Islanders, as we’ve proven time and again, take a keen interest in public participation.

In fact, Saturday’s environmental conference was largely devoted to the question of how local

eco-activists might better bend the ear of government.

And when talk turned inevitably to our newly invigorated city council – three freshman members, pounding pulpits hither and yon with their perceived mandate to shake up the way the city does business – several urged citizens to (what else) attend more meetings. But not the twice-monthly, Wednesday evening council face-offs – the less publicized committee discussions.

Freshman Councilman Bill Knobloch told folks in no uncertain terms that the council’s real work is going to be taking place in committee. His comments were echoed by Councilwoman Deborah Vann, who noted that professional builders (gasp!) have been frequenting land use committee meetings; any citizens who wanted to offset their dire influence had best make time to do likewise.

Now, for the benefit of those who don’t frequent city hall with the same zeal on display Saturday, the council maintains five standing committees – land use, finance, public works, operations and community relations – and several others (capital facilities, comprehensive plan review) that get together as needed. And even before the comments of Mr. Knobloch and Ms. Vann, this newsroom had observed a certain sea-change away from policy discussions before the full council, toward the smaller gatherings.

So we asked chair Michael Pollock for his thoughts; he responded that he hasn’t noticed an “intentional shift,” and credited Mayor Darlene Kordonowy with running tighter council meetings. And while committee meetings are open “so the public can better observe the decision-making process,” Pollock said, he added somewhat cryptically that they “are

generally not forums for public comment,” and “are really for the council to conduct its internal affairs.”

Now, “internal affairs” isn’t exactly how we’d describe the public policy-making process, but whatever. If the council, for purposes of efficiency or shorter meetings, wants to hammer out more issues in committee, that’s fine. But it’s incumbent that they keep citizens – all of them, not just those allied with council members on environmental matters – in the loop.

Because whatever their other merits, committee meetings are not citizen-friendly. Of the council’s five standing committees, four meet during the day, making them inaccessible to those unable to leave work. The fifth is generally held upstairs at city hall at 5:30 p.m., long after the building’s doors and gates are locked – not an arrangement that inspires a lot of confidence in openness.

This newspaper will begin publishing council committee agendas, if the city will provide them. Public comment must be guaranteed. Also needed is a regular accounting of committee activity, through detailed minutes or – much better, in our view – more city support for Bainbridge Island Broadcasting, to have more meetings taped for the community access station.

No doubt some councilmembers see more efficiency working “in committee.” We suspect others would just like to keep some debates off-camera, and use committees to quietly kill off unpopular legislation or projects.

They can prove us wrong (or right) by keeping the process open for scrutiny – and by welcoming all.