The following is written by reporters Ana Karen Perez Guzman and Ray Still:

Chaos reigned at the April 7 Black Diamond City Council meeting.

Within minutes of Mayor Carol Benson bringing down the gavel, the council descended into confusion over the correct agenda for the meeting.

Councilwoman Pat Pepper introduced a resolution to switch the night’s agenda with one approved by herself as council president and Mayor Pro Tempore Erika Morgan, citing section 2.2 of the new council rules and procedures passed during the Jan. 21, 2016 meeting.

After the resolution was read, Benson said the revised agenda was not received by the city until almost 11 p.m. the night before. Council members Janie Edelman and Tamie Deady also said they did not receive the new agenda or the resolutions on the new agenda until as late as April 6 and April 7.

In defense of the new agenda, Councilman Brian Weber said he received the agenda packet at the same time as Edelman and Deady, but many of the resolutions on the new agenda were there for first reading and would be sent to a council standing committee for discussion.

The resolution was passed by Pepper, Morgan and Weber and opposed by Edelman and Deady after nearly 15 minutes of intense discussion.

After two presentations and the approval of the consent agenda, the council approved claim checks held over from the March 17 meeting, approved the amended Jan. 21 minutes and passed resolutions approving a final plat and establishing a partnership with a return medicine program.

The city then turned to new business, the majority of which were resolutions that were sent to standing committees for discussion as per the new council rules.

However, two resolutions sparked controversy within the council.

One was Resolution 16-1089 to fire the city attorney. The council rules were suspended in order to vote on this resolution instead of sending it to committee. The resolution passed with support from Weber, Pepper and Morgan. Benson said she would not sign the resolution and stated the council did not the authority to fire city staff.

The other resolution outlines that the city has not met the legal requirements required in the Black Diamond Municipal Code to authorize bill payments before council approval.

Terminating the city attorney’s contract

One of the items on the agenda was a resolution regarding the city’s contract for legal services. Pepper, Weber and Morgan passed Resolution 16-1089 to terminate the Professional Services Agreement with Morris Law giving 10 days notice. Edelman and Deady voted against the resolution and Benson refused to sign it.

At the meeting, Benson and Morris said the council did not have the authority to fire the city attorney.

“I don’t know why the council thought they had any authority to fire the attorney,” Benson said during a April 15 phone interview.

According to Benson, the council’s issue with Morris started during the first meetings of the year in January.

During the Jan. 7 meeting, the council discussed Resolution 16-1063, which would confirm the mayor’s appointments to the city’s various council standing committees. Morgan submitted an amendment to the resolution that would allow the council to choose who served on the committees, not the mayor.

After some discussion, Morris said the mayor can remove the resolution from the council agenda, which Benson proceeded to do.

During the Jan. 21 meeting, while the council was discussing Resolution 16-1069, which would revise the council’s rules and procedures, Morris told the council the new rules may violate the Open Public Meetings Act and could open the door to expensive litigation against the city.

According to the Feb. 4 council meeting minutes, Weber stated Morris made several incorrect assumptions about the new rules and felt he has “lost confidence in his ability to obtain accurate and impartial legal advice from the city attorney.”

The council wants an attorney that will agree with them, not be against them, Benson said during the April 15 interview. Since then, some of the council members and Morris have been disagreeing on rules, which led to the council trying to fire Morris, Benson said.

“I have no intention of firing the attorney,” Benson said during the interview. “She’s one of the best municipal attorneys in the state, we are very lucky to have her.”

According to the Revised Code of Washington 35A.12.090, “the mayor shall have the power of appointment and removal of all appointive officers and employees subject to any applicable law, rule or regulation relating to civil service.” This RCW was brought up by Morris at the April 7 meeting.

According to Benson, the only way the council can affect the city attorney is to vote on an ordinance to change the pay.

However, Benson said she would veto this ordinance, and a veto override would require four council members, something Benson said is unlikely to happen.

Since the April 7 meeting, Benson has not heard anything from any council members regarding this topic.

