TMC) or the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), but they would not look into any Code of Ethics violations. Hernandez added she supports an outside legal opinion so that a decision can be made and the matter be laid to rest. Councilmember Duffie commented that the Council is persecuting the City Attorney without giving him a chance to defend himself. He stated he thought a person was innocent until proven guilty. Now, even if the results of an investigation proves the attorney's innocence, damage has already been done to his name. L Councilmember Lawrence stated he is not willing to let this matter rest regardless of the determination. There are other avenues, and one of them is to make an individual complaint through other legal channels. The Attorney General's office isn't the end of all issues. The AG's office can easily find a determination that somebody's guilty and recommend that there be no prosecution. The City has seen this before, recently, he added. He's not particularly suggesting prosecution, he just believes that business needs to be severed with the Revelle Reis firm and he will do everything he can to accomplish that. Councilmember Lawrence said he did attempt to handle this situation in a less public manner, he went directly to the Mayor and City Administrator and requested ties be severed with the firm in questioned, but that was turned down with a threat. He also supported an executive session be held, that didn't work out. He continued, he doesn't want to ruin anybody's career, but he has a job to do and part of the job is to uphold the law and make sure that everything is done in a straight- forward manner. Mayor VanDusen stated that he cannot be separated from the situation, he is closely involved in it, and he is aware of all of the actions the City Attorney has taken and he does not believe there are any wrongdoings going on. There are however, many allegations being hurled and when attempts were made to make a presentation and answer questions for the Council, the Council informed him he could only do so under special conditions; and when pertinent arguments were trying to be made, the Mayor said he was almost shouted down. The Mayor continued that it bothers him that threats were made that this matter may end up in court because the only thing that he has ever done in the years he's been in office is to obtain the best legal service at the lowest cost to the City. He's severed ties with two law firms to accomplish this. A review of the records will show that the City has had better legal service at a substantial reduction in cost since the on -site attorney was hired. Special Meeting/Committee of The Whole Meeting September 30, 1991 Page 4 Selection of legal counsel (Con't). RECESS 7:50 MOVED BY ROBERTSON, SECONDED BY HERNANDEZ, THAT THE SPECIAL MEETING BE RECESSED FOR 15 MINUTES TO ALLOW THE LAW FIRM OF SKELLENGER, BENDER, MATHIAS, BENDER AND GOULD TO PREPARE A SYNOPSIS OF THE LEGAL SERVICES THEY WILL PROVIDE FOR THE CITY. W TOURNMENT 3: 15p.m. Councilmember Ekberg commented that this matter has begun to influence the morale of the Council and staff, and he want to see it settled. Ekberg stated that though he strongly supports the City Attorney pursuing the legal activities of the City, he has a problem with him continuing a professional relationship with the Revelle firm, a firm the City Attorney is a partner; and which the Mayor got a legal opinion that contradicted Kenyon's. Therefore, he supports contracting with an outside firm. ROLL CALL VOTE: DUFFIE NO HERNANDEZ YES ROBERTSON YES MORIWAKI YES EKBERG YES LAWRENCE YES RANTS NO *MOTION CARRIED. CONTRACT IS AUTHORIZED WITH THE LAW FIRM OF SKELLENGER, BENDER, MATHIAS, BENDER AND GOULD. MOTION CARRIED WITH DUFFLE VOTING NO. Meeting Reconvened 3:05 p.m. Council President called the Special Meeting back to order. Council President clarified with the law firm that it was his understanding when the investigation concludes, the same report will be distributed, at the same time, to all councilmembers and the administration; and that there will be no interim reports distributed to anybody. Attorney Bender responded that the Scope of Work asked that the report be provided at the same time to everybody of interest to the City, and then to appear before the Council the week following. MOVED BY ROBERTSON, SECONDED BY LAWRENCE, THAT THE SPECIAL MEETING BE ADJOURNED TO THE COMMIT Ga L. V'anDusen, Mayor r/ --e Delia Squafe, Deputy City Clerk