City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, she says we're recording. Good evening. I welcome you and call to order the Port Orchard City Council meeting for Tuesday, July 14th, 2026. And in the actions that we're about to take. There's not a seat up here for you, but when the actions were about to take. I'd like to remind us in the. of our guiding principles. And are we raising the bar in all of our actions? Are we honoring the past but not living in the past? Are we building positive connections with our community and outside partners? And is the decision-making process building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community? Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, with liberty and justice for all.

Ms. Fenton, I'm going to need to ask you to leave the dais.

That's okay. I will leave it, but I have not resigned.

I'm asking you to leave the dais, though.

Well, Mayor, I will have to ask for a point of order, then. I need my chair back, though. I'm going to go find another chair. Mayor, point of order.

Okay, what's your point of order?

Mayor, I object to this council proceeding on the assumption that a vacancy exists. So stopping Council Member Fenton from sitting is the assumption that there is a vacancy. However, the prerequisite for a vacancy is a valid resignation. That has not been established. As you saw, Councilmember Fenton has repeated time and time again that she did not resign, just as she did now. However, the City has taken the position that a Council vacancy arose from an oral resignation allegedly made during Executive Session on June 16th. However, the Councilmember herself has publicly stated that she did not resign. According to Councilmember Fenton, she said, I guess I should resign. That is not I resign. Those are not equivalent statements. One is an unequivocal and present act of resigning. The other expresses frustration, uncertainty, or contemplation. The distinction is not merely semantic, it is legally significant. The city attorney has stated the reliance upon Monroe versus City of Poulsbo, but Monroe does not hold that merely mentioning the word resign immediately vacates a public office. Instead, in Monroe, the council member stood up during an open public meeting and stated, you can take this as my formal resignation from the council. Another council member immediately asked, from the council? She answered, that's right. She then left the meeting and the following morning returned her city keys and materials. The Court of Appeals held that those actions demonstrated an unequivocal present intent to relinquish the office. Those facts are completely different from what has been described here. Here the statement attributed to Council Fenton is, I guess I should resign. According to Councilmember Fenton, this statement came only after she repeatedly requested time to consider whether she wished to resign. She had stated that she was told she had to immediately decide whether to resign and that if she did not resign that evening, the employee accused her of grabbing his forearms at a public planning meeting would pursue criminal charges. She further states that it was only in response to that ultimatum that she said, I guess I should resign. Those circumstances raise substantial questions as to whether her statement reflected an unequivocal present intent to resign or whether it was made instead, made under the immediate pressure of an executive session in which she faced five councilmen and the city attorney after being told that she had to decide then and there whether to resign. This raises an obvious question. If an effective oral re-examination had occurred, why, oh sorry, and then the city attorney told her that she would need to to submit a written resignation in her own words. So if an effective oral resignation had occurred, why would a written resignation be necessary? Also, if an effective oral resignation had already occurred, why was there no mention of the resignation in the public meeting that occurred just after the closing of the executive session? Instead, it wasn't until later that evening that the city attorney emailed Councilmember Fenton to inform her that her oral resignation had been accepted. But in Councilmember Fenton's email that she sent to you, Mayor, and the City Attorney the following day after that executive session, she unequivocally stated that she had not resigned. And so that sequence does not support an unequivocal and present resignation that we talk about when we talk about Monroe. It's just not there. Yet later that day, you and City Clerk Wallace set an agenda and a special meeting was noticed to acknowledge a vacancy. There are additional concerns regarding the public record. Before entering executive session on June 16th, the city attorney announced that the session would conclude at approximately 7.05 p.m. The city's publicly available recording shows that the council did not return to open session until approximately 7.58 p.m. WASHINGTON STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT IF ADDITIONAL TIME IS NEEDED AN EXTENSION OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION BE PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED. THE RECORDING AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC CONTAINS NO SUCH ANNOUNCEMENT AND IF ONE EXISTS I RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT THE CITY IDENTIFY IT OR RELEASE THE ORIGINAL UNEDITED RECORDING DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATUTE. When the council returned to open session, there was no announcement that a resignation had occurred, no announcement that a vacancy existed, no discussion concerning the legal status of the council member. The council simply continued conducting business. Washington state law provides that final action may not be taken during executive session. Executive sessions are for discussion, not final governmental action. Therefore, the alleged resignation should have been accepted during the public session, not hours later in an email written by the city attorney. In order to provide evidence of a legitimate vacancy, I ask that the people of Port Orchard be provided the answers to five straightforward questions. FIRST, WHAT EXACT WORDS DOES THE CITY STATE THAT CONSTITUTE THE RESIGNATION? SECONDLY, WHAT LEGAL AUTHORITY SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSION THAT THOSE WORDS WERE AN UNEQUIVOCAL AND PRESENT RESIGNATION UNDER MONROE? THIRD, HOW DOES THE CITY RECONCILE THAT CONCLUSION WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBER STATEMENT THAT SHE DID NOT RESIGN AND WITH HER ASSERTION THAT SHE WAS TOLD A RESIGNATION E-MAIL WOULD BE REQUIRED? Where in the public record was the existence of the vacancy established before the city proceeded as though it existed? And five, if the city believes its actions fully complied with Washington law, will it release the recordings, records, and legal analysis supporting that conclusion? The office of an elected official belongs to the people, not to the city. And that's why the public deserves a record demonstrating the removal of an elected representative from office that was accomplished lawfully, transparently, and in accordance with Washington law. That record has yet to be shown. Until the city has resolved these questions and provided a complete record, the resignation is not an established fact, so there is no vacancy. Thus, I object to any action preventing Councilmember Fenton from fulfilling her duties as an elected official. I request that my point of order and the Council's ruling be entered into the record. Thank you.

I ask for order in the hearing. Please hold your applause. I disagree with your point of order. Council Member Rospepe. Mayor.

You have to state a basis, sir.

I don't need to state a basis. Mayor, I'd like to make an amendment to the proposed agenda.

I appeal the point of order. I appeal the rejection of the point of order. Point of order. Sorry, my appeal came first.

ADJUDICATE YOUR POINT OF ORDER.

ADJUDICATE MY APPEAL OF THE POINT OF ORDER.

DOES ANYONE SUPPORT COUNCIL MEMBER DESMOND'S POINT OF ORDER? NO. Point of order, ma'am.

I'm sorry, sir. Point of order, please. Only two people said no. That does not make a quorum. Thus, I would like only two people with the point of order. Point of order.

As there's no motion being made, it is a point of order. The motion was an appeal. The appeal. The point of order. The motion.

Can we have a parliamentary person tell us the appeal was made.

Council member, I preside over this meeting. Please wait to be recognized. Okay. So should Councilmember Morrissey also... Do we need a vote on this point of order? I believe it needs to be supported.

Yeah, the council should weigh in on whether they want to support the appeal. The chair, the mayor has made his ruling that he disagrees. Then it is to the body to decide the appeal. So the council can, by a show of hands or just by a voice vote... Or by stating... Or by stating, yeah.

Does anybody support... the point of order. And if no one supports the point of order, then it dies. And I'm not hearing anyone supporting the point of order.

Okay. And I had the initial one. I will give that to Mr. Morrissey.

Do you have a point of order you would like to make, sir?

My point of order was that she didn't make a motion. She made a point of order.

Okay.

All right. We'll move on to our agenda then.

Mayor, I'd like to... make an amendment to the agenda. I'd like to take off business item 7D and move it to a future meeting.

Second to remove business item D. D. D is dog. Second. A motion and a second, and I'll explain why. Because since it's business with Kitsap County and we're missing Council Member Trenary also this evening, we would lack a quorum to be able to vote on that item. So we intend, while it's not typical to bring business, this is time sensitive because we need to get the paving work done, we will bring this back as a business item at our work study next week. ALL RIGHT. ALL IN FAVOR OF MOVING THAT ITEM OFF THE AGENDA TO A FUTURE MEETING, PLEASE SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? HEARING NONE, COUNCIL MEMBER ROSPEPE.

MAYOR, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. I'M SORRY, I APOLOGIZE.

I'D LIKE TO MOVE TO AMEND THE AGENDA TO MOVE NUMBER THREE TO A MOTION OF CENSURE, PLEASE. SO CITIZEN COMMENTS. RIGHT BEFORE CITIZEN COMMENTS, PLEASE. OKAY. All right, so you're going to make a motion of censure. To be number three and move all subsequent items down one.

Everything else falls. So you're adding a motion of censure. I've got Council Member Morrissey making a motion to add a motion of censure ahead of citizen comment. Is there a second for that motion? Second. MOTION AND A SECOND TO ADD A MOTION OF CENSURE TO TONIGHT'S AGENDA. MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER MORSEY, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROSAPEPE. ALL IN FAVOR OF THAT MOTION PLEASE SAY AYE. AYE.

NO.

I ONLY HEARD THREE VOTES. THAT IS A NAY. EVERYBODY HAS TO VOTE. YOU VOTE NAY. SCOTT.

YAY.

YAY. SO WE HAVE TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE. SO THE YAYS CARRIED THREE TO TWO.

all right any other amendments to this evening to the agenda uh before we uh move into uh three i'd like to have an executive session okay um what is the basis of the executive session uh to discuss motion of censure uh we could go ahead and have that public That's, I made a motion.

Per the rule, per Washington state law, if it's about me, then I can make, sorry, per Washington state law, that if it's about me, I'm allowed to have that public. I would like to have that session public.

I ask for an executive session.

If we don't have that vote, that's fine. I just ask for an executive session. She is asking for an executive session. ADDED AFTER CITIZEN COMMENT? IS THAT WHAT I'M HEARING? NO, BEFORE THAT. BEFORE. SO BEFORE THE MOTION OF CENSURE? YEAH. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND? THAT MOTION FAILS FOR LACK OF A SECOND. IT DOES. OKAY. IS THERE ANY FURTHER AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA? SEEING NONE, COUNCIL MEMBER ROSAPEPE.

MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED.

SECOND. MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER ROSAPEPE, A SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER MORRISSEY TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED. ALL IN FAVOR PLEASE SAY AYE. AYE. ANYONE OPPOSED?

I OPPOSE.

AGENDA HAS BEEN SET FOR THIS All right. And Councilmember Morrissey, you made the motion.

Yes. Mr. Mayor, I move that the City Council formally censure and express its disapproval of the conduct of Councilmember Dedmon for publicly making statements about the resignation of former Councilmember Fenton, despite not being present for that meeting. Her comments have misrepresented what occurred and have contributed to public confusion and unfairly diminished confidence in the integrity of this governing body. I recognize that elected officials have the right to express their opinions and engage in public debate. However, those opinions should be grounded in accurate information, particularly when commenting on official meetings and actions from this governing body. By publicly characterizing a meeting she did not attend in ways that are inconsistent with what actually happened, Councilmember Dedmon has undermined informed public disclosure and eroded the trust in local government. During the Executive Session, the Council and Ms. Fenton discussed the need for an investigation into allegations of misconduct involving Ms. Fenton. Before the Council reconvened in open session to discuss whether to proceed with an investigation, Ms. Fenton submitted her resignation. As a result of her resignation, the Council did not return to open session to consider or take action regarding an investigation. It is unclear why Ms. Fenton has since attempted to withdraw or contradict her resignation. The Council's understanding is that her resignation became effective upon submission and acceptance and therefore cannot be unilaterally rescinded. At the time of her resignation, the Council believed that accepting her resignation without pursuing a public investigation appropriately respected her request for privacy and avoided the need to publicly address the allegations. However, Councilmember Dedmon and Ms. Fenton's subsequent public statements contradicting the circumstances surrounding her resignation have left the Council with little choice but to disclose these additional facts to provide an accurate account of the events and to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the Council's actions. I want to affirm the expectation that members of this body will represent official proceedings accurately, correct material misinformation when it occurs, and conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public confidence in government.

There's a motion for censure on the floor. Is there a second?

I have my hand.

When we get to debate, you'll have an opportunity to speak. Is there a second? Second. We have a motion by Council Member Morrissey, a second by Council Member Rosapippi. Mr. Morrissey, you are the motion maker. You can speak to your motion first if you'd like.

