SeaTac lawmakers approved on April 25 combining their study sessions with regular council meetings.

Beginning May 9, the council will have one meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.

Previously, lawmakers met at 5 p.m. to hear presentations and discuss legislation. No votes were taken. Then, at 6:30 p.m., the council members debated and voted on proposed legislation at their regular business meeting.

Mayor Gene Fisher said lawmakers will discuss legislation before voting, but the time between meetings would be eliminated.

Executive sessions that are closed to the public will be held before or after the single public meeting, instead of between study sessions and regular meetings.

The new schedule will also allow more public comment, Fisher noted.

Before, public comments were taken at the start and end of the two meetings. Under the new schedule, residents may address lawmakers at the beginning of the single meeting, before the consent agenda is enacted. and before unfinished business is voted on.

Deputy Mayor Ralph Shape added that if any council member objects to a vote on an ordinance, the resolution would be carried forward two weeks to the next public meeting.

However, Councilman Joe Brennan, the only lawmaker to vote against the change, declared, “We have become too efficient for our own good.”

He said legislation could be presented at a subcommittee and be approved at the regular meeting in one day without proper notification to residents.

Residents Joe Dixon and Pat Carter also spoke against the change.

“I would use the word, ‘railroad,’” Dixon said.

Carter said citizens need time to study pending legislation and read about it in a newspaper before forming their opinions.

“I think this is wrong,” Carter added.

Eric Mathison can be reached at hteditor@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1855.