Every year, the City Council leaves town (La Conner,Issaquah, this year it’s Bremerton) for a retreat. Since, more than 5 council members are present, the retreat qualifies as a public meeting. And so, every year, advocates of open government raise smart questions about the legitimacy of the council retreat. Public meetings are supposed to be accessible to the public, and well, Bremerton is something of a hike.

I can tell you from experience that nothing interesting ever happens at these meetings—nothing nefarious and no policy decisions are ever hammered out. However, there is an open governance principle at stake. The council, and particularly its new president—open governance stickler Nick Licata—should be sensitive to this principle. That’s why it seems like a bit of a slap in the public’s face that the agenda for this two-day meeting is nowhere to be found on the council’s web site.

The RCW about about public meetings are telling on that score:

A “meeting” as defined in the Open Public Meetings Act does not occur simply because a quorum of a governing body is gathered together. A training or team-building session would not be a meeting under the Open Public Meetings Act if the governing body (e.g., city council, board of county commissioners) does not discuss city or county business, as the case may be, or otherwise take action as defined in the Act. Receiving training or engaging in team-building exercises does not inherently require the discussion of city or county business. If the governing body is not going to open such a session to the public, it should be made clear that the members of the governing body are not to discuss business at the session.

A retreat is a council meeting which must be open to the public. Regardless of whether a meeting of the city council is called a council retreat, a council workshop, or a council study session, the Open Public Meetings Act requires that the public be allowed to attend. This does not mean that citizens must be given an opportunity to make comments or discuss issues at the retreat, but they must be allowed to attend. Even if held outside the city limits, a retreat is still a meeting and the public must be allowed to attend.

When you look up the retreat on the council’s website, here’s what you get.

The Stranger’s city hall reporter, Erica Barnett, got a copy of the agenda, but rather than finding it where it’s accessible to the public, she asked for it.

I’ve posted the Bremerton agenda below.

2006 Legislative Department Retreat:
Working Together, Respecting Diversity

Day 1—Thursday, February 2, 2006 (Legislative Dept. Focus Day)

6:00 First Ferry Departure from Seattle to Bremerton

7:35 Last ferry departure from Seattle to arrive on time for retreat start

8:45 Breakfast at Kitsap Conference Center at Bremerton Harborside

9:15-9:45 Warm-up session: Be a Part of the Solution (Robb Landis & Jeannine Souki) — Ballrooms C & D

9:45-10:15 Opening session w/ LueRachelle Brim-Atkins Facilitating Discussion on Leadership — Ballrooms C & D
Agreeing on Retreat Ground Rules
Looking Again at Leadership

10:15-10:30 Break — Snacks in the Sinclair Gallery

10:30-11:45 "Focus on the big pictureâ€� discussion facilitated by LueRachelle — Ballrooms C & D ~ The purpose of this exercise is to be able to use real examples in the project planning training exercise in the afternoon. It is not the development of a Council work plan.
• Each CM will have three minutes to present one priority for the year.
• Q & A (7 minutes for each issue, for a total of 10 minutes per issue)

11:45 Lunch begins — Ballroom B

12:30 Lunch keynote speaker: Mayor Cary Bozeman to discuss his leadership role in the redevelopment of the City of Bremerton (best practices for collaborating and cooperating regionally) — Ballroom B

1:30-3:30 Group Breakouts: Learning About Project Planning — Ballrooms C & D
• Rhonda Hilyer, Ballroom C
• LueRachelle, Ballroom D

3:30-4:00 Break — Snacks in the Sinclair Gallery

4:00-5:00 Resume from Break — Ballroom D (LueRachelle, and co-facilitated by Landis & Souki)
(Over)
5:00 Open time till dinner

5:45 No-host beverage reception with City of Bremerton Mayor and Council at Kitsap Conference Center in the Sinclair Gallery

6:30 Dinner at Bremerton Harborside following reception

7:30 Break for evening
Day Two—Friday, February 3, 2006 (Communication/Professional Development Day)

6:00 First Ferry Departure from Seattle to Bremerton

7:35 Last ferry departure from Seattle to arrive on time for retreat start

8:00 Breakfast at Kitsap Conference Center in the Sinclair Gallery

9:00 Opening Discussion led by LueRachelle — Ballrooms C & D

9:15 External communication led by Mark Trahant and David McCumber (Seattle PI) — Ballrooms C & D

10:15-10:30 Break — Snacks in the Sinclair Gallery

10:30-11:45 An intensive workshop that covers everything you need to know to feel confident about taking on broadcast interviews led by Jackie O'Ryan — Ballrooms C & D

11:45 Lunch & Silent auction in the Sinclair Gallery

1:00-2:15 Workshops — Ballrooms C & D
• Innovations in financing: Kitsap County Housing Authority financing led by Norm McLoughlin — Ballroom D
• Developing your communication strategy led by Jackie O'Ryan — Ballroom C

2:15-2:45 Final thoughts and evaluation led by LueRachelle — Ballrooms C & D

3:00 Retreat ends ( Ferry departs from Bremerton to Seattle from 3:00, 4:15, and 5:30 p.m.)

Ferry crossing time from Colman Dock is approx. 60 minutes. For on line schedule information regarding Ferry Departures visit, http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/schedules/current/