Yeah, you know, I think we need to make sure that we have a very clear understanding of what actually occurred. And even in Ms. Dedman's speech this evening, she said things that were materially inaccurate. Right on down to when she quoted Ms. Fenton, which would be hard to get right, when she's not there. Additionally, I know that multiple... council members here tried to uh... keep as much as we could from getting out in order to protect miss fenton and her family as they are all personal friends this is a small community uh... we know what that means uh... but if we have to have that out here in in the public to move forward from this uh... situation i guess we can have that conversation here tonight

SIR, I WOULD LIKE TO FIRST RAISE AN OBJECTION TO THE FACT THAT A MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE AND THEN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SECONDED AND YET YOU LET A SPEECH OCCUR BEFORE RULING US TO THAT MOTION AND GETTING A SECONDED. YOU ALLOWED HIM TO SPEAK. COUNCILMEMBER MORRISSEY TO HAVE A WHOLE SPEECH. Secondly, to answer this, if you listened, if you actually listened to what I just said today, you will have heard that I stated Councilmember Fenton states. And I speak to what I saw. I was inaccurately said that I was not in the meeting. I was in the first half of that meeting. You cannot tell because it was cut off in the public video, but that I attended and then that at approximately maybe 7 o'clock or something like that, I walked out. I love that meeting and so I can speak to things that I saw thirdly Public statements that I have made came only after the fact that council member the council members made a motion and voted to WAVE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION. I NEVER MADE THAT MOTION. SOMEBODY ELSE DID. SO THEY WANTED THAT EXECUTIVE SESSION TO WAVE IT SO THAT THEY COULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT THEY SAW AND TO ADD INTO A STATEMENT STATING THAT COUNCIL MEMBER FENTON THERE HAD BEEN UNVERIFIED ALLEGATIONS AND THAT IT WAS RELATED TO AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM. NOW, I DIDN'T MAKE ANYBODY WAIVE CONFIDENTIALITY. HOWEVER, THAT IS WHAT GAVE ME THE OPENING TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT I SAW. AND THEN ALSO TODAY, TO QUOTE COUNCILMEMBER FENTON'S STATEMENTS, WHICH WERE MADE IN THAT EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT AGAIN, WE WERE ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEY AS A BODY WAIVED CONFIDENTIALITY. So thank you.

Others wish to speak to the censure? Council Member Warden.

Yeah, this is a tough one. I'll be honest with you. My friends, the community, people who've been having these conversations because it's real, right? I mean, when you run for office, you don't just run for office to sit up here. You put your family's name out there. You put your children's name out there. I mean, you're supposed to sit up here And literally do your best. Literally try and be honest. And I'm not going to censor Shira. But what was said was, what you said is not honest.

Oh, Eric, we can get into this. Order council member.

I'm going to say what exactly, which I didn't want to say, but no, she didn't say, I think I'm going to resign. And I'm not going to sit here and litigate the whole entire thing. You shouldn't have to.

Council member, you do not have the floor.

But when you stand up and you say, F it, I resign, and you turn around and say it again in the middle of a meeting, and then our attorney says that that's a resignation, that's a resignation. And you can sit over there and laugh, but if you're mature enough to stay in a meeting and sit through it, And be able to sit up here and testify like the rest of us and put ourselves on the line to be called basically not telling the truth. It's pretty simple when you're not attending the meetings because you walk out or you don't show up to them. But when someone like myself literally attends every single meeting, every board... and does my absolute best to be out there to be called what's being said is inaccurate and sensitive. I don't agree with this statement on social media. I didn't agree with that. But I do agree with what had to be read in order to have that meaning. What was put on social media? No. And I told my council members, I didn't agree with that. I did not agree with that. But at the same time, I am part of the body. I'll wear the good and I'll wear the bad. But at least show up and hear what's being said. That way when you sit up here and tell the public what was said, at least you're being accurate about it. Because you're not being accurate about it. And I'm going to follow what our attorneys that we pay to say because I would hope people out there that look at me and say, why did you not follow what our attorney's legal opinion is? That would be irresponsible of me. So I'm following the legal opinion. I'm accepting the resignation because she's resigned. And if our attorneys are wrong, they'll handle it. That's all I have to say.

Other council members that wish to address the issue?

Yes, I have a rebuttal to that. Please. I was stated that I should have stayed in a meeting to be mature. If a meeting is in violation of Washington state laws, Washington state transparency laws, I don't believe I have a right to stay in that meeting. I believe the right thing to do is walk away from that meeting instead of participating in an illegal meeting. So that's number one. I don't think that's a matter of maturity. That's a matter of what is right, what is legal. number two uh... right now this is a matter of transparency they keep talking around the issue right now sir you just mentioned uh... following the attorneys guidance i have asked for that attorneys guidance that was given to the city council because that was not provided to me specifically in regard to any sort of resignation uh... if sir if you can tell us uh... tell me one thing when uh... it says that THE CITY COUNCIL, SORRY, THE CITY ATTORNEY HAS STATED THAT THE CITY AND ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS RELIED ON THE LEGAL ANALYSIS OF MONROE VERSUS POLSBO. WHEN THAT LEGAL ANALYSIS WAS PROVIDED, DID IT PROVIDE JUST THE FINDING IN FAVOR of it being an oral resignation? Or did it also find the opposite? What would prevent it from being an oral resignation? Because a true legal analysis that is made to guide a body provides both. Did it provide both? This is a question because we're talking about transparency. He wanted to bring this. Everybody wants to publicly censure me. Please make your statements. This is about publicly censuring me as if I did something wrong. This is about transparency. We keep asking for transparency and see right now, again, they're trying to skirt transparency. The only person here who has tried to be transparent is me. And now they want to publicly censure me for being transparent. Right now they keep saying, oh, these statements, I don't want to say why. you lifted confidentiality you have the right to say it you did you everybody voted so again be transparent be specific you want to talk about this legal analysis then tell me did it provide both sides the people are here you can answer the question they are here be transparent okay mr morsey i'm going to call on you i'll see to him first because i know she asked questions

I'm not a Washington State practicing attorney, neither are you.

You're right. You can just tell me yes or no.

No longer have the floor. To sit up here and hold a debate over law that I'm not trained in and neither are you in this state, why would I sit here and do that when we have attorneys that do this? I'm going to let them handle their responsibility and their role. It's not mine. I'm not deflecting. I'm being totally transparent and saying that is their job. My job is not to override them or go on social media and say things are correct or not correct when I'm not an attorney. But my job is to sit up here and take legal advice and legal opinions from our attorneys. And that's what I'm doing. And if they're wrong, they'll wear it.

How? How will they wear it?

I'm going to go Mr. Morrissey at this point. Thank you, Mayor. They can wear it in many different things. They don't just represent this city. They'll have lost their reputation and their ability to move forward with their business. There's a multitude of things that we could point out there, including the fact that the reason on why you left that is inaccurate. You left after you were warned. For the final time, for interrupting and not following parliamentary procedures, you got frustrated and stormed out directly after you were reprimanded. That is absolutely true. There are things within your statement that you gave earlier this evening that were materially inaccurate. Which ones? I'll start with how and what she said when she resigned.

What did she say?

It was already covered.

No, no, you can tell us. What did she say?

She said, F it, I resign.

Okay. And she didn't say F. How many times has she asked you to, I made another statement. I made another statement.

So I'm going to, because we're not supposed to interact. Oh, you're right, sorry. I'm going to try to follow the procedure here. Additionally, you cite the Monroe Doctrine or the case law. That particularly did not cite whether or not it needed to be written or not. That was whether or not she could rescind it. So there was multiple different things that were looked at that. I know that we can get into that and if we really just need to have the public investigation out here now, we can do that because I don't believe I don't believe when the people hear that they're going to care how many times Ms. Fenton showed up to our meetings intoxicated or the other things that have gone on over time, right?

Yes, bring it on. They're asking you right now to bring it on. Everybody wants proof.

Okay, so.

Can we amend the agenda after the fact is the question I'll ask for that because I need to finish this question and then we can move on if this is really what people want to talk about tonight.

I think we need to move on to our business that we're here to do this evening. I saw Councilmember Diener raise his hand. Do you have something you wish to say?

Well, yes. I, too, lean on our attorney for the direction that the city council should take. None of us are practicing attorneys, nor are we proficient in the law. In the end, they make decisions that they have to defend. And so when attorneys lobby for their services to cities, they base it on appeal rates, much like hearing examiners and such. If they've got a lot of appeals that have stacked up under their belt, they're not a very good attorney. So... I'm comfortable that our attorney has made decisions that they feel they can defend. I also raised my hand earlier because I was also going to say that's not why you left. You weren't asked to be mature. You were interrupting people so often that you were warned of a final censure, and then you got up and, as John characterized it, you stormed out. So I also want to talk about, I'm not taking questions. I want to talk about maybe this needs to go wide open. I mean, if that's what we want to do. I have personal evidence, and if anybody dares to call me a liar about it, you know, I'll take that on. But I have personal evidence of Heidi being intoxicated at a meeting. And sorry, Heidi, you may not like it, but you changed the story twice on it.

after the fact.

You did change your story after the first time that John and I brought you into a room.

Point of order.

I'm not going to talk to the audience. I want to just finish what I was saying. If we want to start this discussion now, I'm happy to do it. Eric was a big part of this, the first meeting where this was observed. There was reasoning given for that when John and I sat down to talk to Heidi about this soon after. The reason for the intoxication and the smell of intoxicants changed. Order. Please sit down, ma'am.

It was Eric that told you. We didn't even know.

That's not accurate either.

Yes, it is.

Council Member Rosemarie, do you have something to say?

I do. First of all, at the executive session, just to show that after Ms. Dedman left, I wanted to point out that you're not the only one being picked on, or you feel that way. I also interrupted one time, and I was also cautioned by Mr. Morrissey. You can put your hand down. I'm not finished yet. that if I did not, if I did not, if I did not, that's the level of immaturity not needed. Yes, because unfortunately the way you talked to me was. So I wanted to point out that the rules were applied consistently across. The other thing is I want to echo what everybody else has said is that former council member Fenton twice said, I resign. It was not as being pressured to resign, it's I resign. And that is taken.

There was, there was, there was, yeah, anyway. Order, please. Thank you. That's my comment. The question's been called for. Is there a second to end debate? Second. I have a motion, a call, question's been called for. There's a second. All in favor of ending, question's been called for, sir. Okay. At that instant. All in favor of ending deliberation, please say aye. Aye. Okay. Any opposed?

Aye. Opposed.

Okay. So that, that it passes. Four, one, two, three, four, four to one. Ending debate. So now that we were voting on the censure motion, all in favor of the censure motion, please say aye. Aye. And all those voting nay.

Nay.

Okay, censure motion fails. WE MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT POINT OF BUSINESS IS CITIZEN COMMENT. CITIZENS HAVE THREE MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL. STEP TO THE MICROPHONE AND STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.

CAN YOU HEAR ME? Hi, I'm council member Heidi Fenton. I have maintained a perfect attendance record, never missing a city council meeting, work study, or committee session. On June 12th, council member Warden called my daughter to discuss allegations against me before informing me. This set a precedent of unprofessionalism and caused unnecessary harm to my family. On June 16th, a special meeting was scheduled at 4 o'clock with the city attorney, council member Morrissey and Warden, and my daughter. I counseled it. It felt like a setup, and I retained legal counsel. The same day in executive session, I was told to resign or face charges from a public work employee over a June 11th incident, Givens Park. I have seen no written complaint, disciplinary action, or investigation. I do not know the accuser, and I am being... threatened without any due process. The council lifted privacy protection for this meeting so I can discuss it publicly. I asked Mayor Pro Tem Morrissey for time to consider these new allegations. He demanded I decide immediately. I stated twice that I would not resign, feeling bullied and intimidated with no time to think and no evidence or complete investigation provided. I finally relented and just... ended them so i could end the meeting the council and city attorney gave me no opportunity to process what was happening the attorney said i need an email stating that you're resigning the next day i mailed the mayor city attorney and my lawyer that i was not resigning Nevertheless, the council, Mayor Patanzu, and the city attorney announced on the government media page that I was resigning due to alcoholic-related allegiances. No documentation or investigation exists. This is defamation. I emailed Mayor Patonzo, copied to all city council, about mayor's repeated discrimination against me. Councilmember Morrissey has agreed that I've had a target on my back. This council, except Councilmember Dedmon, the mayor and the city attorney have violated the Open Public Meeting Act. Every year, the mayor and council go to Olympia for a public lobbyist meeting. After one meeting, Mayor Patanzo asked Councilmember Trenary if he wanted to drive because he had too much wine. Trenary said, no, I will repeat this under oath. The last meeting, the mayor brought old-fashioned mix for himself and Councilmember Morrissey. It is, do as I say, but not as I do.

