🌶️ A Spicy Mayorial Email & OPMA - North Bonneville May '26 Round-up

Enjoy the audio edition on Buzzsprout, or look for "Open Gorge" wherever you get your podcasts.

🏛 May 2026 Municipal Round-Up

Agencies Covered: North Bonneville City Council, North Bonneville Planning Commission

The Bottom Line: Internal governance, procedural friction, and state compliance dominated local meetings this month as officials navigated public comment protocols and state audit rectifications.

The Vibe: Procedurally tense but operationally focused, with a strong emphasis on getting the administrative house in order.

🔎 What Changed

• Council Leadership: Councilor Jeff Blakeley was formally appointed as Mayor Pro Tempore, and Ted Salka was appointed to the City Council.
• Planning Milestones: The Planning Commission unanimously approved the draft amendment for the Critical Areas Ordinance, advancing it to the state environmental review phase.
• Facilities Management: The city burn pile was closed indefinitely due to the unmanaged dumping of hazardous materials.

⚠ What Escalated

• Executive vs. Legislative Friction: A dispute over meeting decorum and agenda-setting procedures flared up after Mayor Tennison admonished a council member via email for interrupting a public commenter and making physical insults during an April special meeting.
• Financial Audits: The City Clerk and CPA are executing a "hard reset" on cash handling procedures to address recurring findings from the Washington State Auditor's Office.

🧭 What’s Next

• June 1, 2026: Deadline for public comments regarding the environmental scope of the Cascade Renewable Transmission (CRT) project.
• June 9, 2026: Continued public hearing for the Critical Areas Ordinance draft amendment at the City Council.
• Ongoing: Recruitment is open to fill North Bonneville City Council vacant seat #3.

North Bonneville City Council

⚖️ Governance, Decorum, and Agenda Control

• Mayor JB Tennison sent an official email reprimanding Councilor Margie Lee for her behavior during the April 14 Special Meeting.
• The reprimand specifically called out Lee for making jokes about resident John Mobley's height during public comment, and for repeatedly interrupting candidate Ted Salka during his formal interview for a vacant council seat.
• The Mayor's written reprimand—now part of the permanent public record—contained severe spelling and grammatical errors throughout.
• At subsequent meetings, Councilor Jeff Blakeley successfully read Chapter 4.4 of the Council Rules of Procedure into the record to enforce strict agenda-setting rules.
• Blakeley also introduced a proposal to shift public comments so that they occur immediately prior to each specific action item, rather than grouping them all at the beginning of the meeting.

The city is currently in an era of trying to improve their compliance and professionalization, reading parliamentary rules into the record, organizing state transparency training, and executing a "hard reset" on city finances. However, the day-to-day execution remains informal and messy. A councilor making casual jokes about a resident's physical stature on a hot mic resulted in the Mayor's attempt to enforce professional decorum via an official reprimand. But this reprimand email was itself riddled with basic spelling errors. The documents paint a picture of an administration that wants a highly procedural "Robert's Rules" environment, but is currently struggling with the basics of professional communication.

"The comment you made to John Mobel [sic] was rude and unprofessional... When Ted was being interviewed your [sic] interrupted him... In the feature [sic] I would hope you reframe [sic] from insulting The residence [sic] about their physical stature." — Email from Mayor JB Tennison to Councilor Margie Lee

⚡ Energy & Regional Development

• The Cascade Renewable Transmission (CRT) project has received a finding of significance, triggering an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
• Public comment on the scope of the EIS was open until June 1, 2026, following a public hearing on May 27.
• At the state level, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) is actively working to align the state (SEPA) and federal (NEPA) environmental reviews for the CRT project and is preparing formal government-to-government consultation letters with tribal nations.
• Skamania County has designated Asa Leckie as its specific EFSEC council member representative for the CRT project.
• Resident Mitch Patton submitted multiple written comments to the Council regarding contamination and PCB cleanup at the Bradford Island Superfund site.

The CRT project represents a massive piece of regional energy infrastructure. Because it has triggered an Environmental Impact Statement, the regulatory focus shifts heavily from local municipal zoning to state-level oversight. For Skamania residents, the June 1st local public comment deadline is just one gear in a much larger, multi-jurisdictional machine that EFSEC is currently coordinating between state, federal, and tribal entities. Having Asa Leckie formally seated at the EFSEC table gives Skamania County a direct voice in a process that otherwise legally preempts local land-use laws.

