skip navigation
Share this:


MRSC Insight Blog


Posts for Pat Mason

Confirmation of Mayoral Appointments (and Terminations) by City or Town Council – Is that OK?

Confirmation of Mayoral Appointments (and Terminations) by City or Town Council – Is that OK?

In mayor-council cities and towns, the mayor is generally in charge of the hiring and firing of all appointed officers and employees. But can the city or town council require that the council confirm mayoral appointments before they become effective?

Read more

May a City Council Meet Outside the Corporate Limits of the City?

May a City Council Meet Outside the Corporate Limits of the City?

The statutes that apply to cities and towns do not limit where the city or town council can meet, although (except for first class cities) they do contain a limitation on what types of action may be taken at a meeting being held outside the corporate limits.

Read more

May a County Legislative Body Meet Outside its County to Hold a Joint Meeting with the Legislative Body of Another County?

May a County Legislative Body Meet Outside its County to Hold a Joint Meeting with the Legislative Body of Another County?

Sometimes situations and issues arise affecting more than one county, such that it would be helpful for the legislative bodies of those counties to meet jointly, which would require one of the bodies to meet outside its county. A 2014 Attorney General Opinion addresses this issue.

Read more

What if Some of Your Elected or Appointed Officials Have Not Yet Completed Open Government Training Act Requirements?

The Open Government Trainings Act enacted by the 2014 Legislature (ESB 5964, Laws of 2014, ch. 66) requires training for some local government officials in the fundamentals of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), Public Records Act (PRA), and records retention requirements. Many local government officials have already completed these training requirements, which are not burdensome. However, we are receiving calls from some local governments asking what to do about those officials who haven’t completed this training yet this year. Basically, is that a problem?

Read more

Does the Open Public Meetings Act Apply to County Finance Committees?

MRSC legal staff has concluded that meetings of county finance committees are subject to the requirements of OPMA. Here's why.

Read more

5532677929_8110d41484_n.jpg

Volunteer Firefighters and the Affordable Care Act

Are the hours of volunteer firefighters and other volunteer emergency responders counted for purposes of determining whether the employing local government is subject to the health care...

Read more

New Approach to Responding to Public Records Requests – the Kirkland Model

Many local governments are struggling to balance their obligations under the Public Records Act with their existing staff and financial resources, but Kirkland has adopted a new award-winning approach.

Read more

How May the Revenues from the Sales Tax Authorized for Rural Counties in RCW 82.14.370 Be Used?

RCW 82.14.370 provides "rural" counties the authority to impose an up to 0.09 percent sales and use tax for the purpose of financing "public facilities serving economic development purposes in rural counties and finance personnel in economic development offices." (A "rural county" under this statute is one having a population density of less than 100 persons per square mile or one smaller than...

Read more

How Are Abstentions Handled When Counting Votes?

Sometimes a member of a local governing body (such as a city council, board of county commissioners, planning commission, or special district board) does not, for whatever reason, want to cast a vote on a matter that is being considered by that body, and so that member abstains. Assuming that the governing body allows the member to abstain, how is that abstention treated for vote counting...

Read more

When Is a Resignation by an Elected Official Effective?

We often receive questions regarding when the resignation of an elective official is effective. The basic issue is whether a resignation has to be accepted by the governing body of the agency for the resignation to be effective. Until 2002, the common law rule was that a resignation had to be accepted to be effective.  In 2002, the state court of appeals in State ex rel. Munroe v. Poulsbo, 109...

Read more

Local Governments May Assess "Reasonable" Service Charges for Stormwater Facilities Owned by the Federal Government

A significant case decided last May resulted in a major victory for local governments in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.  The case determined that federal agencies must pay local governments “reasonable service charges” for stormwater pollution control.  Some federal agencies had been paying such fees, but others had refused to pay based on the principle of...

Read more

LOAD MORE