My name is Ann Gilman. I'm one of your local farmers. For years, my mission has been simple. Care for this community by putting healthy food within reach of anyone who needs it. My farmer's market booth is supposed to be a place of trust. On May 30th, that trust was broken. A man I knew as a past customer stepped into my booth and opened his arms up for a hug. Against my better judgment, I gave him a hug. He reached up under my coat and grabbed my breast. Then he stepped back, blew me a kiss, and walked away, leaving me in shock in my own booth in front of my community. I filed a statement with the market and a police report. I did everything I was supposed to do. Please understand why this hit me the way it did. I'm 43 and I'm also a survivor of rape. Sexual assault takes many forms. Ask any woman if she has suffered unwanted sexual behavior from a man and she will likely say yes. your neighbor, your coworker, your sister, your daughter, the women in this room. This traumatizes and it re-traumatizes. That's what happened to me on May 30th and again last Saturday. The man who did this is a retired Kitsap County judge, someone who's supposed to be a pillar of what is right. Instead, he's a sexual predator. I know other women, including vendors, and women of this community who have been his victims too. When I called 911, the officer said she'd form a plan and keep me informed. I gave her other victims' names and numbers and suggested they come to the market to talk with female vendors. They never came. Two weeks of silence later, I called back and was met with evasive answers. My case has been handed to another detective, no name given. Over a month passed with no word from anyone. Then, today, a new detective called me. He told me the case had just landed on his desk today, and he was supportive, I want to acknowledge that. But here's my question. After being lied to for over a month, how am I supposed to trust this system to protect me? I believe that the first detective lied. No one was working my case. And I believe the only reason it moved today is because the mayor and chief caught wind that I was coming tonight. Given this judge's example and how this department has operated, how do I not see this as corrupt? If I hadn't been strong enough to stand up for myself, nothing would have moved at all. This is wrong.

And please wrap up your remarks.

No. No. Because this case sat, this man walked back into my booth this Saturday. Rob, don't silence me because I will not be silenced. Nor should any woman in here or our community. You better hear that. I am persistent and I am strong and I will not shut up. He wouldn't leave, so I gave him a piece of my mind. He looked at me and said, I got frisky with her. Tonight, I'm demanding this man be charged as a sexual predator and that our police department reform how it treats women who report assault with follow through, honesty, and respect, not just when someone's watching. I've fed this community for years because I believe in it. I'm asking this community to stand up for me and for every woman he's hurt. Thank you to my friends, my Rolling Bounty Farm members, and every fellow farmer and business owner here tonight. You are my true community, and I love you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much for your courage.

Thank you for your courage.

Truly. My name is Tawny Cowan, an independent journalist focused on government transparency and accountability. I'm here with Port Orchard community members to address the removal of Councilmember Fenton. I've arranged to publish a story on this that will go directly to residents. This isn't a threat. This is to ensure these actions face public scrutiny and that every step you take complies with the law. Removing a duly elected official requires a thorough, transparent process grounded in statute. This means establishing factual cause through proper investigation, full public disclosure, and real opportunity for citizens' input. The Open Public Meetings Act sets clear standards that must be met before overriding the voter's will. I have several concerns. To the mayor, you direct the city attorney. Her role is legal advice, not leading efforts to remove a sitting council member. Ultimate responsibility rests with you. She must be held accountable for improper actions, but you cannot escape responsibility for activities outside proper scope. to the council. Pressure tactics, unadjudicated allegations, or actions outside properly noticed public meetings raise serious questions under the OPMA and council rules. This needs a slow methodical process with public input, not behind the scenes maneuvering or rushing to judgment without due process. I urge you to ensure all proceedings strictly follow legal requirements. Councilmember Dedmon, I commend you for speaking truthfully about the law and upholding due process even when standing alone. To City Attorney Archer, I question whether your advice and actions met the standards expected of legal counsel. I ask the council to consider if you are providing proper guidance to protect the integrity of city governance. These actions risk legal and financial consequences for the city. I recommend seeking a second legal opinion before proceeding. Transparent government requires thorough investigation, public visibility, and respect for elected officials' rights. I've submitted public records requests and I will continue pursuing them. I'm prepared to pursue all legal remedies for complete disclosure. Private actions will come to light with potential legal and political consequences. I strongly encourage you to reconsider this process and take steps to restore public confidence. If you believe Council Member Fenton should be removed, ensure a fair, unbiased investigation with all parties submitting evidence in full public view. That's what citizens expect. Thank you.

Thank you.

Following up on that, my name is Gary Welch, and in full transparency, I am not a resident of Port Orchard, but I appear today solely as an advocate for government transparency and accountability with the goal of helping to prevent the city's taxpayers from bearing the cost of a potentially multi-million dollar lawsuit and to wish to address the issue regarding the replacement of Councilmember Fenton. I hold no personal opinion either favorable or unfavorable regarding Councilmember Fenton or her position on the Council. Indeed, I see my statement today as benefiting the Council more than her. Although I am not an attorney, and neither of you, as everyone has been pointing out, I previously owned and operated a company that contracted more than 120 attorneys. That company maintained close professional relationships with one of the top five litigators in the United States. I continue to have access to that legal expertise, and it's from that experience that informs the perspective I offer today. One of the City Attorney's primary responsibility is to advise the Mayor and the City Council on the litigation risks and the financial consequences of the actions under consideration. Based on all the information that I received regarding this matter, my concern is that the Council may have not received adequate legal advice regarding the potential consequences of proceeding against Councilmember Fenton. I desire to ensure that you and the citizens here today are aware of them. Proceeding in this matter could expose the city to several significant legal vulnerabilities, including resignation, whether it was implied or intended, if it's under duress or intimidation, failure to allow due process and respect individual rights, possible retaliations for stances that are opposed by other council members and the mayor, All of these issues can be challenged in court. Council Member Fitton would likely be able to attain legal representation through one of two avenues if you think that this wasn't going to happen. She can get in an attorney working on a contingency basis. Although that's not assured, it's just gotten a little more likely. Or the other one, because of crowdfunding and support by the citizens, she can get a crowdfunding to get that legal expenses paid for her. In other words, there would be no monetary obligation obstacle for her pursuing your legal recourse. Litigation of this nature would subject the city to a very intensive discovery. The litigation of attorneys that I spoke to all referred to this as the microscope from hell. All relevant records would be subject to subpoena and could not be withheld or redacted in the manner permitted under public records request Both elected officials and staff would be required to provide desk book depossessions under oath. In addition, the city's compliance with local, applicable to local, state and federal laws and regulations would be thoroughly reviewed. If discovery were done covering evidence of a hostile work environment or violations due due process, the city could space a substantial monetary judgment, potentially in the multi-million dollar range. In such circumstances, the city's insurance carrier would most likely recommend that you settle out of court for a high six figure.

Sir, your time is up. Thank you. Thank you.

When does that clock start, right now?

It's starting right now, yes.

OK. Good evening, mayor and members of the council. My name is Shereen Dedman. Yes, you're a sister. And I am President of Port Orchard. I am standing here tonight because the fundamental trust between this local government and the citizens who elect it has been severely compromised. A healthy democracy relies entirely on a simple pact. The people choose their representatives, and the government operates in the light. Right now, both sides of the pact are being shattered by profound lack of transparency and a disregard for public process. On June 16th, the mayor called a public meeting to order and announced an executive session. We were told the executive session would end at 7.05, yet the meeting was resumed at a time much later than 7.05, leaving the public waiting. When the meeting finally did resume, there was absolutely no mention, none, of a council member resigning during the executive session. Furthermore, as far as the public knows, the mayor acted as the chair of that executive session. There was never a recusal noted on the record. The decision to push an elected official out of their seat, someone the voters of the city chose to represent them, is one of the most serious actions a local government can take. It demands the absolute highest standard of public process, undeniable proof, and flawless integrity. Instead, we have been given a master class in backroom maneuvers. We have seen potential violations of the OPMA. We have seen a council member use unsubstantiated personal attacks that border on libel to assassinate a colleague's character. And we have seen the city attorney misapply a 2002 legal precedent, Monroe v. Paltzbo, to justify vacating a seat, even though council member Finston explicitly emailed the very next day stating that she had not resigned. This isn't just about one council member. This is about the precedent you are setting. When a council relies on flawed justifications and behind-the-scenes engineering to remove someone we voted for, it sends a chilly message to every president of Port Orchard. Your vote doesn't matter. Your voice doesn't count. We will decide who sits at this table, not you. The words that sit with me the most are Council Member Morrissey saying, it was an executive session until it wasn't. Per OPMA, it doesn't cease to be an executive session until you are back in open session. Anytime prior to open session resuming was still an executive session. We demand that you pull this process back into the light, produce the undeniable written proof of resignation, or halt this process immediately. Restore the transparency the city deserves and start rebuilding the trust you have broken. I want to offer some advice to this council. One, you all need to get trained in OPMA because the amount of obvious violations is staggering. Two, get a new city attorney because no lawyer worth her salt should have let you get as far into the muck as you all are now. Councilmember Warden said, if our attorneys are wrong, they'll handle it. You should absolutely not rely on your attorney to handle the mess that she helped you create. Councilmember Diener said that you trust the attorney's ability to defend your actions, which shows a complete disregard for the financial ramifications of legal cases. And FYI, appeals don't occur when the city has settled out of court. And three, you should all figure out which of the many lawsuits you have opened yourselves up to that you will simply settle, since I doubt the city has the funds to fight all of them if you choose to continue with the sparse of a vacancy. Councilor Morrissey is asking that we just take your words for it. The OPMA was created so we don't have to. Excuse me, but your time is up. I'm a public servant, almost done, who spends every day ensuring the transparency of government. I am a neurodivergent, paramenopausal, and I am petty. So with a line I've always wanted to say, place Councilmember Finchin back into her seat or see you in court.

Thank you.

I am reading a statement from Christy McGee. This is not mine. Good evening. I am Kelly speaking on behalf of Christy McGee who cannot be here. Eight months ago I stood before this council and expressed concern about what she believed was a troubling pattern in the treatment of Councilwoman Heidi Fenton. She spoke about repeated interruptions, dismissive behavior, and a culture that appeared to value power over professionalism. She warned what many saw as an isolated incidents appear to be part of a larger pattern. Today, those concerns have only grown. An elected official chosen by the voters of Port Orchard is no longer serving on this council. The public has received very little explanation about what process was followed before the city accepted what has been described as a verbal resignation from a duly elected official. Regardless of how this departure is characterized, the outcome is the same. The voters lost the representative they elected. That should never happen without a process that is transparent, accountable, and inspires public confidence. If there was misconduct, then the people of Port Orchard deserve a process that respected both the public's right to transparency and the rights of the elected official involved. Instead, residents are left with unanswered questions about how an elected official's service came to an end. Months ago, many of us watched Councilwoman Fenton be interrupted, talked over, and dismissed during council meetings. Looking back, those moments raised concerns that were not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern that ultimately ended with her leaving office under circumstances the public still does not fully understand. No elected official should feel marginalized for asking questions, expressing a different perspective, or simply carrying out the responsibilities of the office to which they were elected. Today's majority may not be tomorrow's majority. Elections change, political alliances change, but the principles of fairness, professionalism, and respect should never depend on who holds the majority. The standard you set for one council member today becomes the standard by which every council member may be treated tomorrow. This is more than a Councilwoman Fenton. It is more about whether the people of Port Orchard can trust those that they elect will be treated fairly and that they cannot be removed from office or pressured into leaving it. without a process that is transparent and worthy of the public's trust. Public office is a public trust. As I said eight months ago, trust is built through integrity, not intimidation, through transparency, not secrecy, through accountability, not retaliation. The people of Port Orchard deserve leadership that earns trust through integrity, openness, and respect. We ask this council to restore that trust. Thank you.

THIS EVENING. I'M GOING TO CLOSE THE FIRST.

HI, MY NAME IS CHUCK HUCK. I'M A LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER HERE. I KNOW HEIDI VERY WELL. SHE IS A WONDERFUL HUMAN. ONE OF THE COOL THINGS ABOUT HEIDI IS SHE'S BEEN RETIRED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THIS. SHE IS LITERALLY ON THE COUNCIL BECAUSE SHE CARES ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY SO MUCH. And if you know Heidi, that's how she is with every single person she knows. She will hug you. And here's the thing with Heidi. She's in your face. She's going to slap you on the back. She's going to grab your arm. That's how she is. She's animated. She's a wonderful, wonderful person. But that's Heidi. She's just her. But I want to thank you for everything you've done. I hope you guys do reinstate her. She brings so much that... we're oh ternary's not here but that's so many here don't and then let's just use some common sense here we know that there was a lot of harassment basically towards heidi i believe the mayor was supposed to publicly go and apologize to her and he hasn't so what does that mean does that mean that she's like he's mr huck you're here to address the council oh okay So Rob Potanzu obviously likes to go and bully people. I've been bullied by Rob Potanzu. Anybody who knows the Whiskey Gulch situation knows how badly we were bullied by Rob Potanzu. So directly to you. So many lives. Hey, the train has left the station. Can't do anything. Well, now we can go around suddenly. Because guess what? The right-of-way actually went and confirmed everything I told him from the beginning. That is a full taking. However, the bully, Rob Patanzu, was going to do whatever he had to do and spend all your money to go and get his way. Luckily, I have partners, I have friends, I have a community that stood behind us while you tried to bully us like you're trying to bully her. So thank you, Council, for everything. You're wonderful, wonderful. I appreciate all you guys do. Let's grow from this, and let's get rid of this guy in here now, please. Thank you.

