WHITE SALMON — Mindful of staff time, city council took action to improve the visibility of committee and board meetings without triggering all the requirements of Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) during their May 6 session.
Apart from the planning commission, White Salmon has seven advisory bodies, meaning that no policy or decision-making takes place. That’s been the case since December 2023, as previously reported byColumbia Gorge News. Back then, some members of the CityLAB Board wanted to meet more frequently to continue work on the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan, but OPMA and the associated administrative burden stood in their way, Mayor Marla Keethler explained.
In the following years, however, some committees continued to notice meetings on the city’s calendar and allowed informal public comment when it wasn’t required, prompting renewed focus over the past few months.
“We are not wanting to give an impression that something is out of compliance,” Keethler said. “We’re trying to implement some uniform practices so that there isn’t confusion.”
Now, all committees and boards will set a regular meeting schedule annually, available on the city’s calendar. The new code language empowers chairs to allow limited public input, should an attendee have relevant background information or the ability to answer a key question, for instance, but not to the level of full-blown public comment.
City Attorney Shawn MacPherson acknowledged that provision will likely have some growing pains, but it’s an attempt at a middle ground. Council voted 3-0 in favor of the updated language. Councilor Patty Fink abstained, in part because furnishing an agenda beforehand wasn’t required.
Afterward, council welcomed Klickitat County Commissioner Todd Andrews for a question-and-answer session. Topics included county finances, the comprehensive plan update, strained funding for court services and the jail, limited west-end coverage by the sheriff’s office and data centers, among others.
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