💰 Finance & Audits

• The City Clerk and a consulting CPA are initiating a "hard reset" of internal cash handling procedures.
• Staff is developing a comprehensive Master Fee Schedule.
• These actions are a direct response to historical and recurring findings from the Washington State Auditor's Office.

Municipalities that fail to resolve recurring state audit findings risk severe consequences, including reduced access to state grant programs or increased insurance premiums. By centralizing all civic costs into a Master Fee Schedule and overhauling cash handling, the city is attempting to eliminate the procedural ambiguities that lead to accounting errors, establishing a defensible paper trail for future state auditors.

North Bonneville Planning Commission

🗺️ Land Use & The Critical Areas Ordinance

• The Commission held a public hearing for the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) draft amendment on March 12, which received zero public comments.
• The Commission unanimously approved the CAO draft, advancing it to the SEPA comment period.
• Jackson Civil Engineering is finalizing its review of the Port of Skamania County's application for the Cascade Business Park.

The Critical Areas Ordinance is the primary legal mechanism cities use to balance economic development with environmental protection, dictating where and how construction can occur near wetlands, habitats, and geologically hazardous zones. Advancing this document out of the Planning Commission without public opposition removes a major hurdle, though the subsequent state environmental review may still identify blind spots in the city's ecological data before final adoption.

🏛️ Transparency & OPMA Training

• City staff announced a joint Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) training workshop for both the City Council and Planning Commission.
• Staff reminded commissioners that all their communications—including texts and emails—related to city business are subject to public disclosure laws.

Digital communications have increasingly become a liability for jurisdictions at all levels. Under state law, the platform used (e.g., a personal cell phone or private email) does not exempt a message from public disclosure if the content pertains to civic duties. Preemptive OPMA training is a standard risk-management strategy to prevent expensive public records lawsuits that frequently arise when officials improperly deliberate outside of an open public forum.

⚠️ Editor's Note: Broader Context

• The OPMA at Every Level: While North Bonneville is actively organizing training to keep its council compliant with the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), state legislators are grappling with the same friction. Substitute House Bill 2496 recently passed the state legislature, specifically allowing the full EFSEC council to meet with tribal councils without triggering OPMA violations, provided they don't make binding project commitments. Transparency laws frequently require structural adjustments as agencies scale their operations.
• State Auditor Findings: When the Washington State Auditor issues a "finding," it is a formal declaration of non-compliance with state law or accounting principles. While not a criminal charge, accumulating findings can signal severe organizational distress and jeopardize state funding.
• EFSEC Jurisdiction: Large-scale energy projects like the CRT line often fall under the jurisdiction of the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC). This state body can preempt local land-use laws, meaning final approval rests with the Governor rather than local city councils.

🛠 Jargon Buster

• OPMA (Open Public Meetings Act): A Washington state law requiring that all meetings of governing bodies be open to the public, ensuring transparency in decision-making.
• SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act): A state law requiring local governments to identify and evaluate the environmental impacts of a proposed project before granting permits or adopting ordinances.
• Variance: A legal exception granted to a property owner allowing them to bypass specific zoning regulations (like minimum lot size or setbacks) due to unique hardships tied to the property's physical characteristics.

How to Join & Learn More

• Next City Council Meeting: June 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall and via remote video conference.
• Agendas & Minutes: Available via the North Bonneville City Website.
• Public Comment: Written comments can be submitted to the City Clerk prior to council meetings or delivered in person during the designated public comment periods.

---

🍉 A Quick Gift for Gorge Parents

If you're already stressing about how to keep the kids fed, cool, and busy this summer without draining your bank account, we’ve got you. Over at Open Gorge, we’ve gathered all the fragmented county calendars and library flyers into one mobile-friendly list. From free USDA summer meals to check-outable state park passes, you can browse the Free & Low-Cost Summer Survival Guide right here. (opengorge.org/summer) And if your local organization is hosting a free event, fill out our contact form at the bottom of the directory to help us add it!