Coronavirus is no excuse. Elected officials must allow public comments | Editorial

Now, more than ever, Tri-Citians need a way to voice concerns to their elected leaders.

That means members of our city councils, county commissions and other governing bodies should be doing everything they can to include public comments during their regularly scheduled meetings.

Normally, most Tri-City elected officials do a solid job managing this.

But times, right now, are not normal.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order has been extended for another month. Local government entities are just now figuring out how to conduct business in the open while still following social distancing guidelines.

A live streaming meeting is ideal. However, under the circumstances, recording the session and posting it later or allowing people to call in and listen to the discussion are acceptable alternatives.

The trickier piece is figuring out how members of the public can make comments when they cannot be allowed in the meeting room.

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve seen a variety of ways elected officials handled this conundrum.

Benton County commissioners did not schedule a public comment period at its March 31 meeting, and the Kennewick School Board did the same for its April 1 meeting.

The Pasco School Board noted on its agenda that citizens should send in comments by email, or mail them to the school district office ahead of the meeting. The Richland School Board recorded its latest meeting and encouraged people to view it and provide feedback in an email.

Franklin County, we think, had the best idea by live streaming the meeting and encouraging citizens to call the phone number printed on a large sign in the board room. When it was time to take public comments, two people called in and were able to receive an immediate response from commissioners and staff.

This is probably the best way for people to provide input on issues public officials are about to take action on. As it happens, at its upcoming meeting April 7, Franklin County commissioners are not using the phone-in system and are instead asking citizens to email them.

Franklin County Administrator Keith Johnson said the meeting this week has very few agenda items and should be short. While using the phone worked well, it requires that an extra person be in the room to manage the calls.

In order to keep numbers down, they decided at this meeting to try the email system.

Toby Nixon, board president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, is also a city council member in Kirkland, the state’s epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. This is where the U.S. outbreak started, and where at least 37 coronavirus deaths have been linked to the Life Care Center in Kirkland, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Nixon liked Franklin County’s idea showing citizens a phone number to call during the commissioner’s meeting.

In his city, he said written comments have been either sent by mail or email, and read aloud at the council meetings. People also can leave voice messages on a specific phone line. A microphone is then put to the phone, and public comments are played for council members.

Most Tri-City elected officials are trying to condense their meeting schedules during the stay-at-home order, which is smart. And we understand not everyone has the same technological capabilities.

But since most won’t be meeting as often this month, we encourage them all to find a way to encourage public participation.

It isn’t against the Washington Open Public Meetings Act to cancel the public comment period from a regularly scheduled meeting, but it certainly goes against the spirit of the law.

In this time of uncertainty and distress over the coronavirus, citizens are going to look to their elected leaders for help. Their voices should not be shut out.

This story was originally published April 5, 2020 at 4:00 AM.