The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA—At the Walla Walla City Council meeting held on June 24, plans were outlined for three, possibly four, virtual Town Hall meetings. The meetings will be held in July and August to address public concerns over a variety of law enforcement issues.

Council members were all in agreement with the need to schedule the meetings “sooner, rather than later,” and opted for the virtual meeting plan due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

The plan came as a response to local protests, rallies, phone calls, and over 1,891 emails received relating to issues arising from the death of George Floyd, demands by Black Lives Matter Walla Walla, and a Marine memorial tattoo that Walla Walla Police Officer Nat Small has on his forearm.

The tattoo in question incorporates a double lightning bolt “SS,” a historic symbol of Nazi White supremacy, used by the Scout Snipers until the Marine Corps denounced the symbol in 2012. Outrage over the symbolism erupted on the department’s social media pages after the tattoo was revealed in photos online.

The meetings will cover police practices and procedures, police funding, Officer Small’s tattoo, and public statuary that some find offensive, according to Mayor Tom Scribner.

The first session will be held on Thursday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. and intends to provide detailed information about the issues at hand.

The plan for this online meeting provides Police Chief Scott Bieber the opportunity to speak and address issues of police funding, policies, and procedures. City Attorney Tim Donaldson is scheduled to speak regarding employee regulations regarding tattoos and body art.

City Manager Nabiel Shawa may also speak with respect to the budget—perhaps outlining the differences between the City’s general fund and the enterprise fund; as well as detailing the amount of the general fund that is awarded to the police department. This meeting is expected to last two hours. The meeting will not include an option for public commentary.

The second virtual Town Hall meeting will take place on Thursday, July 23, and is intended: “To allow the citizens to have an opportunity to speak, to ask questions, or to make suggestions of things they want to change, etc.” said Scribner. The City Councilmembers, Bieber, Shawa, and Donaldson will listen in on these important issues at this meeting.

Council members expect this session to last three hours and discussed various plans to provide opportunities for citizens to have their comments heard within a three-minute time limit.

The third meeting will take place either on August 13 or 20, with the goal of providing the city council, the city manager, the police chief, and others to respond to the issues and announce if they want to implement any changes.

“Hopefully, we will show that we as a city council and city government have been as responsive as possible, as transparent as possible, to various interests and inputs as possible, and we want to satisfy as many people as possible,” said Scribner.

Councilmember Yazmin Bahena proposed that a visual aid, such as a PowerPoint, be included as part of Bieber and Donaldson’s presentations.

The third town hall will not have a public comment period, however, Scribner did suggest that this session might lead to a fourth Town Hall.

Scribner took a moment at the end of the vote to comment, “I want to thank the citizens, the 1800-plus who have taken the time to send us the emails. I know these are trying times politically, health-wise, and for a variety of reasons, and we appreciate you taking the time to let us know what your thoughts are. We hope that you will not be too critical of the city council for how we have decided to proceed."

With this series, the council hopes to allow citizens to be heard and city officials and those in position of authority to address issues raised by the public. Scribner thanked those in attendance for making this a ‘democracy in action’ as he and the council continue to try and make it work.