Edmonds Planning Board Special Meeting – February 2, 2026: OPMA and Appearance of Fairness Training, Subcommittee Discussion
Edmonds Planning Board Special Meeting – February 2, 2026: OPMA and Appearance of Fairness Training, Subcommittee Discussion
The Edmonds Planning Board held a special meeting on February 2, 2026, primarily for training on the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine, presented by City Attorney Jeff Teraday. The board also discussed the use of subcommittees for future work.
Discussion Items
- OPMA Training: City Attorney Jeff Teraday provided training on the Open Public Meetings Act, covering the definition of meetings, serial meetings, email communication, and the importance of avoiding collective intent to meet via electronic means. He emphasized that passive receipt of information does not constitute participation, but BCCing the entire board in responses to staff could create the appearance of a meeting. He answered questions about serial meetings involving staff and recommended responding only to staff, not BCCing other board members.
- Appearance of Fairness Doctrine: Teraday explained that this doctrine applies to quasi-judicial hearings (e.g., site-specific rezones) and prohibits ex parte communications. Board members must disclose any external communications and allow rebuttal. He provided guidance on recusal, making a proper record, and the necessity of clear findings of fact. He noted that legislative actions are not subject to this doctrine.
- Subcommittee Discussion: The board discussed the potential use of subcommittees for complex topics, such as the tree code or comprehensive plan. Members expressed support for subcommittees to manage time and depth, but cautioned that subcommittees must have clear goals and not create disparate recommendations. Chair and others noted that subcommittees should be used for organizing large amounts of information and drafting recommendations, while the full board retains decision-making authority.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken. The board agreed in principle to consider using subcommittees for future complex topics, with a focus on clear objectives and integration into full board discussions. The training reinforced proper procedures for OPMA compliance and quasi-judicial hearings.
Meeting Transcript
To order the January 28th special meeting of the Edmonds Planning Board. We will start tonight with the land acknowledgments. Stephen, please. We acknowledge the original people of this place, the Snowhomish people and their successors, the Tuleb tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, the right to self-determination. We honor their sacred spiritual connection, the land and water. Okay, great. Um I think I will save roll call for our regular meeting. And so our agenda for this special meeting is primarily um review of uh the OPMA rules with the city attorney Jeff Teraday. And um then I just added one small topic um that I thought would kind of transition well into that, and that is the discussion of the use of subcommittees, and then we will move on to our regular meeting for the evening. So with that off to you, Jeff, I guess. All right. Can you all see the slide there? Yes. Great. Okay, well, I'm gonna try to go through these pretty quickly. And um the goal is to uh give you 15 minutes for QA. So um I'm gonna try and uh pace myself here. Um I I assume some of you have had uh OPMA training and appearance of fairness doctrine training before, but um this will be a refresher. Hopefully, it's not the first time you've had this. Um but if if it is, uh feel free to uh you know, ask questions that that you need clarification on. Um the whole thing with the OPMA starts with the state constitution, which says that all political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and the legislature took that a step further and said uh did the slide change for you? Yes, yep. Okay, great. Just want to make sure this is working. Um, well, this the legislature basically said um all councils, etc. exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business, and that it is uh the purpose of the chapter that all that their actions, meaning your actions, the city council's actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. And so the basic requirement of the OPMA is that meetings of the governing body or the planning board of a public agency uh shall be open and public. And so, well, what's a meeting then? If a meeting has to be open in public, what's a meeting? A meeting is defined in the OPMA as a meeting. Notice the circularity there. Uh meeting. I didn't write it. I didn't write it. I'm just I'm just training you on it. Uh a meeting where action is taken. And well, what's action? And action is the transaction of the official business of the agency, which includes discussions and a bunch of other stuff, but you know, discussions is like everything. Uh and so if you break this down to sort of a transitive property, what you get is uh a meeting equals action, action is the discussion of official business, and therefore a meeting is the discussion of official business. Just sort of to try to break it down to it's bare bones, a meeting under the OPMA is the transact is the discussion of official business. That's the the best way to think about it. So who is subject to the OPMA? Well, cities, um, and also uh subagencies of cities, for example, planning commissions. I know you guys are a planning board, but a planning commission and a planning board under state law are one and the same. So you're subject to the OPMA. And um what does it say about quorum? Well, you have to have a meeting of the governing body, and so that's where quorum comes in. If if only two of you are having a meeting, it's not an OPMA meeting. It's it has to be a meeting of the governing body.
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