Sumner City Council Approves New Codes of Conduct

At the Aug. 1 regular meeting, the Sumner City Council passed an ordinance for new codes of conduct for council members.

The new rules include tools to deal with reviewing council comments and how to handle outbursts at council meetings, said City Administrator Diane Supler.

Supler, City Attorney Brett Vinson and City Clerk Terri Berry were tasked with updating the Council Rules of Procedures and proposing Principles of Conduct.

"From my research, this is the greatest change in council rules in 120 years, "said council member Randy Hynek.

Under the new rules, council members could be suspended for inappropriate use of a public forum. The resolution reads that no person may use public comment for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of any person to any office or for the promotion of or opposition to any ballot proposition.

Further, any direct mention of a person’s candidacy or a ballot proposition shall constitute ground for immediate suspension of such person's right to speak at that council meeting.

These rules come after former council member Matt Richardson’s recent appearance at the July 18 regular meeting, for .

In Nov. 2010, Richardson , alleging that the public forum was misused during his election campaign against Senator Pam Roach. The and sided with the city; however, Supler and city officials were warned to ‘please remember’ that use of city facilities to assist in a campaign is against city and state code.

When the resolution came up for council debate, Hynek had a few questions. He asked why Fire Chief Jerry Thorson, who spoke during public comment, could 'solicit' an election but council members could not. Thorson spoke to the public regarding the upcoming and fire commissioner election.

Enslow ensured Hynek that Thorson was not encouraging citizens to vote for or against something, just to educate themselves on the ballot.

"Had the fire chief said, ‘you should vote for this person he is a great guy or you shouldn't vote for this person because he is a bum,’ then it would of been crossing the line," said Enslow. 

The new rules passed 4-1 with Hynek voting no and went into effect immediately.