Agenda 02-17-2026; 8-a - Minutes for January 16, 2026 Retreat and January 20, 2026 Business Meeting

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31 1 Commissioner Bedford said a resident came several times to request changes in 2 communication with the public, which was also petitioned for by two commissioners. She 3 described how the management team reviewed the request, then developed next steps. 4 Vice-Chair Fowler said the most important thing with a public petition is that the Board 5 doesn't always hear the result. 6 Travis Myren the language is likely antiquated and was written before email. 7 Commissioner Bedford said emails always get an answer. 8 Commissioner Carter asked if email responses are practice or policy. 9 Commissioner Bedford said she did not know. 10 Travis Myren said it's not documented, but it's not been a problem. He said staff and the 11 chair always respond. 12 Commissioner Portie-Ascott noted that when commenters come to a meeting, the Board 13 tells them that they won't receive a response that night. 14 Commissioner Bedford said that the response depends on the subject of the comment or 15 petition that is made at a meeting. 16 Chair Hamilton asked that the Board pay attention to the kind of requests or petitions that 17 come at a meeting and how those are handled either through staff or on future agendas. She 18 asked that Greg keep track of requests. 19 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if she was suggesting that the Board respond to a 20 public comment with a request by getting back to them at another meeting rather than by email. 21 Commissioner Bedford said sometimes its appropriate for staff to respond to them directly 22 by email or telephone. 23 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said her interest is what the formal process should be for 24 acknowledging public requests. 25 Chair Hamilton agreed that is something the Board needed to think about. 26 Laura Jensen said that public commenters sign in at the beginning of the meeting to make 27 comments, and they are asked to put their contact information. She said many do not do so, even 28 if encouraged. She asked the Board to emphasize that if a commenter would like a response, 29 they should provide an email address or phone number for staff to follow-up with them. 30 Commissioner Carter said that was a good point. 31 Vice-Chair Fowler said the Board should formalize what the procedure is at a future 32 meeting. 33 34 Board Member Petitions 35 36 Chair Hamilton reviewed the language on page 13 of the Board of Commissioners' Rules 37 of Procedure. She read the following statement in part A: 38 "Any board member may petition the board to have an item placed on the agenda." 39 She read a statement farther down page 13 in Part C: 40 "The board may, by approval of a majority of its members, i.e. an affirmative vote equal to a 41 quorum, add an item at the meeting that is not on the agenda." 42 Commissioner McKee said that the Board follows that policy. 43 Chair Hamilton said that latter sentence is what the Board does at meetings. She said 44 they also have a comment and petition time for Board members. She said it's not petitioning to 45 add it at that meeting, but for a future meeting. She said the question is the process afterward 46 and how they want to handle Board member petitions. 47 Commissioner McKee said he's never considered a petition as a guarantee, but as a 48 proposal for consideration by the Chair and Vice-Chair. He described the process for adding an 49 item to the agenda by a motion and a second if a petition is not added by the Chair and Vice- 50 Chair.