Submitted by the League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to expand public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.

County Council regular meeting of Jan. 9

During public comment, 27 county residents supported the Council issuing a call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

To start the new year, the Council elected Jane Fuller as the chair and Christine Minney as the vice chair of the Council.

The Council set a public hearing for Feb. 6 at 9:15 a.m. for changes to county personnel policy regarding vacation accrual for non-union-represented staff. Section heads had reviewed the new policy and had no concerns.

The Council approved the advisory committee recommended lodging tax awards with the removal of the earlier proposed grant to the Environmental Stewardship department.

The Council discussed, approved, and read out a proclamation calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire in occupied Palestinian territories.

The next scheduled Council meetings are a retreat on Jan. 22 and a regular meeting on Jan. 23. At the Retreat on the 22nd, the Council will set the meeting schedule for the remainder of 2024.

The Council will add New Business as a standard item to future agendas to allow council members and the county manager to raise issues for discussion outside of their updates.

The County Manager Mike Thomas noted that public works would seek to renegotiate a contract with the state for funding a new dock on Orcas, as the contract contains unusual problematic clauses the purpose of which is unclear.