'Moving' Motions at the Issaquah City Council Meeting

"I we, move we, uhh, move, move the consent calendar as listed in the agenda this evening."

Council President Tola Marts laughed at his twisted tongue as Councilmember Mullet seconded his motion.

It was a relatively rare occurrence in an Issaquah City Council meeting. Such meetings typically proceed with eloquence and strict adherence to procedural rules.

Yet, Mayor Frisinger and the Councilmembers continued to stumble through procedural protocol as the May 21st regular City Council meeting progressed.

"I am just trying to streamline this, being more efficient than I should be," the Mayor commented to general laughter after she inadvertently neglected to call for a vote on the consent calendar.

"You were probably just mesmerized by my moving language," Marts quipped.

The laughter that the gaffes provoked did not, however, prevent the Council from proceeding through regular business with its typical efficiency.

Serious business

The evening's regular business focused on three funding proposals, all of which were approved unanimously after some discussion.

The Council authorized funding to convert a part-time administrative position to a full-time position. The part-time position in the City Clerk's office was recently vacated, providing an opportunity to restore staffing to three full-time positions in order to handle a heavy passport and document-processing workload. The additional cost for the remainder of the year will be up to $39,000.00. Passport revenues for the entire year are expected to be $35-40,000.00. The Council had previously referred the bill to the Services and Safety committee to confirm the urgent need for additional staffing, given that it had not been mentioned during the annual budgeting process.

The Council unanimously approved allocation of $49,000.00 for a consultant to develop a fiscal analysis related to public investments into the Central Issaquah Plan (CIP). The Council believes that such an analysis is an essential prerequisite to any discussion and decisions pertaining to the CIP and related policies. The analysis will help determine what it could cost to implement the plan, who would benefit from it, who would pay for infrastructure improvements, and how the City would contribute its share. It will focus on the CIP's urban growth center option because it is the one that plans for most growth and therefore requires the most public and private investment in infrastructure to accommodate that growth.

Finally, the Council approved mid-year budget adjustments. These adjustments were necessary because the reorganization of City administration functions was not yet complete when the annual budget was adopted. As it turns out, decreased expenditures resulting from staffing reductions and other adjustments are expected to be offset by an equivalent reduction in revenues.

The motion to approve the bill endeavored to communicate the scope of the budget changes:

"I'd like to move to adopt Ordinance Number 2651, amending the 2012 Budget adopted by Ordinance Number 2641 by increasing appropriations and increasing revenues in the General Fund Number 001, and Office of Sustainability Fund Number 120; increasing appropriations and decreasing revenues in the Street Fund Number 101; decreasing appropriations, decreasing revenues and increasing ending fund balance in the Public Works Engineering Fund Number 520; authorizing the Finance Director to make the necessary adjustments and approving prior expenditures; and authorizing new positions (Exhibit B)," said Councilmember Eileen Barber.

Normally such a motion would be quickly seconded; however, the unusual length of the motion stunned the Council into silence. The subsequent laughter appeared to move at least one Councilmember to tears.

Your chance to speak

The City Council will deliberate and vote on agenda items of critical importance to Issaquah's residents and businesses in the near future. On June 2nd, the City Council will hold its Annual Council Goal Setting Retreat. On June 4th, the City Council will hold a public hearing at its regular Council meeting to gather input on the proposed Forest Heights Development Agreement near Talus.

What do you think the City Council's goals should be? How do the proposed development projects affect you? What kind of place do you want Issaquah to be in both the near future and the long term? The City Council wants to hear.

Resources

City Council web site:

21 May meeting agenda

21 May meeting video recording