Thank you.

Love to follow up with that. Former resident of Port Archer till I was exited out of here with eminent domain.

I was at a meeting- Sir, can you identify yourself for the record? Randy Jones. Thank you.

Venture charters. And so I went to a meeting here. WHEN THEY SUGGESTED TAKING ALL OF OUR HOMES AND PUTTING IN THE BOARDWALK. AND WHEN I CAME TO THAT MEETING, IT WAS BEFORE HIS, MR. PATANSU'S REELECTION, THERE WAS A 15-FOOT BANNER OUT HERE SHOWING THE BOARDWALK SHOWING MY HOUSE ON IT. He basically said, nothing to see here. We're going to go around. We own the property across the road. We're going to go around Mr. Jones's house. Not a problem. Then he ran for reelection, and I believe that one was unopposed, and he won. After that, I heard from someone from the Bremerton Sun that they were taking my home while I was still living in it. And this was a 13-year fight. 13 years I've been coming to the meetings. And Mr. Patatsu said, my home was not going to be taken. Nothing to see here, folks. Go home. And it was. His city engineer boasted on the Bremerton Sun that they were going to take it. And there was nothing I could do about it. I closed on my home that I had to find at the last minute. And it was a good home. Nothing like the view I had. And I closed on that on the last day before they said that they would use eminent domain. I had until July 29th. I closed on that day. I walked out of that room on the closing three different times. And then I finally signed the papers. I still have nightmares about that, Mr. Patonsu. And I will have nightmares about you to the day I die. And now you're bullying Mrs. Fenton. You didn't even have the guts to show up there. You sent Morrissey in your place. Disgusting.

Anyone else wishing to address the council this evening?

Hi there, my name's Cass Busey, full transparency, I'm from Tacoma. I came here to support my friend Anne and honestly all of the women in this room. I think there's been a lot said tonight, and rightly so. I just didn't want the messaging to get lost of what has happened and what is really important. All these things are very important, but I think it's really important for this council and any elected officials to really take a look at the structures, at the policies, at all of the things that you're doing to protect women. and what is not there, right? One of my jobs, I'm a nurse manager in Tacoma, and one of the things that we do a lot of is looking at what we call negative space. And so it's not looking at what we see every day, but what's not there. What are the things that we're, missing on the day to day because it's just so easy to walk by and miss that there isn't this structure in place, there isn't this policy in place, right? And so we have to really start taking a look when something like this, something so horrific happens in our communities to really look and see what's missing, what structures are missing, what policies are missing. We can't depend just solely on our police officers and our police force to take care of these situations. It's all of us. It's our elected officials. It's our government structures. It's all of the stuff we're putting in place to protect women and to ensure that if there's an escalation that needs to happen, women are protected, people are protected. The citizens of this community are being protected. And so I really want to encourage you to take a moment after these meetings, step back and look at what's missing. Look at what's there, what needs to be reinforced, and what needs to be fixed, what needs to be put in place, because this should never happen. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Ken Wilson on the Heidi Fenton thing. I don't want to get mixed up with the he said and she said and I didn't and they weren't. Who is this guy that she assaulted? Did she walk up to her booth and put his hand up her shirt? Who is this person? Is there an investigation on this person? Is he here today? Do we know who he is? Is there... ANY INVESTIGATION WHATSOEVER ON THIS? IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S THE BEGINNING OF ALL OF THIS. I MEAN, IF YOU WANT HER OUT, THAT'S ONE THING. BUT WHO IS THIS MYSTERY MAN AND WHY ISN'T THERE AN INVESTIGATION AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF ALL THIS? THAT'S ALL I GOT TO SAY. THANKS.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL IN OUR FIRST CITIZEN COMMENT PERIOD? SEEING NONE, I'LL CLOSE THE FIRST CITIZEN COMMENT PERIOD. WE HAVE A PUBLISHED CONSENT AGENDA. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? COUNCILMEMBER MORRISSEY.

MR. MAYOR, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.

SECOND. A MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER MORRISSEY, A SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER ROSAPEPE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.

I'M SORRY TO INTERJECT, MAYOR. WE DO HAVE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ATTENDING ONLINE. DID YOU WANT TO OPEN UP THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC?

I NEGLECTED TO DO THAT. CAN WE BACK UP HERE? WE CAN, PLEASE. ALL RIGHT. GO AHEAD. I'M SORRY.

JUST A REMINDER THAT WE DO HAVE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND IF THEY WISH TO COMMENT THAT THEY NEED TO RAISE THE HAND FEATURE ON THEIR DEVICE AND THEY CAN DO SO BY STAR 9, I BELIEVE, ON THE KEYBOARD.

IS THERE ANYONE ONLINE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL? YOU WOULD USE THE METHODS THAT THE CLERK JUST DESCRIBED. AND WE SEE NONE. THANK YOU. SO I WILL CLOSE THAT COMMENT PERIOD. THANK YOU, BRANDY, FOR CATCHING THAT. SO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR. I MOVE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. AND COUNCILMEMBER ROZAPAPI SECONDED THAT. ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE CONSENT AGENDA PLEASE SAY AYE.

AYE.

IS THERE ANYONE OPPOSED? HEARING NONE, THE CONSENT AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED. WE HAVE A PRESENTATION NOW FROM OUR EMPLOYEE INCLUSION COMMISSION, THEIR ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL. MS. LUND, THIS IS YOU.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. I'm going to give Brandy a moment to get our presentation up. There we go. Can you run it in full screen mode? All right. Well, she's fine tuning it there. again thank you for the opportunity present tonight as the mayor indicated the city council created the inclusion commission in february of twenty twenty three the resolution calls for an annual report to the city council on the activities of the commission and uh... we have some members of the inclusion commission here to present that annual report uh... in the interest of time given that our on your agenda. I'm just going to ask you to hold questions, and we can do those at the end. I suspect the presentation itself may answer some of those questions. So we're going to start tonight with Beth Smith, our human resources analyst. She'll kick things off.

Good evening, council members. It's my pleasure to begin the City of Port Orchard's Inclusion Commission annual update. So in this presentation, we will be addressing a few different areas. I'll begin by giving some history and purpose of the Inclusion Commission. I will then turn it over to Heather Humphrey, who will provide an overview of some of our activities in 2025. Debbie Lund will then provide a summary of the results of an employee survey conducted earlier this year. And finally, Alan Awashta will explain how we're moving forward with those results in mind. For any of you who haven't met me previously, my name is Beth Smith. I'm the Human Resources Analyst at City of Port Orchard. A few years ago, I conducted a body of research, which I presented to the city council, and that experience led to the creation of the Inclusion Commission. I currently participate on the Inclusion Commission as a member of the committee. So some council members may remember that presentation, but we've also had some new faces arrive on council since that time. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, as well as to give everyone present a bit of a refresher, I'd like to provide some background to explain why this is something we care about and what prompted us to make this a priority. So the term inclusion has been a buzzword over the last few years, so you may have a reaction to hearing that term. You may have a gut response, either positive or negative, and an idea of how you interpret that word. Because it's been so overused, I want to take a moment to thoroughly explain what I mean by it and make sure we're all talking about the same thing. Inclusion is something that permeates the culture and expectations at a workplace. If an employee feels included at work, they feel welcome, valued, comfortable, important, and that they belong. A culture of inclusion is not something that happens naturally. It needs to be fostered and cultivated by leadership. You can probably think of a time when you felt comfortable and valued with a group of people, maybe your family or close friends. You can also probably remember a time when you felt that you were on the outside of a group, maybe trying to navigate a new language in a foreign country, or maybe even your first day on city council as you were thrust into new expectations and regulations. As those varying experiences come to mind, perhaps you can remember the stark differences in how you felt in those different situations. Which of those environments do you think you'd be able to work more effectively in? An environment where you feel welcome and important, or an environment where you feel on guard and wary? I expect that you believe you would work more effectively in an environment where you belong and are valued rather than the opposite. The research I conducted supported this conclusion. This is the heart of what workplace inclusion is. You see this reflected in the mission of the Inclusion Commission to foster a workplace culture of inclusion at the City of Port Orchard through education, promotions, and activities. This mission has been shouldered by a volunteer group of employees who are passionate about this purpose. It was formed in 2023 by city council resolution. So beyond my anecdotal portrayal of why inclusion is important, what does the research say? Why is this such an important topic that it is worth employees with full plates dedicating their time toward? Here are just a few. Reduced risk of lawsuits. You're likely very familiar with employee anti-harassment and anti-discrimination trainings, which are often provided with an eye toward reducing the risk of discrimination and harassment lawsuits. Inclusion goes beyond the avoidance of discrimination and harassment to the addition of feeling welcome at work as a whole person exactly as you are. It logically follows that when this is the culture, attitude, and focus in your workplace, there will be a reduced risk of harassment and discrimination, which arise from a lack of respect or understanding of our differences. Improved reputation. Much of my work at City of Port Orchard is in recruitment, and I can tell you that prospective employees are being thoughtful about where they choose to come to work. I hear job candidates ask questions in interviews about the workplace culture of City of Port Orchard, and I encourage hiring managers to consider what a job candidate may add to the workplace culture of City of Port Orchard if hired. To continue to employ high quality candidates, City of Port Orchard needs to earn and maintain a reputation as an employer of choice. Furthermore, as you know, the citizens of City of Port Orchard are watching the city employees and its council members at all times. What do our decisions say about our priorities? Are we as a city communicating what we intend? Do we have room to grow in how we are currently perceived versus how we wish to be perceived? Improve productivity and innovation. As a workplace culture of inclusivity is fostered and City of Port Orchard's reputation as such grows, we will find ourselves attracting high quality candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds. Gathering employees with different perspectives and specialties together means that our workplace will increase in diversity, which is linked to several positive outcomes, including increases in productivity and increases in innovation. This supports the city's goals and aims as we strive to better serve the citizens of Port Orchard. Increase employee retention and support employee mental health. Feeling welcomed and valued at work can reduce stress on your employees, improve mental health, promote employee engagement, and increase longevity at the city. Keeping employees working, healthy, and happy also means lowered costs. Fewer resources go to recruitment and onboarding new employees, and we can help keep health care costs down, and we get higher quality work products. So let's say you now understand what inclusion is and the positive impacts it can have, as well as how it can benefit the city. But even after defined, inclusion is a vague term. How do we know if we're an inclusive workplace? How do we become more inclusive? How can we identify areas we have to grow and how do we get there? These are really big and important questions. And I wish I could say there's a clear one size fits all roadmap out there with a set number of simple steps we can check off a list. But workplace culture is very complex. While there are a multitude of resources and experts available, it takes work to sift through and evaluate which ones are effective as well as a good choice for the city. Inclusion Commission members are not experts, but we believe the work is important. Therefore, we as employees have taken the time to delve into some of these resources and develop a plan and strategy for moving forward. To explain those in more detail, I'm going to turn this presentation over to a few of my fellow Inclusion Commission members, starting with Heather Humphrey.

Hello. Good evening. I'd like to share with you a few highlights from the Inclusion Commission's work in 2025 and how our efforts reflected this year's theme of improving with purpose. Our goal was to make thoughtful improvements that strengthen our workplace and support our employees. The Inclusion Commission embraced this year's theme of improving with purpose by focusing on meaningful ways to support our employees. Throughout 2025, our efforts centered on education, employee development, wellness, engagement, and ensuring our work aligned with our city's new mission, vision, and values. One way we improve with purpose was through citywide educational messages highlighting Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Pride Month, Disability Independence Day, Civility Month, and Veterans Day. These messages encourage learning, respect, and greater understanding across our organization. In partnership with the Wellness Committee and Human Resources, we highlighted the important topics including burnout prevention, psychological safety, unconscious bias, and mental health awareness. Supporting employee well-being helps create a healthier and stronger workplace. To strengthen those connections across our departments, we introduced an inclusion commission newsletter and hosted an employee scavenger hunt. These activities encourage communication, collaboration, and help build a greater sense of belonging throughout the organization. Everything we do is guided by our city's mission, vision, and values. By making intentional improvements and investing in our employees, we're helping build a workplace where people feel respected, supported, and empowered to do their best work. As we move forward, we'll continue to look for meaningful ways to educate, engage, and support our employees. Thank you to you for your time and for supporting the work of our Inclusion Commission. I will now like to introduce Debbie Lund, Human Resources Director, to highlight the 2026 employee survey results.