“I rarely communicate with them except sometimes via email,” Benson said. “They don’t talk to me, we don’t have a relationship.”

In an attempt to get the council’s side of the story, Pepper, who introduced the resolution to fire Morris, was emailed the same questions asked of Benson.

Pepper stated that her response was from the perspective of the council. The city has been receiving its legal services through a contract with Morris Law. The council voted to terminate that contract, Pepper said.

“I voted to terminate the contract because I believe that this is in the best interests of the residents of Black Diamond,” Pepper said.

Pepper also wrote that Morgan and herself were reviewing the council’s legal options and plan to propose future steps for the April 21 council meeting.

“We are looking forward to new contracts for legal services that will better address all of the city’s goals and requirements,” Pepper said.

Paying the city’s bills

Whether the city or the council has the power to pay the bills has become another contentious issue, one that nearly resulted in the city paying its bills late, according to the city’s Financial Director May Miller in an April 13 phone interview.

Miller said she had never seen a situation like this in her 39 years in working with city finance.

This power struggle over bill payments started during the March 17 council meeting when Weber took the claim checks off the council’s consent agenda and sent them to the Budget and Finance Committee for discussion.

Weber said during the meeting he pulled the claim checks because the Budget and Administration Committee, which Weber chairs, has found the city does not have the legal authority to authorize checks and bill payments before the council approves them.

Weber then asked whether or not the claim checks on the consent agenda were already paid.

The mayor replied she assumed all claims have been paid, as that is the city’s standard procedure. Miller was not at the April 7 meeting to give an answer, Benson said, because the finance director was not requested to attend.

However, Miller said later in an April 13 phone interview that there were bills that needed to be paid that night.

More than $134,000 in bills in the March 17 consent agenda needed checks sent out March 18, or the city risked late fees.

According to Benson, these bills would have been paid late if the city did not have the authority under Ordinance 08-850 to pay all bills before council approval.

According to this ordinance (and Black Diamond Municipal Code 3.23.030), the finance director, the city administrator, the city clerk or the mayor has the authority to authorize checks and pay bills before the city council approves the claims as long as three conditions are met.

First, the finance director must submit to the council a listing of all claim checks during council meetings.

Second, the finance director, the city administrator, the city clerk and the mayor must provide a fidelity bond (a bond guaranteeing honesty) for $50,000.

Third, the council must have adopted contracting, hiring, purchasing and disbursing policies that implement effective internal control.

But Weber said during the March 17 meeting that the Budget and Finance Committee has not found record the council has implemented contracting, hiring, purchasing and disbursing policies. Weber asked staff to help the council find those records.

Weber further expanded his reasoning during the April 7 meeting, saying the mayor has not given evidence of the fidelity bonds to the council.

Benson, during the March and April meetings and in an interview April 14, said the city still has the authority to pay bills without council approval, even if the resolution passes council after it comes out of committee.

“We have several ordinances that dictate how the city bills are paid,” Benson said. “Even though they have a resolution out there, the ordinance is law… a resolution that they pass to try and stop my spending powers cannot override an ordinance. A resolution is not law. An ordinance is law.”

Benson also said she has provided to Weber evidence of the bonds and council policies that are needed for the city to authorize payments before council approval.

“We have a million dollar policy for theft and crime,” Benson said. “We have confirmed with the insurance company that this will cover those people who have signature authority (authority to approve bill payments).”

And according to Benson, Ordinance 14-1035 gives the council contracting, hiring, purchasing and disbursing powers and she has sent all of these documents to Weber.

In an email sent to Benson March 29 and attached to the resolution, Weber wrote, “As a follow-up to some questions raised with regard to Black Diamond Ordinance 08-850, I am requesting documentation and/or documented processes that satisfy the three requirements of Black Diamond Municipal Code 3.23.030. I am looking for more than just the ‘generalized’ Black Diamond Financial Policies.”

Weber confirmed during the April 7 meeting that he has received various emails containing information about these policies and the bonds from Benson but he is still looking through the city’s 60-page insurance policy.

Weber did not return the Courier-Herald’s request for an interview after a message was left for him.