LYNNWOOD, Wash., January 11, 2022 – Council President George Hurst is returning to his role as Lynnwood Council President for 2022, joined by Council Vice President Jim Smith reclaiming his role as Vice President.
At the Lynnwood City Council meeting January 10, Council Vice President Smith nominated George Hurst for Council President, seconded by Councilman Decker and voted unanimously in favor by council.
Councilwoman Sessions requested her name be removed from the Council Vice President nominations list before the council voted, nominating Councilwoman Altamirano-Crosby instead.
“I believe in leadership and I believe in opportunities. Lynnwood is so diverse so we must have someone in the leadership who represents the community that we serve,” Altamirano-Crosby said following her accepted nomination.
Council President Hurst nominated Council Vice President Jim Smith to reclaim his role based on his work as Vice President in the past.
“Last year has been an interesting year. I think that Council President Hurst and I work very well together. We keep each of us at bay when necessary and support each other when it is also necessary. It’s important to have council leadership that supports our council in general and also has the best interest of our city as a whole in mind,” Council Vice President Smith said.
Council voted in favor of Smith 4-3 with council members Jim Smith, George Hurst, Patrick Decker, and Shirley Sutton voting in favor and Shannon Sessions, Joshua Binda, and Julieta Altamirano-Crosby voting in favor of Altamirano-Crosby.
Council Liaison and Alternates for External Organizations
In addition to council president and vice president roles, the council voted on council liaisons and alternates for external organizations.
Councilman Binda was nominated by Council President Hurst for representative to the Alliance for Housing Affordability which passed unanimously.
Councilwoman Sessions nominated Mayor Frizzell for Community and Sound Transit Representative which passed unanimously.
Council Vice President Smith nominated Councilman Decker for the Tourism Advisory council, which passed unanimously following Sessions’ removal of herself from the nominee list.
Chief Jim Nelson was appointed as the police representative for Snohomish County 911 board. For the council position Councilwoman Sessions nominated Councilman Decker and Council President Hurst nominated himself based on his involvement with the position in the past.
Council President Hurst won the vote 4-3 with council members Smith, Sutton, Hurst, and Binda voting in favor of Hurst and council members Sessions, Decker, and Crosby voting in favor of Decker.
Council Vice President Smith nominated Councilwoman Altamirano-Crosby for Snohomish Health District board which passed unanimously.
Council Vice President Smith nominated Councilman Decker for Snohomish County Tomorrow which passed unanimously.
Council President Hurst also appointed the following council members for 2022 Council President Appointed Positions:
- Arts Commission – George Hurst
- Finance Committee – Josh Binda, Julieta Altamirano-Crosby, George Hurst
- Disability Board – Shannon Sessions, Jim Smith
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee – Shirley Sutton
- History and Heritage Board – Shannon Sessions
- Human Services Commission – Shirley Sutton
- Lynnwood Public Facilities District – Julieta Altamirano-Crosby
- Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts – Josh Binda
- Planning Commission – Patrick Decker
- Sister City Board – Julieta Altamirano-Crosby
- South County Fire – George Hurst
- Veterans – Shannon Sessions
Ordinance correction to add requirements for recordings and minutes timing
Following appointing council members to their new roles throughout the 2022 year, council discussed ordinance no. 3411, amending chapter 2.24.100 of the Lynnwood Municipal Code to add “all regular and special meetings must be recorded in audio or audio/visual format. Minutes must be published at least two weeks from the date of the approval.”
Councilman Binda motioned to postpone the vote until the next business meeting, February 14, in order to “discuss with staff members,” to fully assess the correction and better understand it. Binda’s motion to postpone the vote failed 6-1 with Binda being the only in favor vote.
“I don’t think it needs to be postponed, I think we can work through it,” Councilwoman Sessions said adding that the document is fluid and can be changed as needed.
Returning to the original vote to approve the ordinance, all council members were in favor of the amendment aside from Councilman Binda who dropped from the Zoom meeting before having the chance to vote. When he returned he decided to abstain from voting altogether.
Once Councilwoman Sessions questioned Councilman Binda’s decision to abstain from voting rather than voting no, Binda explained he was not at previous council meetings and wasn’t given the chance to discuss the topic with staff.
“Everybody has had the opportunity to be on the meetings, even those who hadn’t been elected yet. I’m just afraid that several votes will turn out like this. Hopefully you can get up to speed and educate yourself on all the future votes so that you can vote properly,” Councilwoman Sessions said.
Councilman Binda defended himself by saying he was busy “campaigning so [he] wasn’t able to keep up with this.”