Thank you, Heather, and good evening again. Keeping in mind the city's mission of serve with integrity, improve with purpose, the Inclusion Commission is interested in ensuring that our work going forward does indeed improve with purpose when it comes to culture in the workplace.

I like to think of this as a puzzle.

One piece at a time, we are building a workplace in which employees can thrive. To do so, we first needed information. We've utilized all employee surveys to gather that information. To review, this is the second survey we have done, the third of what we hope will be three surveys. Yes, this is a shameless plug for my budget request you're going to see shortly. We're placing those surveys about 18 months apart with the intention of over the course of those three surveys, we can capture a more global image of the current culture of the city. So the question is, how did we do in the 18 months since the 2024 survey and the 26 survey? Let's dive in. And these results have been shared with city staff. We had 78% participation in our recent survey, which if you do any survey work, you know is an amazing response rate. We saw an increase in employee satisfaction to 4.1 out of five stars over the 2024 results. We saw an increase in net promoter score. This is the likelihood that a current employee would tell another employee that we're a good place to work. Workplace relationships remain a core strength in our culture. Most employees enjoy working with their colleagues in their department and their immediate work environment. We saw notable gains in psychological safety and decision-making, indicating that employees feel more comfortable sharing ideas and participating in dialogue. We also saw a 12.8% increase in the feeling that the work the employee is doing is having a positive impact on the Port Orchard community. More of our employees feel that the city provides a welcoming and supportive environment, and an increase in employees who feel that they are valued by Port Orchard management. Again, relationships are strength of the organization. 90% of employees rating their relationship with their colleague and supervisors as a positive experience. Overall, I feel like I've gone backward. uh... overall we have have high levels of trust in collaboration improved feelings of belonging and recognition progress in organizational communication and clarity we're building that puzzle we have a good piece of the foundation so what's next areas to improve with purpose the survey results showed areas It's important to note here that the individual department results may vary for this presentation. We're looking at the city as a whole. Areas for improvement include access to relevant and timely information. This includes a decreased perception of effective communication within departments. The survey also indicated that confidence in the city's response to workplace issues has declined. This suggests a gap between policy and actual follow through. There's a 20% decrease in the rating of our current DEI programs, and workload and stress continue to be the most frequently cited stressors. That was true in 24, and that's still true today. Many employees continue to report high levels of stress driven by workload, unclear expectations, and work-life balance challenges. One very alarming statistic on this chart, you will see 40% of employees reported that they have considered leaving the city for other employment opportunities in the last 12 months. That number is consistent with 2024 survey results. I'm also happy to say it's not what we're seeing in our turnover, but it's still an alarming statistic. THE RECOMMENDATIONS OUT OF THE SURVEY INCLUDED LEVERAGING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED MISSION VISION VALUES, AS HEATHER MENTIONED, TO BRING GUIDANCE AND A CENTRAL FOCUS AND TRANSPARENCY TO OUR EMPLOYEES. CONTINUING TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION, EMPLOYEES WANT CLEAR EXPECTATIONS, BETTER INFORMATION FLOW AND ALIGNMENT BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND STAFF. We also need to address workload and role clarity. Burnout and the potential for staff turnover continue to be areas of concern. Lastly, we can continue to build on strengths in psychological safety, workplace relationships, ensuring that policies translate into day-to-day experiences for our employees. As we continue to build the puzzle of an inclusive workplace culture, we look forward to the future. And here to present the 2026 work plan is the current Inclusion Commission Chair, Deputy Chief Awashta.

So good evening, mayor, council, city staff, and community members. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Alan Awasha, and I'm currently a deputy chief at the Port Orchard Police Department. I've had the distinct privilege of chairing the Inclusion Commission in both 2025 and this year, also in 2026. My part of the presentation will cover the commission's continued efforts and our path forward. So where are we headed? North Star. Without a common destination, we can all head in the same general direction, but end up in different places. Much like this animation, departments, committees, and commissions need to have a North Star, a destination we can aim for, and in so doing, arrive closer to where we want to be. The commission's North Star is our mission, vision, and values. It identifies our overarching purpose and the principles that govern our decision making. Our mission is to foster a workplace of inclusion at the City of Port Orchard through education, promotions, and activities. Our vision is for a workplace that is characterized by a culture of inclusion, is led by persons who are dedicated to continuously educating themselves, and who foster a cultural norm of inclusion. We also want a workplace that provides appropriate space and resources to meet the varying needs of all our employees. Our values is actually a clever acrostic, H-E-A-R-D, or HERD. It stands for humbly and empathetically accepting and respecting our differences. All our decisions and actions are viewed through these lenses and are in alignment with the city's mission, vision, and values. So what came first, the chicken or the egg? You've heard us talk a lot about psychological safety, and I'd like to touch on that just briefly. So psychological safety was a primary focus last year as we sought to improve overall communication and knowledge on creating a more inclusive workplace. The first survey had identified communication as an area we could improve upon. And psychological safety is foundational to meaningful communication. What were we trying to do? So in alignment with our mission, vision, and values, we wanted to create an environment where people feel safe to express ideas, ask questions, raise concerns, and admit mistakes without fear of negative repercussions. Teams with high levels of psychological safety demonstrate higher performance, innovation, and collaboration. all desirable traits of an effective workforce. Our most recent survey responses revealed 90% of the employees rated their relationships with colleagues and supervisors positively. This tells us we're headed down the right path, but as with anything, there's still room for improvement. So what comes after this? Courageous followership. Courageous followership goes hand in hand with and is an evolution of psychological safety. Within a psychologically safe environment, followers are no longer passive but active participants who contribute to decision-making, accountability, and ethical oversight. Members aren't simply given a seat at the table, but they're provided an opportunity to have a voice and impact. Courageous followership strengthens organizations by promoting accountability and enhancing team performance. So culture eats policy for breakfast. For those of you who saw the presentation last year, you'll know that I also had this quote in that presentation. And I use this quote, again, to emphasize its importance. The Inclusion Commission is not a program. It's a vehicle to help drive cultural change within the city. It is helping to shape this through strategic, employee-centered, and a data-informed approach. But how do we build a culture? We believe it currently lies in continuing our focus and efforts to improve psychological safety and courageous followership. It needs to be woven into our collective identity, who we are and how we do business, versus a checklist of items to be completed. I can't stress enough that you don't win at inclusiveness. There is no finish line. It is something you grow and it requires constant evaluation and focus on continual improvement and learning. Our intent moving forward for the year through 2026 and continuing to the end of the year is to continue to administer and evaluate areas of impact based on survey results and feedback while adhering to a quote unquote, don't build it for us without including us philosophy. We want to maintain a consistent communication on the progress of the Inclusion Commission and city efforts via our new commission newsletter. And we want to continue with the engagement and educational efforts by the Inclusion Commission to all employees to help improve, again, psychological safety and build courageous followership. We can do this through a series of different efforts, webinars, classes, and encouraging meaningful discussions amongst our work groups and throughout city departments. With that, I'd like to thank the council and the city for allowing the commission to continue on this mission moving forward. And we look forward to addressing you again in a year to inform you of all the strides we have made. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, thank you. Regarding your survey, I have a couple of questions about that. We just heard a lot of information about a culture of bullying at the leadership level. Were employees given the opportunity to, I guess, inform the inclusion committee whether or not they felt that there was any kind of bullying or gender discrimination or any kind of bullying related to gender identity or anything like that?

There is a question on the survey related, I can't remember how it's worded, but it's related to whether you have observed or been a victim. I believe it might have referenced harassment. I don't believe it's bullying specific. Bullying reports would not be appropriate to the inclusion commission. Those need to go to HR or the supervisor.

Okay.

There again there was one question I that's coming to mind there were probably 90 questions in the survey I didn't write the survey There was a question, and I don't remember I know that religion was a reference there may have very well been a gender reference But I don't know that off top my head

Okay. Is it possible for us to see those questions that were asked in the survey? I would think so. Okay. I would love to be able to see that. Thank you.

Debbie, obviously thanks to you and your group for leading this charge. How has membership gone on the committee? As far as participation, that's one question. My second question is we had the 40% of the folks were talking about considering looking at other opportunities is the best way to state it. Do we have a, you know, reasons why? I know that we talked about stress level. I don't mean to say those are normal things, but I've heard those over time. So I didn't know if there were other reasons that they were looking at, whether it was pay, schooling, general factors that people might look for other opportunities.

So yeah, while I'm looking for the answer to your second question, I'll answer your first. Participation on the committee is waning right now, and whether that's a direct relationship to that workload is my suspicion. Because I have a list of probably 20 people that have said, keep me informed, keep me informed. My actual attendance at the meetings is more like four to six. I think some people are just having a hard time getting away from their regular job to do this on top. And as we know, you go to a committee meeting and you often walk out with an assignment, right? So I think it's just a workload thing. It's certainly not a desire or lack of interest thing. I think it's just timing. On the question of why people are leaving, I know it's in this report, so I can't find it, but off the top of my head, it runs the gamut. Better pay, work from home, telecommute opportunities, it runs the gamut. I would not say that there's one thing that's like, oh, that's something we could work on. In fact, PAY ACTUALLY, HOW PEOPLE FELT ABOUT THEIR PAY BEING APPROPRIATE INCREASED OVER THE 2024 SURVEY.

THANK YOU. I CAN SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THE WORKLOAD. WE KNOW WE'RE ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES AND WE'RE BUSY HERE. WHEN WE HAVE OUR ONBOARDING, ONE OF THE COMMENTS I MAKE IS IF YOU LIKE TO BE BUSY, YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO. OUR STAFFING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GETTING CLOSE IN MANY AREAS. I KNOW, CHIEF, ARE WE FULLY STAFFED IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT? NO. WE'RE ONE SHORT AGAIN. OKAY. WE'RE CLOSE IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. BUT EVEN IF WE WERE FULLY STAFFED, we've got numerous officers in some form of training so we're not fully staffed on the street but it's that's that's getting better our engineering group uh just this week we hired uh another inspector and so between the engineers and the inspectors we're fully staffed for the first time and i can't recall the last time we've been in that position so that that feels good we still have um some challenges in our you know getting the building department we had significant changes in the building department I THINK WE'RE DOWN TO ONE OPENING. IS THAT CORRECT, DEBBIE? YEP. DOWN TO ONE OPENING. THAT'S NOT TOO BAD CONSIDERING ALL THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE THERE. SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S THERE'S LIGHT I WOULD HOPE TO SAY I'D LIKE TO SAY THERE'S LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL ON THE WORKLOAD AT LEAST AND FROM THE STANDPOINT OF GETTING ALL OF OUR POSITIONS FILLED AND, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THAT'S A BIG PART OF IT IS IF YOU'RE DOING THE WORK OF TWO PEOPLE BECAUSE WE CAN'T FILL THE OTHER POSITION IT'S A LOT MORE DEMANDING. My computer went to sleep. Go ahead, Council Member Diener.

Thank you very much from the Inclusion Committee. I really appreciate the work that you do. I think it's important. I understand it can be tough to pull yourselves away from other job responsibilities that really are the core of what you're about to work on other assignments. So I certainly understand that. I think an answer maybe a little bit to why people do look, it might also be generational. I think that younger or some of the youngest workers don't anticipate staying in one place as long as some of the older workers perhaps do. I think that's part of it. But I appreciate the annual report. I look forward to it, and it's certainly influenced me and my workplace as well. So I thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you.

AND I'VE GOT ONE MORE COMMENT. AS FAR AS TEAM BUILDING, WE ARE DOING OUR FIRST EVER ALL STAFF MEETING WHERE WE'RE CLOSING CITY HALL FOR AN HOUR. WE'RE GOING TO MEET OUT WITH THAT NEW FACILITY THAT WE PURCHASED AT PUBLIC COURSE. WE'VE GOT A PLACE WHERE WE CAN DO THAT. SO EVERYBODY'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT REQUIRED TO ATTEND BUT WE'RE ENCOURAGING EVERYBODY TO ATTEND AND WE'LL BE CLOSING FOR ONE HOUR. COUNCIL MEMBER WARDEN, GO AHEAD.

I just want to thank you for all your work. I know you guys do this throughout the year, and so it's a lot of work throughout that time and away from your job, so thank you for doing that.

Thank you. I'll pass that on.

I have a question for you, Mr. Mayor, if that's okay. Yeah. Why is it not required? Why not make it required?

FIRST ONE WE'VE DONE AND I WROTE A MESSAGE YESTERDAY, A MATTER OF FACT, THAT I SENT OUT ENCOURAGING EVERYBODY TO COME. WE LIKE TO SEE EVERYBODY THERE. BUT IT WASN'T REQUIREMENT.

