Yelm City Council to review appointment process after mayor pro tem debate

After discussion and disagreement regarding the method that Yelm City Council used for the appointment process of mayor pro tem last month, councilors used some time during a study session meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 3, to discuss the methodology used for appointments and voting going forward.

Griselda Arias, the newest member of Yelm City Council, noted that voting methodology was brought up in a government committee meeting — but said the discussion wasn’t closed there because there were still several questions lingering that are related to the topic.
Additionally, she noted that councilor Brian Hess has previously brought ranked choice voting into the conversation.

“So, really, it’s are we changing the wording in the handbook? What was in the handbook was correct and we followed what was in the handbook,” Arias said. “The procedure is laid out there. Really, it just seems like that’s the question. Are we good with what’s the procedure in the handbook? Should we add to that?”

Mayor Joe DePinto responded to Arias and noted that they did contact the City of Yelm’s attorney, as requested. Todd Stancil, Yelm city administrator, provided more clarity on the discussion with the city attorney, Brent Dille.

“Brent also serves as an attorney for at least one other city, the City of Ocean Shores,” Stancil said. “I reached out to Brent, ran over what we went through, how we did it. He didn’t find any problem with how we did it. We checked with our own Robert’s rules and parliamentary. We verified that we did it ok with that.”

Stancil added that Dille had several recommendations for the City of Yelm on how it could improve its methodology for voting. He believes the council could find a way to add more impartiality into the process.

“For example, in our situation, after we made the three nominations, what he suggested is you have the three candidates draw a number on how they get voted on,” Stancil said. “For example, if Terry (Kaminski) drew a one, she would’ve been up for the vote first. That way, there’s not a race to nominate. It doesn’t matter who raised their hand first.”

Regardless, if the candidates draw for voting order or not, Kaminski believes the order still comes down to chance. Stancil believes it would still be a more impartial method.

“If you go back, and we did it the way we used to do it, you could have all the council members draw a number before the meeting starts. Who drew number one? Terry, you drew number one. Do you have a nomination for Mayor Pro Tem? That’s how we’d do that, rather than whoever gets their hand up first gets the nomination,” Stancil said. “It’s more of just a random draw. There’s no need to do that if we do the nominations first. We find out who’s interested. Everyone has a chance to say something — then you could draw for that.”

Councilor David Johnstone said the topic of voting methodology should be discussed because throughout the past several years, there has seemed to be contention with an appointment or issues with voting methodology.

Additionally, he added that councilor Tracey Wood had an issue with voting during the last city council meeting and wanted to ensure that everyone’s concerns were heard and met.

“I just wanted to make sure all of our concerns were being heard and that we’re actually in a position so next time we vote there isn’t contention and we’re not fighting about it in the meeting,” Johnstone said. “I don’t think that’s a good look.”

DePinto said it’s fair to have contention, but not in the process of voting itself. He said as long as the council agrees on the process they’re abiding by, that’s what is most important.

“I get there’s concerns about how we’re doing it. I would like a more fair system too. I liked the ranked choice voting, personally. That’s not what we have right now,” DePinto said. “If the council does want to change it again, we spent a lot of time this past year doing that. Stephanie (Kangiser), Joseph (Richardson) and (Joshua) Crossman were on that committee to change that. Literally, every time we did it, it was line by line.”

Arias stated that her concern is that there will be some sort of debate amongst the council every time voting is brought up. She believes the ultimate question is are they going to follow the handbook or choose a new way to vote?

Kathy Linnemeyer, Yelm city clerk, said council can vote however they see fit but if they elect to do something differently, she pointed out there’s already methodology in the handbook with a specific process guideline.

Councilor Stephanie Kangiser said, according to the manual — which was stated right before any nominations were received — it states very clearly how the process works. She pointed out that DePinto asked the council if they had any questions or comments, and noted that Wood made a comment.

“Nobody said anything beyond that. Tracey (Wood) stated his statement and so we went on. You’ve got to study that book. You’ve got to study Robert’s Rules prior,” Kangiser said. “There’s lots of things available to you before that. This is what I’m talking about. We do have a streamlined method. There are many ways to vote, like ranked choice voting or the way we did it.”

Kaminski stated that she believes it isn’t the system that’s a problem.

“I’ve done this, this time and many times before,” she said. “It happens so fast. All of the sudden, who’s going to be nominated?”
DePinto responded, stating it was previously discussed.

“That’s why we brought it up in the study session,” DePinto said. “People raised their hands, you were one of them, saying they were interested.”

Richardson believes the process is a lot more intricate than what appears at the surface level. Additionally, he stated it doesn’t know if it was appropriate for council to be asked if they’d like to be nominated or not.

“A lot of times, that puts people in a position to be self preserved,” he said. “I do appreciate the impartiality of drawing numbers after nominations. That would help. Then again, I don’t know if in a study session, we know there’s a nominated process coming up if it is wise to throw the fleece out there and say ‘who wants this?’ It puts people in the position of having to speak up (on the spot).”

DePinto responded, stating that it’s ultimately up to the council to decide on the methodology of voting for the appointment process in the future. He noted that this could be a topic of discussion for Yelm City Council’s upcoming retreat.

“If we see enough people who want to change it, we can put it up for a study session, discuss it and then put it up to a vote at a meeting,” DePinto said.