City Council Meeting- June 3rd, 2008

Tonight’s Tacoma City Council meeting was neither slow nor quick. The agenda was full, folks had things to say, and it (apparently) ended with a bit of weirdness.

Here are a few things that caught our eye:

Regular Agenda
Resolution # 37491
Appointed Kimberly Freeman to the Planning Commission
Appointed Exit133 reader, commenter, and bocce player, Michael Buchanan to the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority
Reappointed Charles Mitchel to the Board of Building Appeals

Resolution # 37499
Authorized the execution of an agreement with Tacoma Tall Ships for sponsorship in an amount up to $300k of cash and in-kind services.

First Reading of Resolution # 37500
“Amending the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the City of Tacoma to allow City Council member participation by telephone, for study sessions and committee meetings; changing quorum requirements; amending the order, format, and procedures related to the Council’s meeting agenda; and clarifying Citizen’s Forum procedures.”

This resolution encompasses eight different rules changes. The change that seems to be getting the most attention is the ability of Councilmembers to join meetings via the telephone.

Some of the details:
No more than one councilmember by phone per meeting.
Councilmembers participating in a committee meeting by telephone will be counted in the quorum.
Limited to committee meetings and study sessions
Each council member can only participate by telephone once per quarter per type of meeting.
Councilmembers must provide 48 hours notice to the city clerk – first come first served

Citizen Forum

Let’s talk about Walk the Waterfront …
This led to a discussion by the Council about the fact that they’ve asked the City to look into the issues facing a waterfront trail. And while they hear them, there’s nothing they can do until they know more. So, let’s take this discussion to stakeholder meetings instead of an eighth round of Citizen Forum.

Then
Robert “The Traveller” Hill had a few things to say. It didn’t go well. The mayor asked him to stop and asked him to step down. This led to a recess … and TV Tacoma switched to City Line.

I guess we’re done.