The Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners is making a return to remote meetings this week, according to Board Chairman Dave Sauter.
The Board of County Commissioners had been meeting in person since at least the inauguration of newest members Jacob Anderson and Dan Christopher this January, while allowing remote participation by the public. One witness was allowed to give in-person testimony in the chambers before the change was made, while one other person manned the audio/video equipment during meetings.
The change comes weeks after Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee announced an extension to an emergency proclamation related to the suspension of the in-person requirements of the state’s Open Public Meeting Act. In phase one of the state’s newest reopening plan under the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person meetings are prohibited. Klickitat County is in phase one, as well as the rest of the southwest region.
According to Sauter, it was not clear how the extension related to meetings at the county level, so county staff were part of an email chain that asked the governor’s office to clarify the terms of the proclamation. They received a response Monday afternoon confirming that county meetings in-person were prohibited, which was then forwarded to the BoCC email address, said Sauter.
“We were hoping to have a discussion, but it was after our meeting had started,” said Sauter. “I had saw it over lunch and we had time scheduled with (Prosecuting Attorney David Quesnel). When he did come on during this time, then he did inform us” that the emergency proclamation prohibited in-person meetings.
Sauter said the agenda had already been set by the time everyone had learned of the clarification, so the discussion was not marked on the document, but the motion to return to remote sessions did occur during the ‘pending’ portion of the board meeting last Tuesday.
“We can add things on the day of, but we avoid doing that because there’s no public notice on that,” said Sauter. “We did send out an email to all the staff afterward explaining the change, because it was a change.”
Quesnel, who participated remotely last week, told the board during a separate discussion surrounding the Under Canvas project appeals that: “I’m going to be logging off of this meeting. I cannot participate in any meeting in violation of the proclamation set forward. We are in phase one, we are prohibited from having in-person business meetings. Every other jurisdiction locally and even neighboring counties are conducting their hearings via Zoom. I cannot just participate in the active engagement in a criminal activity anymore, so if there’s any further opinion or anything that’s sought of me… I’ll satisfy that, but in good faith and good consciousness [as an] officer of the court and representative of the state of Washington I cannot participate in this.”
Asked for further comment, Quesnel said the situation had already been resolved.
Nothing should change for public participation, said Sauter; log-in details remain posted to the county website.
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