Jerry and Tim,

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I am writing to acknowledge receipt of a request for a Special Council Meeting under Section B, subsection 5 of Council Rules. The request was sent last night and first observed this morning from Councilors Cummings and Relyea, and later endorsed by Councilor Sakelik. I'm responding now at my first opportunity today with other personal activities previously on my calendar.

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Our Council Rules specifically and objectively require that Special Meetings "be utilized only when absolutely necessary," and does not provide an avenue for Council members to call for Special Meetings on any topic regardless of necessity.

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The request identifies the basis for the Special Meeting for two purposes:

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First: To discuss "how being Mayor elect created a vacancy." This is actually an incorrect statement or premise, as Councilor Walters is still an active member of our current Council. As such, such discussion is not "absolutely necessary" at this time. Additionally, they identified the need to discuss "what procedure to utilize when a resignation is pending, what process and procedure to utilize for announcing the vacancy and lastly how the orderly conduct of business is impacted by a vacancy when an existing Council member is elected as Mayor." Given that the City Charter and ordinances have recently been applied to this very question without controversy during and after the 2015 Mayoral election, the immediate need for this discussion cannot be "absolutely necessary."

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Second: They requested to "discuss the Chief Legal Officers [Sic] performance evaluation and the final disposition of the evaluation." There is no indication given of why a Special Meeting would be "absolutely necessary" for the purpose of a performance evaluation, in this case involving our City Attorney Tim Ramis. This is also a false premise that conflicts with the prior agreement by Council members at our last meetings on Dec 21. On Dec 21 Council agreed that the only remaining business item for the group regarding Mr. Ramis's review was for Councilors to submit to the City, if they so choose and on their own schedule when convenient by early January, our individual comments or feedback to the City for the file record, and for Tim's benefit and the benefit of the next or future Councils.

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In the Mayor's role as Presiding Officer for the City Council and by the plenary authority to "enforce the rules of the Council," granted by Chapter IV, Section 17 of the West Linn City Charter, I have determined that the aforementioned request does not fulfill the requirements for a Special Meeting under Section B subsection 5 of Council Rules, and will not schedule a Special Meeting.

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This is not an indication of whether a future discussion on Charter language would be beneficial to the Council or to the City, but simply a determination that such a discussion does not meet the requirements for a Special Meeting per Council rules. The future Council can further deliberate on such issues as it deems necessary.

Please also recall that at our Dec 21 meeting it was made quite clear to the Council, Staff and the general public that it was our Council's final meeting. Therefore, this attempt to implement what amounts to an implied last minute emergency-type meeting on a fabricated issue over the holiday, when the public has assumed differently and is not around or tuned in to such activities by it's City representatives over the holiday, is very concerning from a transparency standpoint.

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I would also like to add that the procedure for seating new Council members after a regular November election where Council positions are selected by the voters is described in our Charter and is well established in past practice by the City and found to be acceptable. Simply, that involves first a swearing in ceremony directed by our Municipal judge, and then the new Council has it's first public meeting after the new Council is seated according to the election results. If an already seated Councilor is being promoted to Mayor by the election before their term is expired, a vacancy on the Council is then generated when that person is sworn in as Mayor, and the position is filled by the new Council as described in Section 31 of the Charter.

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It's important to also recognize that this standard transition process associated with a regular election cycle is different from certain procedures followed when a "resignation" occurs - for example when a member may resign for health concerns or other personal reasons. I believe it's erroneous to equate the standard transition process associated with elections to that of a "resignation" for other purposes.

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Finally, the appearance of this request and previous statements made by these same Council members questioning the legitimacy of Mayor Elect Walters hard-earned election, is very concerning, and frankly I believe it threatens our fundamental democratic process.

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Thank you and have a pleasant New Year holiday,

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Russ