Four Yakima City Council members were in court today for a hearing concerning their violation of the open meetings act (OMA). And before we get into the minutia of this case it’s important to realize that the “three Amigos and Mom” truly DID violate the OMA. Was that proven in Court? No. The hearing was more about covering attorney fees than anything else. Does that exonerate the four council members? Certainly not! The judge didn’t make a decision today and will take it under advisement and rule on it later.
City attorney Jeff Cutter dodged a pointed question by Judge Blaine Gibson, who asked this question; Would the city have rescinded it’s action had attorney Shoenrock not filed his writ? Cutter danced around that and never really answered it saying that Shoenrock used a screwdriver to try and fix a problem that required a wrench. So Tim didn’t dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s”. The end result looks like Schoenrock did the citizens of Yakima a service by forcing the city council to correct what they claim wasn’t done wrong!
It appears as though Ensey, Coffey, Lover, and Cawley will skate by on this one. They can now slink off to Bruce Smith’s office, one by one, and report for their next assignment.