The Vancouver City Council closed the books Monday on a reprimand for Councilwoman Jeanne Harris, who was at the center of a series of hostile exchanges at a Sept. 13 council meeting that ended in her telling another councilwoman to "shut up."



The six other members voted to give Harris a letter of reprimand and remove her from committees on which she represents the council until 2012.



At the Sept. 13 meeting, Harris accused Councilwoman Jeanne Stewart of colluding with a political group and demanded that Mayor Tim Leavitt gavel down a member of the public. She confronted Stewart again after the meeting.





Harris was absent from Monday's meeting because she is traveling in Germany on a fellowship, but she responded to the decision by e-mail. She asked the council and community to accept her "sincerest heartfelt apology" and said the council's decision was the right one.

Documents

The City Council ethics committee report and Councilwoman Jeanne Harris' response are posted online

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"There are no words to describe how I feel about what happened," she said.

Leavitt said he accepted Harris' apology and said she is a good policymaker who cares about the community.

"We all have tough days where we say or something or do something we wish we didn't say or do," he said.

Stewart said she wants the council to return its attention to issues such as preparing the budget and replacing Vancouver's retiring city manager.

"I look forward to completing this business tonight and looking forward hopefully to the future and returning to our important work," she said.

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