Pasco City Council passes on Serrano proposal to defy Gov. Inslee’s orders

PASCO, Wash.-- At Monday night's Pasco City Council meeting, council member Pete Serrano asked council to consider an ordinance he drafted that would re-open the city in opposition to emergency orders issued by Governor Jay Inslee.

Click here to see the full draft ordinance

Serrano planned to bring in the city's Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Commission (IDEC) to focus on how the governor's orders unfairly target minority groups, but IDEC Commissioner Jeffrey Robinson made it clear that the commission isn't interested.

"While I absolutely would love to have a conversation and delve into the concept of systemic racism in relation to the economy and the economic impact," Robinson told council during the virtual meeting, "and I would love to have People of Color drive that narrative to tell us just specifically what they need in our community, it doesn't seem as though we had an opportunity to do that."

Serrano expressed frustration that the Mayors of the Tri-Cities, including Mayor Saul Martinez, have written letters to Governor Jay Inslee's office that he says have gone virtually unnoticed, while local businesses-- including minority-owned business-- suffer.

Serrano's draft ordinance would have directed the City Attorney to look for ways to overrule the Governor's directives in an effort to protect the civil rights of marginalized populations in Pasco. The ordinance would still require businesses and individuals to exercise safety precautions, such as wearing masks and socially distancing. 

"In my dream world, we'd say, find a way to get all of our residents back to work tomorrow," Serrano said. "And not deem individuals non-essential, because that's an extremely inequitable term for any individual, in particular those who are already struggling."

After hearing testimony from several residents who spoke both in favor of Serrano's proposal and against, council opted to not move forward with adopting the proposal, and will instead explore more options for supporting struggling local businesses.

Earlier in the meeting, council also voted unanimously to begin reopening the city council meetings to limited numbers of the public, based on the occupancy of the city council chambers in relation to social distancing requirements, but will continue to allow council members and staff to attend meetings virtually if they would prefer.

You can watch the entire city council meeting here. The discussion about the proposed ordinance begins at 57:00.