Another shoe dropped Tuesday at the Kent City Council meeting following a violation of the state’s open public meetings act because of a letter signed by four council members.
The letter was published in the Oct. 21 edition of The Kent Reporter and was signed by Council President Jamie Perry as well as council members Elizabeth Albertson, Deborah Ranniger and Debbie Raplee.
Because a quorum of four council members signed the letter, it should have been discussed and signed in an open public meeting.
Perry took responsibility for the letter and the violation in an Oct. 28 article published in The Reporter and Tuesday night she stated she was removing herself from the council’s Operations Committee for the violation.
Albertson will fill Perry’s position on the three-member committee.
“It was a mistake on my part to send something that had four signatures,” Perry said. “Therefore I take full responsibility for that mistake. I unfortunately left the meeting early and intended to gather signatures during my council president report. Obviously, I failed to do so and first of all I want to apologize.”
Perry said she would then treat herself like any other council member and was “stepping off the Operations Committee.”
The letter centered on a debate concerning $4.9 million collected by the city after the formation of the Kent Regional Fire Authority in July 2010.
The letter was written in response to a letter written by Jim Berrios, published in the Oct. 7 edition.
The issue concerning the property tax has been a hotly debated subject for months.
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