I THINK THERE'S REALLY SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT PEOPLE MEETING FACE-TO-FACE. I UNDERSTAND IF PEOPLE ARE OUT AND THEY HAVE TO ATTEND REMOTELY, BUT I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO THINK ABOUT REQUIRING IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE WHERE ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE.

WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES ON THURSDAY. FIRST TIME WE'VE DONE IT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. WE'RE GOING TO JUMP INTO OUR BUSINESS ITEMS. FIRST OF WHICH IS ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD WATER SYSTEM PLAN FOR 2024-2025. MR. RYAN?

evening mayor and council members uh this this water system plan update was completed in may of 2025 this is a housekeeping item because it wasn't accepted adopted by this council delayed from the regular cycle due to the covet 19 pandemic it incorporates the 2022 interim plan work in the subsequent subsequent review by the department of health and department of ecology bringing our water system planning and demand forecasting water rights documentation and capital project planning into an alignment with current regulations and projected growth through 2042, based off of the 2022 information. I want to make that point clear because I'll tell you in a second. Ecology found no concerns at that time, and Department of Health approval will occur once the City Council formally adopts the plan. Staff recommends the City Council adopt the resolution approving the 2425 water system plan. Now, I want to point out that this was delayed because the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire resources of the Department of Health switched gears and they put all these plans from every agency in the state of Washington on hold. So we are nearing the end of our regular cycle with Department of Health and Department of Ecology didn't reset the clock. So we're coming up in a few years that we're going to have to do this plan all over again. So you're going to ask me at that time why we are just doing it a couple of years later. But this is really the information from 2022. So thank you.

Motion.

I MAKE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE WATER PLAN. A RESOLUTION TO, SORRY, YEAH, SORRY. I MOVE TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD WATER SYSTEM PLAN 2024-2025 UPDATE AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION TO FINALIZE DOH APPROVAL.

SECOND. MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER DEDMAN. SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER ROSEVAPI. ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS OF MR. RYAN? GO AHEAD.

But I'll defer.

You're the motion maker. You get first.

Oh, OK. Great. I noticed that there wasn't any work study. It says, was this covered by a work study? It said no. Is there a reason it wasn't covered by a work study?

I did not work here when this was likely presented to work study. This was finalized by Department of Health in 2025. I believe the body of work goes back starting 2022, so there would have been consultant presentations.

IS THERE A REASON THAT THE WATER PLAN WASN'T ATTACHED TO THE AGENDA PACKET FOR THE COUNCIL TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT WHAT THEY WERE APPROVING?

I APOLOGIZE. THAT IS AN OVERSIGHT ON ME.

HOW COULD WE RECTIFY THAT TO BE GIVEN TIME TO ACTUALLY REVIEW A PLAN THAT WE ARE having to be told to approve. How can we rectify that?

Well, the body of work, as Dennis stated, was done in 2022.

True, but we're the ones approving it, so we should review it before we approve it.

I'm sorry.

I WAS ASKING HOW TO DIRECTIFY THAT.

I DO HAVE A PACKET THAT I CAN PROVIDE YOU WHEN WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET.

YEAH. I THINK THAT I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT I THINK IT'S WEIRD TO APPROVE SOMETHING IF WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY BEEN IF NONE OF US HAVE THE PLAN TO REVIEW.

MR. WARD? IS THIS TIME SENSITIVE? NO. I'D LIKE TO MOVE IT TO THE NEXT MEETING, BUSINESS COUNCIL MEETING. I APPRECIATE THAT. THAT'S GOOD.

MOTION TO MOVE THIS TO OUR NEXT COUNCIL MEETING. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. MOTION AND A SECOND TO MOVE THIS ITEM TO OUR NEXT COUNCIL MEETING AND MR. RYAN WILL INCLUDE THAT DOCUMENT. IT'S RATHER LARGE. ARE YOU GOING TO BE ABLE TO E-MAIL IT?

I'M GOING TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN GET IT OUT THERE.

IT IS A VERY LARGE DOCUMENT. THANK YOU. WE MAY HAVE TO PUT IT IN YOUR INBOX AND PROVIDE YOU WITH PAPER COPIES OR LIKELY BRING THEM TO THE WORK STUDY NEXT WEEK WOULD BE THE BEST PLAN.

I CAN PROVIDE FLASH DRIVES, TOO, IF THAT'S EASIER.

THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. COUNCILMEMBER, IS THIS RELATED TO THE MOTION TO WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE TO MOVE THIS TO A FUTURE COUNCIL MEETING?

Well it's kind of a point of order. There was a motion on the table. We need to vote that down. or it needs to be an amendment.

Just point of order is all.

I agree, I want to do it, but we just need to do it the right way.

I kind of view this as an amendment. So all in favor of moving this to our next council meeting, and Mr. Ryan will bring either flash drives or paper copies to our work study so that you have a chance to review this document ahead of that meeting. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. OPPOSED? HEARING NONE. THIS HAS BEEN MOVED TO OUR NEXT COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETING.

I JUST HAD ONE OTHER COMMENT ON THIS. NOT ON THE MOTION TO MOVE IT. I WAS PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED even though Department of Ecology has a way of not saying what great things it is. I did like that the ecology did not identify any issues of concern during the review of the water plan. For them, that's high praise indeed. So I'm looking forward to reading the highlights, but seeing that from the Department of Ecology is good. So thank you.

All right, we move on then to item B, which is adoption of a resolution ratifying the mayor's signature on a grant agreement with the Department of Commerce for the SR 166 project. Mr. Ryan, this is you.

Thank you. The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded the Port Orchard a $970,000 local community projects program grant to support the SR 166 Bay Street downtown reconstruction project. The state funding will help advance design, construction, utility upgrades, and resilience improvements along the corridor, including elevation work and upgrades to the water, sewer, and stormwater systems. Before the grant agreement can be signed, the City must formally authorize acceptance of these funds. Approving the proposed resolution will allow the Mayor to execute the Commerce Grant Agreement and move forward with receiving and administrating the grant. Staff recommends adoption of the resolution. ratifying the mayor's execution of the grant agreement for the SR-166 Bay Street project.

Councilmember Deener, go ahead.

Mr. Mayor, I move to adopt a resolution ratifying the mayor's execution of the Washington State Department of Commerce Amendment 2696647-226 and accepting $970,000 in state capital funding for the SR-166 Bay Street downtown reconstruction project.

SECOND. MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER DEANER. SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER ROSABEPE. THIS WAS AN AWARD WE RECEIVED IN THE 2025 LEGISLATIVE SESSION. THIS WAS THE DOLLARS RECEIVED IN THAT SESSION. AND IT'S JUST TAKING A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME AT THE FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL TO GET THESE TYPES OF AGREEMENTS PUT INTO PLACE. BUT WE FINALLY GOT THERE. ANY QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD.

I WAS GOING TO ASK IF GROUND BREAKING WAS TOMORROW.

NO, WE'RE GOING TO BID IN NOVEMBER-ISH. 2027. WE'RE GOING TO GO TO CONSTRUCTION IN 2027. ALL RIGHT, IF THERE AREN'T ANY QUESTIONS, WE'LL BE VOTING ON A RESOLUTION TO RATIFY THE MAYOR'S SIGNATURES ON A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FOR THE SR 166 PROJECT. ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.

AYE.

ANYONE OPPOSED? HEARING NONE, THE RESOLUTION PASSES. WE'RE TO ITEM C, APPROVAL OF A DOWNTOWN BUILDING REFACE GRANT FOR 724 BAY STREET. MR. BOND ISN'T HERE, BUT MR. FISK IS.

Good evening. I'll provide a brief summary on the building refacing grant program application submitted by Mr. Ken Kahlberg, the owner of the building located at 724 and 728 Bay Street. On June 17th, the city received Mr. Kahlberg's request for grant funding to repaint the building's north and west facades. Both facades are visible from Bay Street. The proposal includes repainting these exterior walls white while completing minor standard maintenance associated with this type of work such as caulking and general surface preparation. The existing mural along the lower portion of the west facade is not part of this project and will remain unchanged. The applicant provided a contractor bid from the Seattle Paint Company LLC, which outlines the full scope of work. The total estimated cost is $12,897.40. Mr. Kahlberg is requesting grant funding in the amount of $9,028.18. Mr. Kahlberg is committed to providing the required 30% match totaling $3,869.22 by check. City staff reviewed the application for consistency with the building refacing grant program policies adopted by the council through resolution 032-26 on April 28th, 2026. Staff determined that the proposed work meets all eligibility requirements of the program. THE LAND USE COMMITTEE REVIEWED THIS APPLICATION AT ITS MEETING ON JULY 8TH AND RECOMMENDED FORWARDING IT TO THE FULL CITY COUNCIL WITH A RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL. IF THE COUNCIL APPROVES THE REQUEST THIS EVENING, STAFF WILL PAY A GRANT AGREEMENT CONSISTENT WITH THE PROPOSED SCOPE AND COST IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY FOR EXECUTION BY BOTH THE APPLICANT AND THE CITY.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION?

NO, SIR. No? Okay, I'm just asking. I'm just here anyway if you want to talk to me. Perfect.

Thank you. That's rad.

Is there a motion?

You ready?

Yeah.

Okay. I move to approve the building refacing grant application submitted by Mr. Ken Kahlberg for repainting the north and west facades of the building located at 724 and 728 Bay Street and 727 Prospect Street and to authorize the mayor to execute a grant agreement in the form acceptable to the city attorney. Second.

accounts for warden second councilmember rosa pepe thank you sir for being the first to do this we appreciate we appreciate you absolutely all right any questions customer more sequel had i have questions i have to want to say uh... thank you for taking advantage of it uh... thank you for uh... the city attorney for doing the work to get this done and uh... for the staff over d c d for creating the applications uh... we hope this is the first of many to come uh... to uh... really revitalize our downtown

I was going to say the same thing that they've said, essentially, but I'm hopeful that this is an inspiration for others to come forward and take advantage of the grant. But thank you for stepping forward. I know it comes with costs, so I appreciate that as well.

Further questions? All right. You'll be voting on the approval of a downtown building reface grant for 724 Bay Street. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Anyone opposed? I certainly hope not. And no one is, so that passes unanimously. SO OUR ITEM D HAS BEEN MOVED TO NEXT WEEK. AND WE HAVE A DISCUSSION ITEM WHICH IS TO SELECT A DATE FOR THE VACANT CITY COUNCIL POSITION INTERVIEWS. SINCE I PLAY NO PART IN THAT PROCESS, I'M GOING TO TURN THIS PORTION OF THE MEETING OVER TO COUNCILMEMBER MORRISSEY WHO IS THE MAYOR PRO TEM.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So our intention here was to find out when we can schedule. I believe we have eight. I'm not great at counting multiple different emails, but I believe there were eight total applicants for the open position. So we need to kind of decide on when we'd like to bring them in for their interview questions. In the packet, you see interview questions that have been used in the past. It would be because it's tough for us to get around together to meet. We wanted to get that in front of you and then you'd be able to suggest some additional questions or change ones that may be as part of the process in the past. So we need to workshop some dates. Some initial thoughts that have come out were I believe we have one scheduled meeting in the month of August. We could use one or multiple of the weeks within August. But we do know that we only have 90 days to fill it or the county commissioners will fill the seat. And so we need to get it done before the end of August. So I'll throw out the first date of August 4th. It's not a normally scheduled meeting. It would be the first Tuesday of the month. Good.

I can do that.

Perfect.

Commissioner Pro Tem, how many?

I'm just wanting to see if Eric can make the point.

So when would a decision be made That's the interview date. When would the decision date be made?

It depends on how those initial interviews go. So that's the next part of where we're going to have to talk about once we settle on a date, how much time, because there are eight applicants. My initial thought is 45 minutes, but maybe that gets a little long. Maybe it's a 30-minute interview, the first go, and then we narrow candidates from there and do a second. There's Whatever this body chooses as a group is how we're going to do it.

Only reason why I ask is because I was surgery on the 10th. Okay. So I'll be, that's a Monday. So there's probably no shot that I'm here the 11th.

So the 11th is our standing meeting and we're not going to take.

No, unless we vote, correct?

No, because we're going to have to have a council meeting on the 11th.

So it won't be, we won't, that date isn't.

I'm free the 4th. Okay.

That's what I was looking for tonight, and then we can go from there because maybe it's evident after one round. I don't know. This body has to deliberate and do that. So that's where Deena has his hand. Yes.

So how many are you anticipating interviewing on the 4th?

If available, again, we have to talk about it. how long we want that to go. I can throw things out and say 45 minutes, but then when I start putting that on paper, that's a long day. And so maybe it is 30 minutes for an initial interview, but I don't make those decisions. We as a whole do.

