Lack of pants at meeting causes Asotin city councilor to cut his tenure short

ASOTIN — An Asotin city councilor resigned Tuesday night over a lack of pants at a public meeting.

Joe Appleton, who served more than 10 years on the council, said he objected to three of his fellow councilors wearing shorts to a city council meeting. The casual attire violates Robert’s Rules of Orders, he said.

“Some of those guys showed up in dumpster-diving outfits, and it bothered me,” Appleton told the Tribune. “We have rules for a reason, but none of that seems to matter anymore.”

Councilors Steve Cowdrey, Dave Weakland and Mervin Schneider were wearing shorts at Asotin’s meeting — the first one that’s been open to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic put a limit on gatherings.

Mayor Dwayne Paris said all social distancing protocols were followed and only one visitor was present. No one was wearing a mask, but that isn’t what caused Appleton’s abrupt exit.

“I wish we could’ve shook Joe’s hand and thanked him for his years of service,” Paris said. “He chose to go out with a bang, which is unfortunate. He just got up and walked out. He wanted the offending council members kicked out of the meeting. It’s not like they were holding guns and smoking, so I just said ‘denied’ and ‘noted for the record.’ ”

Appleton, a 63-year-old retired master millwright, said he was already planning to resign. He and his wife, Irene, have sold their home in Asotin and are moving to Oak Harbor in a month to be closer to their grandkids.

However, he decided to call it quits as soon as he saw the casual attire, which goes against the dress code in the rule books.

“There’s a lot of good people on the council,” Appleton said in a phone call after the meeting. “I don’t have any hard feelings. I just don’t think what those guys were wearing is suitable for public meetings. I’ll miss working with Lori Loseth. She’s an intelligent lady. Merv’s been a big help with the cemetery cleanup.”

Appleton said the council accomplished a lot during the past decade, including upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant, improvements to Second and Fourth streets and establishing the city’s own municipal court system.

“I’m going to miss Asotin,” he said. “It’s filled with a lot of good and upstanding people.”

Paris said the council sat about 8 feet apart this week and got a lot accomplished after weeks of being stalled by the coronavirus.

“It’s time that we met and got our business done,” Paris said. “We are doing our due diligence, but at the same time, it’s time to get the government back to work for the people. We limited our exposure and got our business done for the month.”

Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2264. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.