The Renton Community has a vital interest in Renton Technical College. We also have a strong interest in transparency in government actions, and the open public meetings act.
I am aware that the Renton Technical College Board of Trustees has asked the college president to submit his resignation, and yet to date I have not been able to find any public record documenting the deliberations/voting that lead up to this request.
The Board of Trustees Website says the following:
If the Board has been following an announced agenda, it would be nice to see a link to it on this website.
Furthermore, I would like to see a published agenda for the next meeting of the board, consistent with the open public meetings act.
I would respectfully request that the board provide an opportunity for audience comment, and a large enough meeting space to accommodate a large showing from the community.
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RCW 42.30.110, covering Executive sessions, states in part:
…discussion by a governing body of salaries, wages, and other conditions of employment to be generally applied within the agency shall occur in a meeting open to the public, and when a governing body elects to take final action hiring, setting the salary of an individual employee or class of employees, or discharging or disciplining an employee, that action shall be taken in a meeting open to the public;
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Finally, I am still in doubt as to whether the Board’s actions to date have been compliant with the open public meetings act. Since the hiring and firing of the college president are by statute the number one responsibility of the College Trustees, and no such hiring or firing has been done for nine full years, it seems like this act should be done during a month when meetings are normally held, when the community is notified, when the meetings are announced, when students and faculty are available, and when the public has had an opportunity to understand the underlying issues.
Conversely, accomplishing such a significant act during the peak of summer, with little to no notice, is a disservice to the community. I would strongly encourage you to delay your next meeting on this topic until the public has had more time to prepare.
Thanks,
Randy Corman