May 2025 Knowing the Waters
In April, the Washington Court of Appeals issued a decision in West v. Walla Walla City Council , a case involving an alleged violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (“OPMA”).
April 2025 Knowing the Waters
In this month’s column, I cautiously dip my legal toe into the implications around recent federal funding actions. I say “cautiously” because I realize there are strong opinions on all sides of federal politics right now.
March 2025 Knowing the Waters
This past January I had the pleasure of attending WPPA 2025 Port Day in Olympia and observing WPPA Staff and members engage their state legislative delegations and other elected officials to advance the interests of ports all over Washington.
February 2025 Knowing the Waters
Does your port own buildings that are 20,000 square feet or larger? If so, between June 2026 and June 2028, your port will likely have to comply with Building Performance Standards (“BPS”) in the Clean Building Act, Chapter 19.27A RCW
January 2025 Knowing the Waters
Last month, at the Annual Meeting, WPPA honored an impressive list of new WPPA Life Members at Friday morning’s Awards Breakfast. Among the awardees was long-time WPPA General Counsel and author of Knowing the Waters – Frank Chmelik.
December 2024 – Annual Checklist
December is a month of making lists - holiday present lists, new year’s resolution lists, and the like. In keeping with the theme of making lists, this month’s column is an annual legal checklist of items that your ports should review annually.
November 2024 Knowing the Waters
On June 24, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a final rule on how special purpose district governments, including Washington ports, must make their website content and mobile apps readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities.
October 2024 Knowing the Waters
On June 24, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a final rule on how special purpose district governments, including Washington ports, must make their website content and mobile apps readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities.
September 2024 Knowing the Waters
Knowing the Waters – This month’s column discusses what restrictions ports can put on persons attempting to access port property.
August 2024 Knowing the Waters
Knowing the Waters – This month’s KTW blog post is going to look at some “best practices” for managing a contentious public meeting. We covered this topic in a bit more depth with the help of Commissioner Skip Novakovich of the Port of Kennewick at the recent Commissioner Seminar in Richland.