In order to reconvene a meeting, a meeting must be adjourned. In order to adjourn a meeting, a meeting must first be called to order. Pretty simple, unless said meeting is being held at the Port of Peninsula.

A regular port meeting was to be held on Nov. 27 at 11 a.m., however Manager Jay Personius sent out an agenda on Nov. 26 indicating the meeting of the 27th would first be adjourned in order to reconvene on Nov. 30. The expected protocol would have been to call the meeting of the 27th to order, entertain a motion to adjourn the current meeting and reconvene on Nov. 30, then a vote would follow and the meeting would be adjourned. That did not happen.

Instead, when I and several of the public arrived at the meeting on the 27th, the office doors were locked, the work bay (where outdoor meetings are held despite weather conditions) was otherwise engaged, Commissioner Phil Martin and Commissioner Bill Derion were not there, and Personius was not answering his phone.

Pull Quote

The Office of the Washington State Auditor was to hold an Audit Entrance Conference with all three commissioners. Following Open Public Meeting Act regulations, a meeting with all three commissioners present must be held in public.

The first three items on the agenda for the 27th, now the Nov. 30 meeting, are the change of meeting date to Nov. 30; reconvening the meeting; and an “executive session for one or more items allowable” under state law.

The first item makes no sense to me for reasons already stated, but the third one regarding executive session raises concerns. Per the Open Public Meeting Act (OPMA), there are six simple steps to call an executive session: 1. Cite the purpose and briefly describe the reason. 2. Announce the time the board will return to open session. 3. Let the public know if the session runs long. 4. Do not return from the session earlier than the stated time. 5. If discussing litigation (or potential litigation) make sure legal counsel is attending. 6. Remind attendees that discussions are confidential. Simple steps, but numbers one (1) and two (2) have been completely ignored in this agenda item.

Something very important was to happen at the Nov. 27 regular meeting. The Office of the Washington State Auditor was to hold an Audit Entrance Conference with all three commissioners. Following Open Public Meeting Act regulations, a meeting with all three commissioners present must be held in public. Rather than hold a special public meeting, a couple weeks ago the port manager suggested doing it during the Nov. 27 meeting. The auditor set up the remote connection for the meeting, all was good to go, but at the last moment the Nov. 27 meeting was determined to be “adjourned.”

I have researched these types of audit conferences, and they never happen in an executive session. I bring this up because I emailed Manager Personius when I received the agenda with this question: “How is the scheduled (for tomorrow) State Audit Entrance meeting being handled? Per your recommendation to the auditor, the requested meeting of all commissioners was rescheduled for tomorrow’s regular public meeting?”

Personius replied, “Chair Martin has scheduled port’s entrance meeting for the executive session. Entrance meeting time/date change necessary to accommodate port legal counsel attendance.”

This rescheduling is not under the chair’s control, especially when it moves a public discussion into a restricted session. From what I have researched, it does not follow the norm for the audit office either and it does nothing to encourage transparency at the port. I remain in office until Dec. 31. If you have questions or want links to the regulations I referenced, please email me: bonnie@portofpeninsula.com.

BONNIE COZBY

Port of Peninsula commissioner