HomeMy WebLinkAbout121718_ca35 Commissioners Briefing Session
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Philip Morley, County Administrator
FROM: Carolyn Gallaway,Deputy Clerk of the Board
DATE: December 17,2018
SUBJECT: MOTION re: Approving Action-Only Meeting Minutes for Board of County
Commissioner Public Hearing Testimony.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE: During an April 16, 2018 Board of County Commissioner(BOCC) meeting, a
motion was approved that allowed staff to prepare Action-Only meeting minutes with the exception that
more detailed minutes would be prepared for the Public Comment Period, Public Hearings, or meetings not
held in the BOCC Chambers and recorded with the AV Capture All system.
There have been public hearings with high numbers of people providing testimony. The current practice is to
include verbatim hearing testimony in the meeting minutes. As each speaker is allowed three minutes of
speaking time,transcribing verbatim public testimony has proven to be a strain on staff time. The last large
public hearing held had 76 speakers. Creating a verbatim record of hearing testimony is time consuming and
causes a backlog of minutes awaiting approval.
On December 10, 2018 Deputy Clerk of the Board Carolyn Gallaway discussed this issue with the Board
and answered their questions.
ANALYSIS:
With the implementation of technology to live video stream and archive BOCC meetings online, the public
has the opportunity to view all Commissioner meetings at their convenience. During public hearings,time
stamps with the name of the speaker are provided and individual hearing testimony can be easily accessed.
Staff contacted the clerks in all Washington Counties and requested samples of how they prepare their
meeting minutes regarding public testimony. Of the counties that responded, none prepare verbatim public
testimony to include in their minutes. Minutes with verbatim transcription of testimony from public hearings
are almost always prepared after the County Commissioners have already deliberated on the hearing record
and taken action, so are of no value to the legislative process.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Board approve a motion to approve action-only meeting minutes for Board of
County Commissioner public hearing testimony.
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