So are you thinking about now during the day? That's because that's news to me.

I wasn't thinking during the day, but I was trying to see if we could land on a date first and then kind of take it from there. We also then have to find out if all eight of the candidates can make that date.

Yeah, so I've got my opinions. I'd like to see it split over a couple days. And even if we feel like we've got one through the first round, we might find that there's somebody even better through the remaining interviews. So I'd like to give everybody an opportunity. I'd like to see if we could split it up between August 4th and another date. Okay. I would like to try and not have to take off work as a result of that. Yeah. Like here? It's crazy where I worked.

I hear that. And this is the heat of our re-season myself. So what about the 5th? Could we do two nights back-to-back? Yes, Jim.

I'd like to. I think that's a good way to do it. Yeah. I agree. I don't believe Mark's available on the 5th. Can we do the third and the fourth?

Can you double check for that for us?

I could do the third or the fourth as well.

But I know that Mark had Monday night conflicts, which is why I was trying to go to a Wednesday. So I didn't have written down a Wednesday conflict for him.

That particular Wednesday, I'm confident he has a conflict. He might be able to miss that Monday conflict. Okay. I'm okay with the third and the fourth, too. To the third and fourth would work. I think that mark has a conflict on the third.

I know that five three four and six Wait, so we're gonna shoot for third and fourth I

But no the mayor is telling us that mark definitely has a third conflict at which I knew he had Monday night conflicts But I did not know he normally doesn't have I just I'm aware of something that I'm gonna be at with him Okay, that on the fifth fourth and sixth then Possibility works for me.

I can make it work.

I Can make that work

Council Member Pro Tem Morrissey, I just wanted to remind the Council that your Planning Commission also meets here on the first Tuesday of the evening at 6 p.m. So is the desire of the Council to meet on Tuesday, August 4th, and have the Planning Commission determine a different time and place to meet?

Planting the council's doesn't need to be in this space. They could be in this conference room back here downstairs or down downstairs or back there Yeah, we can find we'll find it then just reminder that that we would have a

they would have to be open to the public. So you would have an active planning commission meeting going on here that had the ability for the public to attend, as well as an active council special meeting for the public to attend. So there would have to be an open space to separate the two meetings for the public to attend. So it might be a little bit difficult to hold those both meetings at the same time in the same place.

Also, I hate to throw a wrench in the works, but I'm not available on Tuesday.

The 4th. That changed?

Okay, perfect.

We can talk. We have to land on some dates.

Wednesday and Thursday? Wednesday the 4th wasn't available. Wednesday the 5th wasn't available. But the 6th, you guys were, seemed like everybody was available the 6th.

July 29th and 30th.

No good for me. Summer or something? What's going on?

so weeks about it for me is okay let me ask this so if we were looking at the fourth and the sixth and that still works uh it didn't work for scott fourth doesn't oh that's right you you changed uh okay what days do work let's start there but the sick i mean i'm not i'm not working with my calendar but you've got trying to do it back to back and i had eric's surgery thursday and a friday i just just canceled my fourth so i'm available i'm going to do that sorry i hate to cancel but i will because i think this is important i i agree i'll move anything i need to so uh sounds like you've settled on the six fourth and six fourth and six okay so we may just uh miss wallace we may need to have a conversation with the planning commission um anything you guys can meet in this room over here off the hallway

THEY NEED THIS RECORDING EQUIPMENT.

WE WILL TOO.

So it's my understanding I had a conversation with the planning department, and it sounds like that there's no immediate action needed to be taken by the planning commission on that evening, so it sounds like they may be able to postpone or cancel or move that meeting to a different date to allow the council to deliberate on that day and have a special meeting.

Well, hopefully the meeting will not be needed at all because hopefully by that time the fact that there's an invalid vacancy will be ironed out. So hopefully none of us will have to waste our time.

SO IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOING ON THE FOURTH AND THE SIXTH. IS THERE A START TIME THAT WE CAN ALL AGREE ON? I CAN START AS EARLY AS 5 O'CLOCK. 5. 5 WORKS. I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST WE START AT 5 O'CLOCK AND THEN I WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO OUR NEXT WEEK'S STUDY SESSION A QUICK recap on the questions, because the one thing I do know is that the questions need to be succinct, because they need to be the same for every applicant.

They need to be relevant to today.

And they should be. I want to have that discussion. I'd like to add that next week.

Yes, where should we... send any changes to the, not changes.

Since we're adding it to the work study. You'll bring it to the work study. Bring it next week. I'm trying to avoid all public meetings and OPMA violations via email. I don't want any email amongst us.

So I send everything to the clerk. Yeah. You know, but I was asking where should we and bring it next week. Just bring it next week.

Let's make that easy. Would you like the clerk to start tomorrow working on scheduling those interviews for you on those two dates? Yes, please. Okay.

So I assume we have eight applicants. You want four on one day and four on the other?

That would be preferential. And maybe with a five minute break in between each one?

I would go 30 minutes, no more than 30. Okay. Five minutes break. But also if one can make, if we have to take five and three, three and five to fit them all in, I would do that. Okay. But half hour would be more than enough.

Can we all agree on that? Yeah. Eric?

Yeah, hold me down.

Perfect.

Okay. Thank you. Sounds like we're settled. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO COMMITTEE REPORTS. AND LET'S RUN THROUGH THESE REAL QUICK. I DON'T BELIEVE ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM MET BUT I SEE THAT THEIR NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 10TH. UTILITIES, DID YOU MEET THIS ONE? NO, WE DID NOT. I SEE YOUR NEXT MEETING IS AUGUST 11TH.

YES.

FINANCE MEETS, I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WOULD MEET NEXT WEEK TYPICALLY. IT SAYS, YEAH, SO THERE WE GO. JULY 21ST IS YOUR NEXT MEETING. THESE AUGUST DATES, THOUGH, DON'T BE SURPRISED, UNLESS THERE'S SOMETHING URGENT, WE DON'T TYPICALLY HAVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST. SO DON'T BE SURPRISED IF STAFF PUSHES THOSE OUT TO TYPICAL SEPTEMBER DATES. Unless there's something urgent that we need to tackle then we will have those committee meetings. I see land use. Did you guys meet this month?

We did. We had a very robust discussion. I'm going to keep it short. I hope I cover everything. If not, please join in. We had a discussion about the adult novelty retail display. We're doing work to move that forward. uh that we'll be bringing to to council so that's moving forward we had a discussion about whether to move forward uh with drone delivery we're also moving forward with that instead of being passive about it just a reminder for council that if they establish drone a drone delivery service out of belfair they could still deliver in port orchard so it's really just the the landing and the infrastructure for drones that they're looking at. Obviously the downtown grant application moved forward and that's awesome to see. We had a discussion about playground equipment and we got into a passionate discussion about parks and playground equipment. Part of it, Dennis was there online, part of that's gonna fall in his realm. and part of it's gonna be a decision as we move forward with our parks planning, which I believe, Jim, is next year, the parks plan that we need to also get funded. I would also ask for the Finance Committee to put a little, box somewhere about taking a look at playground equipment that might need some additional funds to upgrade it. I think that's the right way to say that. Scott, you were advocating for it. Yeah. And I'm going to leave that one there.

I think it just needs to play out in the budget process.

That's what I'm saying. That's why I'm doing that. Hang on a minute, please. We also talked about a beautification plan and we had an update on stormwater parks where that was going. We added discussions that's going to come before this group down the road. after we find out what's happening with the county on a senior center. And that's it in a nutshell, and I would ask everybody to look at it. It was a very healthy hour and a half meeting. Sure.

Yes, I'd like to add a couple of more things. Regarding land use, we did pose a question that still hasn't been answered regarding the drones, and that is the impact on... neurodivergent and PTSD folks and wondering about like public nuisance possibilities and whatnot. So we're still looking at that. Number two, economic and tourism and development didn't meet because they canceled the meeting. AND THEN UTILITIES COMMITTEE DID NOT MEET EVEN THOUGH WE HAD SOME THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO DISCUSS PER OUR LAST MEETING. SO THERE WERE AGENDA ITEMS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE AGENDA BUT THAT MEETING WAS CANCELED.

AND I SEE THAT THE NEXT LAND USE MEETING IS AUGUST 19TH BUT DON'T BE SURPRISED IF THAT GETS PUNTED TO SEPTEMBER BECAUSE YOUR SUMMER BREAK.

um lodging tax there's nothing to report there sewer advisory nothing i would imagine to report there no we're waiting for a new date and dennis is working with uh they're going to get in touch with me to set a date and i'll be bringing that forward and letting the clerk know all right do the mayor's report and i'm sorry i had one more okay go ahead so for the ad hoc committee uh we took a look at the uh Various cities, council procedures. We have them drafted. I will be sending them out tonight to everybody. You're not sending them to everybody. No, I'm sorry. I'm sending it to Brandy to send to everybody. Thank you very much for the clarification, Mayor. That was a bad one. And they'll be there to be at our work study. So that'll give everybody a good week to take a look at them. And I look forward, we look forward to all your comments.

So thank you. All right, to the mayor's report. KITSAP PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD MEETING DR. DUBER WHO IS OUR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER GAVE A PRESENTATION ON CRATUM AND IT'S A SYNTHETIC OPIOID THAT ISN'T REGULATED AND 30 STATES AROUND THE NATION HAVE BANNED CRATUM. DUBER IS RECOMMENDING LOCAL REGULATIONS OR TO ADD IT TO OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA TO ENCOURAGE THE STATE TO TAKE ACTION TO REGULATE CRADIM. WOULD THE COUNCIL BE INTERESTED IN A PRESENTATION AT A WORK STUDY POSSIBLY IN SEPTEMBER ON CRADIM OR NOT?

I'D BE INTERESTED IF THE CHIEF SAYS WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD WITH CRADIM.

I mean, I think problem is always defined by scope. We have a number of stores that sell it here in town. It's a good idea to have as much information as possible on any of this.

Okay. Probably the most alarming thing is children can buy it. Yeah. Councilor Diener.

I'd like to collaborate with the county because, as you know, we have UGA and commercial areas right outside the city limits and no point in trying to regulate it here if it's not being regulated right around us.

County commissioners were at the same meeting I was and got that same information. And I'm just offering if we wanted, I'm not saying we should be taking action at this time. And the right play could be, ADDING IT TO OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND ENCOURAGING THE STATE TO TAKE THAT ACTION. IF YOU'RE WANTING TO GET AN EDUCATION ON IT, I'M HAPPY DR. DUBER IS OFFERED TO COME AND TALK ABOUT IT. THE MORE I LEARNED ABOUT IT, THE MORE CONCERNED I BECAME. SO I'LL INVITE HIM. SO, BRANDY, IF YOU COULD ADD THAT TO THE SEPTEMBER 15TH

Mr. Mayor, is that used in a prescriptive capacity as well?

It's not. That's my understanding. And he said it comes in a natural form and that's not what's concerning. It's the synthetic drugs that they're creating from it. And I know enough to be dangerous, and that's why if you want to, I'll have a subject matter expert come speak on that. I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING ON A WORKING GROUP FOR THE AWC'S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES AND WE HAD A MEETING LAST WEEK AND THERE WERE A LOT OF IDEAS DISCUSSED. SOME OF THEM THAT HAD BROAD SUPPORT INCLUDED IMPROVED CONDO LIABILITY LAWS AND A VACANT PROPERTY TAX. I THOUGHT THAT WE HAD DISCUSSIONS ABOUT. THAT AS A COUNCIL. I FLOATED THE IDEA OF ANOTHER TIER OF REIT TO FUND IMPACTS OF GROWTH. OUR PROJECTS, PARTICULARLY UTILITY PROJECTS, HAVE A GROWTH SHARE AND A LOCAL SHARE. AND THE LOCAL SHARE ISN'T KEEPING UP WITH THE PACE OF DEVELOPMENT AND THE AMOUNT OF IMPACT FEES WE'RE COLLECTING OR CONNECTION FEES WE'RE CHARGING FOR THE CONNECTIONS. SO THE GROWTH SHARE IS OUT PERFORMING THE LOCAL SHARE BUDGET BUCKET. SO OUR GROWTH WHAT I FOUND IN THAT DISCUSSION IS OUR GROWTH CHALLENGES ARE UNIQUE COMPARED TO OTHER CDS AND THAT TOPIC REALLY DIDN'T GAIN TRACTION WITH MY PEERS. BUT THE MOST SUPPORTED ISSUE WAS STOPPING HOUSING MANDATES AT STATE LEVEL. SO JUST SHARING WITH YOU THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WERE HAD AT A MEETING. AND IF THEY KNOW WE'RE PUSHING THIS INFORMATION OUT, WASH DOT IS HOSTING A GORE STUDY OPEN HOUSE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL GYM ON JULY 22ND FROM 430 TO 630. SO IF YOU CAN MAKE THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT THEIR STUDY AND WHAT THEIR PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE IS. WHAT STATE AGAIN, PLEASE? JULY 22ND. And that concludes my report. Let's see, department directors? Mr. Ryan, do you have anything?

