A Coupeville resident filed a petition against the Port of Coupeville Tuesday that claims two of the three commissioners violated the Open Public Meetings Act.

Diane Paul alleges the vote on July 8 to terminate negotiations with the Greenbank Farm Management Group is enough evidence that John Carr and Marshall Bronson acted outside of a public meeting.

Carr raised the motion, which was quickly seconded by Bronson without any discussion, Paul said. The third commissioner, Mike Diamanti, had no knowledge the vote was going to be made.

Paul alleges that the agenda item for the Greenbank Farm management contract negotiations didn’t specify the port was looking at terminating the discussions and that the action was invalid — as well as a breach of public trust — because it wasn’t advertised ahead of time.

“They were trying to pull wool over our eyes,” Paul said. “I want to send a message that people are watching. This is a citizen’s attempt to put them on notice that they have an obligation to their taxpayers.”

Paul filed her petition in Island County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, naming the port and commissioners Carr and Bronson individually.

When notified about the petition Tuesday, Bronson said he was surprised by the action.

“I hope she has some proof of that because we did not,” he said, referring to the allegation that the matter was discussed outside of a public meeting. “[The petition] is a visceral response because they don’t like what we did.”

Bronson said the port commissioners have been extra careful in refraining from discussing port business outside meetings.

Bronson said he and Diamanti appointed Carr to the board to help look at financial information.

“So when he made the motion, based on the information he was reviewing, it was not a surprise,” he said.

Bronson added that the day prior to the July 8 meeting, the port was advised by its lawyer not to sign the proposed agreement with the management group.

“I felt perfectly comfortable seconding that motion,” Bronson said. “There were so many problems, it was not satisfactory.”

Paul is asking the courts to nullify the July 8 decision and award her filing costs and any “further relief this court deems proper.”

Paul has lived in Coupeville for eight years and has spent 30 years working in international human rights issues. Prior to moving to Coupeville, Paul lived in Tennessee, where she challenged the government on Sunshine Laws at the local level, suing her county and school district over public meeting violations.

“It’s a First Amendment Right to petition the government,” Paul said. “So it’s a First Amendment issue and that is very important to me.”

Paul paid the $240 filing fee and has contacted the state Attorney General’s Office and Coalition for Open Government.

“I think people will come out with more information,” Paul said. “I think we should challenge it legally at any case.”