HomeMy WebLinkAbout042524 email - PUBLIC COMMENT_ Healthier Together Task Force - Open Public Meetings_ requirement for physical meeting locationALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Please distribute this PUBLIC COMMENT to all members of the Healthier Together Task Force (HTTF).
TO: The members of the Healthier Together Task Force (HTTF):
I applaud the recently-revised version of the agenda for the first HTTF meeting (April 30, 2024), which now includes the legally-required physical meeting space (the county courthouse,
at least for the April 30 meeting).
Initially, it had been announced that HTTF meetings would be remote-only; that would have been a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
Meetings of the HTTF must be conducted in compliance with the OPMA, as I’ve outlined below; failure to fully comply with OPMA may subject each of you, as HTTF members, to a personal
legal liability.
The HTTF is a “public agency”, as that term is defined in the OPMA at RCW 42.30.020. It was created by a legislative act of the BoCC on April 8, 2024. The HTTF is a multimember board,
the governing body of which is composed of the members of the task force.
The agenda for the April 30, 2024, meeting of the HTTF states as one of its goals:
“ * Report findings and recommendations to the Steering Committee, City of Port Townsend and Board of County Commissioners.”
That HTTF goal, along with the repeated statements made by members of the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) that the BoCC would have to receive the report(s) and recommendation(s)
(“advice”) from the HTTF before making any decision about creating a Public Facilities District (PFD), makes it clear that that the advice of the HTTF is a necessary antecedent to the
BoCC’s decision regarding the formation of a PFD. Refer to the Attorney General Opinions cited below.
Therefore, even though it is characterized as “advisory”, the HTTF is subject to the OPMA.
The OPMA requires, unless there is a declared emergency, that public agencies must provide a physical location for their meetings. The agenda for the April 30, 2024, meeting of the HTTF
now correctly identifies the physical location to be used for that meeting.
If the HTTF were to meet in violation of the OPMA, each member who attended such a meeting could be subject to personal liability in the form of a civil penalty in the amount of $500
for the first violation ($1,000 for each subsequent violation). RCW 42.30.120
To avoid the possibility of litigation and fines, the members of the HTTF should ensure that all future agendas and/or meeting notices clearly identify the meetings’ locations; such
locations must be physically accessible to the general public with no preconditions to attendance. RCW 42.30.040
Please know that the above information is not intended to be a warning of legal action -- I’m simply detailing this information to better inform those HTTF members who might not be as
familiar with our state’s legal requirements for the conduct of public meetings.
Thank you for volunteering to participate in this important public process.
Tom Thiersch
Member, Washington Coalition for Open Government <https://www.washcog.org/>
==== [RCW 42.30.010 Open Public Meetings Act <https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.30&full=true> ] ==== ==== [RCW 42.56.030 Public Records Act <https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?ci
te=42.56&full=true> ] ====
"The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what
is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed and informing the people's public servants of their views so that they
may maintain control over the instruments that they have created."
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Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA)
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.30&full=true
Attorney General Opinions, references regarding advisory committees and their advice as “antecedent” to agency actions:
AGO 2018 No. 2
https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/application-open-public-meetings-act-ferry-advisory-committees-and-ferry-advisory
AGO 1983 No. 1, at 3
https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/applicability-open-public-meetings-act-services-and-activities-fees-committee
AGO 1971 No. 33
https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/meetings-public-applicability-open-public-meetings-act-state-and-local-governmental
AGO 1971 No. 8
https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/counties-zoning-laws-planning-commissions