Yep, just real briefly, there's been some questions amongst council and the mayor and I were discussing about as our population grows, the responsibility of SR 166 Bay Street and whose responsibility, what triggers that to become a city street opposed as the state highway. The population is on a sliding scale, so that current number, that magic number that Bay Street becomes the city's is 27,500. So I think it was 25,000 a few years ago, but it continues to rise. We're tracking an agreement called State Highways as part of City Streets where maintenance responsibilities are updated and state responsibilities, city responsibility, our local jurisdiction. So that document is currently BY THE STATE AND A STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFIED THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

ANYTHING ELSE? MR. FISK, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING FROM THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT? NO? JENNIFER? NOTHING? ALL RIGHT.

CHIEF? NOTHING ON MY END TONIGHT. OKAY. MS. WALLACE?

Just a reminder that Coffee with the Council is August 1st, and I do not have a council member signed up. So if you would like to participate in that, let me know. I got two, so just let me know who the third one wants to be. If not, then I will send a reminder when it gets closer. Okay.

We'll do our second citizen comment period. Is there anyone wishing to address the council?

Okay.

Yes. Yes.

that timer. Good evening City Council, Robert Parker. I come before you tonight to speak about my concern about what happened with one of the council members that you removed. I didn't say resigned because I believe that she was pressured in an executive session and gave a resignation which she to the best of my knowledge, withdrew prior to this body meeting and voting to accept that. I've heard that your city attorney has said that you were able to accept that in the executive session and it happened at that specific second. But I would look at the final paragraph in the Open Public Meetings Act that says you may make no decision in secret. And any decision made in secret in that meeting was null and void. I got even further concerned when I saw that you had declared portions of it not an executive session then. I'm trying to figure out how you legally do that. Because you didn't create the records. You didn't let the public in. We did not have the ability to observe that. So you actually were operating in secret. I'm the one that's talking to Washington Coalition of Open Government. We are considering a suit against the city. And to me, it does not matter what Councilman Fenton did or did not. If your city clerk had misbehaved, there would have been a process. Years ago, and I was here when the personnel manual was voted forward, so was Mayor Butantsew. that you guys made yourself subject to that personnel manual. She has a process. Why doesn't Councilman Fenton? You guys popped the trigger fast. And then you went into this little special meeting and decided you were gonna blast her out there on the website for the city. You wouldn't do that to your city clerk. You wouldn't do it to your police chief. You wouldn't do it to your DCD director. Why did you do it to her? It's not fair. and you're not following the law. And eventually it's all going to come out. So I want to tell the mayor right here, straight up, I'm putting in a public records request. I want every single word that was said in that session that you said was an executive session but not an executive session. If it's not, I want the records. If it is, then you can't finalize that decision inside of that meeting. Thank you. Thank you.

ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL?

ONCE AGAIN, MY NAME IS Council, it's a bold choice to move forward with interviews for a vacancy that does not exist. I find it fascinating that you all discussed the dates for interviews in open session, which is not required to be done publicly. But you did not discuss the determination that a council member resign, which is required to be done publicly. I truly urge you to take OPMA training. It's worth noting that the public has weeks to determine who they want as a council member, and you all will be taking 30 minutes to make that decision for us. Bold choice. But that's actually not the point for this comment. Earlier in the meeting, Councilmember Rosa Pepe told Councilmember Dedmon, his equal, to put her hand down. When she refused to do so, he resorted to name calling. This is a blatant act of disrespect and discrimination based in misogyny. No one said anything because this behavior has been so normalized by this council. I want to take note of it as a matter of public record. As a side note, since you all keep getting such bad advice all of the time, I recommend that you not require any trainings without taking them to your unions first to answer whichever council member was questioning that. And Microsoft SharePoint is a good place for sharing documents. Thank you.

Thank you. My name is Athena Wallstrom. Let me grab my notes. Tonight, we saw the value of community. When people are informed, they're empowered. And empowered residents make your job easier, not harder. I'm starting Port Orchard Neighbors for Open Government, a nonpartisan group of Port Orchard and South Kitsap residents who want to stay engaged with the city council and local government. This isn't about politics. It's about showing up, asking good questions, and building a more resilient, informed community, one that understands your decisions instead of reacting to rumors about them. Frankly, a well-informed public makes these meetings shorter, not longer. This will benefit everyone in this room, including the city council. I will be reaching out to the Washington Coalition for Open Government, WASHCOG, for guidance as this local group takes shape. If this interests you, please find me after the meeting, look for Port Orchard Neighbors for Open Government on Facebook, or email portorchard Neighbors, open govern at gmail.com. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else wishing to address the council? And is there anyone online? You can use the raise your hand feature and the clerk would bring you into the meeting. Is there anyone raising their hand, Brandy? With that, I will close the second citizen comment period. Just a reminder, we're going to have a brief executive session with no action to be taken after the meeting. And so we're good to the order. Is there anything? We will. I'm just a reminder that we're going to have an executive session. I'll get to that in a moment. We're not there in the agenda yet. Anything for the good of the order?

It says it may.

Point of order. I would ask council members that we'd be able to keep our good of the order to three minutes or less. We got into several discussions last time that extended the meeting. I'd like to remind that staff time is valuable time. And if we could be succinct, that would be awesome. Thank you. Do you have anything, council member?

I do, I do. So tonight obviously is pretty heated in here. And I signed up to wear it. That's why I'm here. There's a couple things that were said. One was said about me and one I said. And so I kind of want to just touch on each one of those real quick. Shira, I should not have used the word mature. I chose a poor word to use and I apologize for that. I could have chose a better word than that. I was told that I did something that was unprofessional tonight. While I for sure wasn't trying to be professional, for sure I was not. I was trying to be a friend. And I will always ride on the air of losing a friend than not doing what I feel is being a good friend. So it's true. Was I unprofessional? Probably was. But I wasn't trying to be professional about it. I was trying to be a friend. And beyond that, there was numerous conversations after that that were very friendly. And yeah, I'm not going to apologize for that. But just to clarify what was said. So that's it.

Edmund, go ahead. Actually, I had my hand up before. So I wanted to follow up on that. So I felt like it was important that I I think there was a lot of heated emotions tonight. I'd like the council to think about let's go ahead with the investigation. Let's bring it out. The reason that I recall, and I think I got a pretty similar recollection to other people in the room, that Heidi chose to resign on the spot was because The alternative was that this was going to be a public investigation and the results would be available to the public. I'm happy to do that. And so I'd like us to consider doing that. I know that that means maybe pausing the process for selecting a new council member.

Do that or the county commissioners will make your appointment. You have a clock ticking.

Okay, so I'd like to go ahead and see if we can do the investigation somehow. Because I think this is not going to die down. This is not going to go away. People don't know what we know and what we've experienced. There's a lot of hearsay. I'm hearing it tonight. People that are believing that they know what happened when they don't know what happened. And we're hearing somebody saying to you, for example, something that's completely contrary to what eight other people in that room heard. And so that boggles my mind that we're standing by that. And I'd like to get it out there that we do something to recognize and put into the public sphere what actually has happened over these three events that caused us to, say, resign or we're going to go public with this. And Heidi made the clear choice to resign that evening. So I'd like us to consider doing that.

I want to make a statement to that. My hand was up next.

You may make your good of the order remarks if you'd like.

Thank you. For the good of the order, I have a couple of things to say. That's why we told you you had to make that decision tonight. That is a point that we have been stressing, that she literally was told to resign under duress.

She wasn't told. She said she had two options.

Okay.

Council Member Diener, Council Member Dedman has the floor.

And so that was just reiterated right now as to why that has been stated. Also, earlier in the meeting, and I think this is really important, and this goes to why... the transparency laws exist and why things are supposed to be done in the open. Specifically right now, it shows that there can be the exact same thing happening and people see it from the perspective that they want to. So for instance, in that closed meeting, I was threatened by Council Member Morrissey that they were going to publicly censure me because I kept interjecting. Y'all saw me tonight. I'm an interjector. I will own it. But y'all also saw that I don't back down just because somebody said that they're going to publicly censure me. I do what's right. And so the reason why I say that is I can see from their perspective that they're not wrong when they said that they believe that I walked out because I was threatened with public censure. I can see that. However, from my perspective, that's not why I walked out. I walked out after council member Trenary said, let's ask her to resign. And so again, this is the reason why we do things out in the open and why if there was, in fact, an oral resignation, it should have been done in the open because then we're not saying he said, she said. her intent if she used those words was never to resign and they are stating her intent was to resign as if they're in her head they wouldn't have to argue this if this was made public if in the meeting she was given the opportunity to publicly resign just like the council member in monroe versus paulsbo but she was not all of this was done behind closed doors in violation of Washington state law. That doesn't make sense. Thank you.

You know, I think I will reiterate that there was a lot of emotion in the room tonight. There was a lot of inaccurate information out there tonight as well. And I honestly just have to say I'm disappointed in this body, right? I think that we had the opportunity to fix that this evening, and we didn't take it. And so I just had... We had the opportunity to say... That the actions that were taken by two members of this body don't reflect the values that the rest of us do, right? Those don't reflect my values. I have to consider whether or not that sits well with me moving forward. So I'm not going to do that tonight. I'm going to take a minute and simmer down about it. But I'm here to tell you that's the right way to have that conversation and the right way to do it. Not what happened. that other night, right? So there's a lot to this. I would support Scott's recommendation to go ahead and move forward with this. I think you guys already know that. I said that at the top of the meeting. I was willing to be able to take our time tonight and use that. I understand that would have been a bad use of our time because you had staff resources here. But I'd like to consider that no matter what happens from here on out, I think this body should look there. uh and move forward with that investigation because uh to us it didn't it didn't much matter because there was multiple council members that had observed that behavior and her issues here sitting at this dais with us and that's not fair to the 20 000 people that live here so um i'm that's what i got to say tonight

Then I gotta go all the way around again.

Just proving our point. So...

If you say it, then I get to say something too.

It's a legal question. Can I address, ask a legal question?

Ask the attorney a legal question.

If I'm gonna follow the advice of an attorney that when she says... That when she resigned, she resigned. And that's the law. And I'm to follow that. To do an investigation of a non-council member. I'm literally going against what I have sat here and said. that I'm going off of what the attorney said. So is that accurate that when she said that she resigns, that by law effective then she resigns?

Yes, that's correct. And there is no acceptance of a resignation because council members are not indentured servants. You don't need permission from your colleagues or anyone else to resign your seat. So there is no acceptance required. When someone says I resign, they do not put a date on it. It is effective immediately. So it wasn't up to the council to decide whether she resigned or not. She did. It's a fact. what's eight people in the room that witnessed that. So it's not, the council couldn't decide that she didn't resign. She did resign. I wasn't in the room, but I understand most of you up on the dais were. And so there was nothing for the council to do I mean, you get to decide who is appointed to that seat so long as you do it by September 12th, which I believe is the night.

Correct.

Excuse me. To have an investigation over a non-council member makes no sense to me at all. And it doesn't make sense. If she's not a council member, according to our attorneys... Then there's no, we're not having an investigation over a non-council member. We're not doing that.

She seems to be a council member as soon as she was signed.

No, no, you can't stop it because you said that once you gave for fairness, that I would be able to speak. I asked a legal question. Yes, and I'm going to ask a legal question. Will the city waive legally, I mean, attorney-client privilege and make those emails available discussing between counsel and the attorney any legal analysis about whether a resignation occurred.

That is not a question I can answer.

Mayor, will Mayor, will Mayor, the Mayor has, the Mayor has the ability to do that. Mayor, being that, this, this. Councilmember, you're incorrect. No, the City, yes, the City, the City is.

The City Council would have to vote to waive privilege. If they're thinking about doing that, they should get advice about that and about how to do it if they want to do that. The privilege does not lie with the city attorney's office. The privilege lies with the client, which is the city, as determined by the city council.

Okay, so right now, somebody just said that it was a non-attorney investigation. I mean, a non-council member. However, it is not... However, the question of the council member, I'm asking you to stop. I hear you, but the council member is still a council member until we iron this out. Thus, thus, the city council should waive. Then we need to make a motion to waive. I think this is the reason they don't want y'all to know. They don't want y'all to see it.

Yeah, you guys let him speak, but you didn't want him to speak.

Okay.

Yes, and I asked a question, too.

We've got to have more conversation.