City business or Trump speech?

When is it appropriate for an elected official to skip their duties?

That was a point of discussion at the Medical Lake City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 5, after one councilman chose to skip the meeting to instead watch the State of the Union address.

The council was a total of three members shy Tuesday. Councilwoman Laura Parsons was home tending to a sick child. Councilman Don Kennedy was vacationing in Hawaii. And Councilman Ted Olson chose to stay home to watch the president’s address.

His absence and the underlying reason for it sparked a question from freshman Councilman Tony...