At the Oct. 12 meeting of the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners, South Kitsap Commissioner Charlotte Garrido abstained from voting on whether a national nonprofit should be allowed to lease county land for $10 a year in order to build a housing development for low-income seniors in Central Kitsap.
Garrido said she liked the project, but expressed concern that the county was collecting too little money for the land.
“That seems really low, and I’m wondering how those terms were reached,” she said.
Then she abstained from voting after fellow commissioners Steve Bauer and Josh Brown voted to approve the contract.
“I don’t want to oppose it, but in the future I would like a bit more say in the details,” Garrido said.
Since the resolution already had two yes votes, it passed regardless of Garrido’s non-vote. But I left the meeting questioning why a Kitsap County commissioner can abstain from a vote simply because she wants to.
I could not find abstention addressed in the county code, and board clerk Opal Robertson said that the county does not have a policy that directs the board on abstentions.
However, the situation is addressed in the Port Orchard Municipal Code (2.04.160), which requires voting by each council member:
“Each member present must vote on all questions put to the council, except as to matters with respect to which such council member has a personal financial interest; matters presented for council consideration by an entity other than the city in which the council’s determination is advisory only; or meeting minutes of a meeting the council member did not attend.”
I must say that I agree with the city’s code. Elected officials should do what they are elected and paid to do — make a decision, take a stand, and vote.