Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to council rules and order of business; amending Ordinance 11683, Section 4, as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.035; and declaring an emergency.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Section 220.40 of the King County Charter requires the council to adopt by ordinance rules of procedure governing the time, place and conduct of its meetings.
B. Consistent with the county charter, the council adopted by ordinance rules of procedure, which are codified in K.C.C. chapter 1.24, and passed motions related to the organization and administration of the council.
C. The rules of procedure and the organizational motion have been amended from time to time to reflect changes desired by the council.
D. As is tradition, during the council's consideration of a biennial or annual budget, the standing committees, except for the committee of the whole, stand down so that members may meet as members of the budget committee, in a series of budget panels, to review the executive's proposed budget prior to final action. Historically, the committee of the whole has continued to meet during the council's budget process to handle matters that would benefit from committee action.
E. For the 2025 annual budget, the budget panels will meet on Wednesday mornings, at the time designated by the rules of procedure for the committee of the whole to meet, causing a conflict that can be alleviated by moving the date and time of the regular committee of the whole meeting for only that period that the council is expected to be considering the biennial budget. Such an action is in support of the council's consideration of the 2025 annual budget and also preserves a regularly scheduled committee of the whole meeting during this same period.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 11683, Section 4, as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.035 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
Rule 4: Meetings.
A.1.a. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the time of regular meetings of the council is 1:30 p.m. on the first, second, third, and fourth Tuesdays of each month. However, the regular meetings of the council shall not take place: from April 8, 2024, through April 12, 2024; from August 5, 2024, through August 16, 2024; and from December 11, 2024, through January 2, 2025. All regular or special meetings of council committees shall be regular or special council meetings, in accordance with subsection F. of this rule.
b. A committee chair may call a special committee meeting with either the prior written consent of the council chair or the consent of a majority of the members of the committee. This subsection A.1.b. does not apply to special meetings of the budget and fiscal management committee for purposes of considering the county executive's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal period, which shall be called by the chair of the budget and fiscal management committee.
2.a. All regular meetings of the King County council and the council's committees, except for employment and administration committee meetings, shall be held in the council chambers on the tenth floor of the King County Courthouse in Seattle, Washington. All regular meetings of the employment and administration committee meetings shall be held in the southwest conference room on the twelfth floor of the King County Courthouse in Seattle, Washington.
b. Whenever, due to an emergency, as defined in K.C.C. 12.52.010, it is imprudent, inexpedient, or impossible to conduct the affairs of the council at the regular or usual place or places, the council may meet at any place within or without the territorial limits of the county on the call of the chair or any two members of the council. After an emergency relocation, the affairs of the council shall be lawfully conducted at the emergency location for the duration of the emergency.
B.1. Except as provided in subsection B.2. of this rule, the times for regular and special committee meetings are as follows:
a. Budget and fiscal management committee: the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
b. Committee of the whole: the fourth Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m., except that, for October 7, 2024, through November 18, 2024, the regular committee meeting shall occur on the first and third Mondays of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
c. Employment and administration committee: the first Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m.;
d. Government accountability and oversight committee: the second Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
e. Health and human services committee: the first Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
f. Law and justice committee: the fourth Wednesday of each month at 1:00 p.m.;
g. Local services and land use committee: the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 9:30 a.m.;
h. Regional policy committee: the second Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
i. Regional transit committee: the third Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.;
j. Regional water quality committee: the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.; and
k. Transportation, economy, and environment committee: the third Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m.
2. The regular meetings of the committees shall not take place during the times when the council meeting does not take place, as prescribed in subsection A. of this rule.
C. Council and committee meetings must be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act of 1971, chapter 42.30 RCW.
D. A meeting may be continued, in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW, to another date and does not conclude until adjourned in accordance with these rules.
E.1. An executive session may be held during a council or committee meeting if one of the specific grounds under chapter 42.30 RCW for an executive session exists.
2. Before convening in executive session, the chair of the council or committee shall publicly announce the purpose for excluding the public from the meeting place and the time when the executive session will be concluded. The executive session may be extended to a stated later time by announcement of the chair.
3. Only members of the council or committee, special invitees, and those employees or staff members the council or committee determines to be necessary are allowed to remain in the room. Persons attending an executive session shall maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings.
F.1. A legal analysis of the Open Public Meetings Act by the office of the Attorney General, 2010 AGO No. 9, has advised that when a committee meeting is attended by a quorum of the governing body it must be noticed not only as a committee meeting but also as a meeting of the governing body. For this reason, all meetings of council committees shall be noticed both as committee meetings and as council meetings whose agenda is limited to the committee business.
2. In all committee meetings, which are council meetings in accordance with subsection F.1. of this rule, only the rules and procedures applicable to committees apply, and not those rules and procedures applicable to full council meetings. This includes, but is not limited to:
a. only those members who serve on the committee have the right to exercise parliamentary rights in the meeting, including, but not limited to, raising points of order, making motions, and voting;
b. attendance shall be recorded only for members serving on the committee, and the quorum for the meeting shall be the committee quorum; and
c. committee meetings shall be chaired by the committee chair.
SECTION 3. The county council finds as a fact and declares that an emergency exists and that this ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health or safety or for the support of county government and its existing public institutions.