Richland should make room for resident concerns at tonight’s meeting | Editorial

Editor’s Note: Given the renewed interest in the term-limit issue, Richland city officials decided this afternoon to move the topic to a future city council meeting. Tonight’s city council agenda no longer has it listed.

The agenda for tonight’s Richland City Council meeting does not list a time for public comments, but city officials should find a way to fit them in despite the coronavirus and social distancing restrictions.

We know of a couple concerns that were emailed in, and these at least, should be read aloud at the meeting.

Randy Slovic, who tried to unseat Richland City Councilman Bob Thompson last fall, told the Tri-City Herald she emailed Richland Mayor Ryan Lukson about reports that not all city workers are being provided with adequate sanitizing equipment.

She also emailed city council members about her concern over the proposal to end the 12-year term limit for serving on boards, commissions and committees.

Slovic is not alone in her concerns. If residents are worried that some city workers are not being protected from the coronavirus, then the topic should certainly be addressed with city council members.

As for the term-limit issue, we wonder why the need for a change. A 12-year stint seems plenty long. Is it because the city has trouble finding volunteers? Or is it because it would allow certain people to serve indefinitely?

Slovic shared the email she sent to the city council regarding the matter, and noted that, “These are not supposed to be life-time positions. How much institutional knowledge do we require? The seats are already rotated to assure that there is always some experience on the committee ... We need to work to make the committees as diverse as possible so we can have input from many viewpoints. I don’t see how allowing people to serve an unlimited amount of time, as this amendment could possibly do, serves that purpose.”

In an email to Slovic, Lukson said the intent of the change is not to set an arbitrary term limit. Rather, it’s if there was someone the council felt was a valuable member of a board, it would allow that person to continue serving.

Even so, Slovic has asked that her full email be read at tonight’s meeting. The proposed term-limit change was tucked in to the consent agenda at the March 17 city council meeting, and so there was no discussion on the matter then.

The coronavirus and Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order has preoccupied most of our lives, but now that this issue has come to light, Richland City Council members should consider delaying a decision on it until the issue is fully vetted.

As for the concern that the city is not doing enough to slow the spread of the coronavirus among some of its workers, that’s a critical topic that the public should be able to discuss in an open city council meeting. By not listing public comments on the agenda, it’s uncertain whether time will be made for Slovic’s request.

We know it is a challenge to include public participation when people can’t physically attend a city council meeting during the stay-at-home order. But there are ways around that problem, which we addressed in a recent editorial.

Franklin County Commissioners allowed people to call in during their meeting, which we thought was a great way to handle the problem.

Other Tri-City elected officials list a way to email comments on the meeting agenda, which also is acceptable. Leaving a voice message can also work.

Dropping the public comment period from the agenda, however, should not be an option. Richland City Council members need to make sure their constituents have a chance to be heard.

This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 12:50 PM.