Clyde Hill News: Police report sidewalk robbery, 3 domestic violence arrests in June
Also: State auditor comments on city “misappropriation of public funds” incident; disclosure rules, land use code update changes ahead
An elderly woman was robbed while walking on a sidewalk in Clyde Hill. According to Clyde Hill PD, an unknown assailant ripped a necklace valued at $6,000 from the woman’s neck. Clyde Hill police officers also made arrests in response to three separate domestic violence calls in the city.
More details from June’s police blotter below, as well as updates from last week’s city council meeting about disclosure policies and land use code changes. But first, state auditors in a “preliminary draft” report wrote that their
audit found the City [of Clyde Hill] did not have adequate internal controls over electronic payments to protect public funds. Specifically, in 2023 the City reported a phishing incident related to misappropriation of public funds. The City made one payroll payment totaling $4,318 to a fraudulent bank account.
The auditors noted that city staff have taken steps to improve controls since the loss, and recommended additional measures. You can watch the full presentation to the council meeting here (link). No date was offered for the release of the final report.
Disclaimer: while I am a council member on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the city. City information and references here are from public sources. I welcome email responses — and if the topic is about city business I will respond from my city email account.
Robbery, domestic violence, and reckless driving
The June 2024 police report is now available to the public (link). Public disclosure and discussion were delayed when the July city council meeting moved from July 9th to the 30th because of scheduling conflicts.
This newsletter digs into the police blotter a few times a year. For context on this report, Clyde Hill is a remarkably safe city with a state-accredited police department and engaged residents who value public safety. I welcome reader feedback on how to cover law enforcement issues. As I’ve written previously (link), I want to avoid tabloid-style, “if it bleeds, it leads” (link) coverage.
“Strong arm” robbery
From CHPD’s June 2024 report:
“Elderly female was walking on sidewalk when unknown vehicle stopped and female suspect got out. Suspect put a necklace on the victim’s neck, then distracted the victim by yelling, switched It with hers & ripped it from her neck. Necklace valued at approx. $6000.”
The term “strong arm” appears in the report, and appears to reflect the threat or use of violence in the commission of the alleged crime.
Domestic violence
Police made arrests in three separate cases of alleged “Domestic Violence Assault 4.” According to one source:
DV Assault 4 is a gross misdemeanor in WA State and a conviction can result in up to 364 days of jail time, loss of gun rights, and a $5000 fine. Substance abuse treatment, community service, home detention, and anger management classes can also be court ordered. (link)
Reckless driving and collisions
On 84th Ave NE, near NE 12th St, an
“Officer stopped 2 vehicles after racing and cited both for Reckless Driving. Charges Forwarded.”
Separately, near 92nd Ave NE and SR-520, an officer “stopped vehicle and driver for Reckless driving. Forwarded for charges.”
There were two notable collisions in the June report:
“Driver crashed into the gas pumps after losing control of the vehicle”
“Driver fell asleep at the wheel, hit the rock in the intersection and landed in the shrubs. Vehicle destroyed a FLOCK camera system, cracked the pavement and rearranged the large boulders.”
Agency assists
The June report describes three agency assists from Clyde Hill PD, including one in Bellevue concerning a “robbery call at a gas station involving a handgun.” Separately, Clyde Hill PD provided drone assists to Mercer Island as well as Kirkland.
During the meeting, Cm Ryan Olson asked Clyde Hill Police Commander Dawn Hanson whether the police department charges other agencies for assists or if “we just comp that.” (link) Cmdr. Hanson clarified that Clyde Hill does not charge other agencies.
Local police agencies (Clyde Hill, Medina, Bellevue, Mercer Island) often help each other on calls. For example, this newsletter reported on a Bellevue PD canine unit assisting Clyde Hill PD track down a robbery suspect (link) and a Clyde Hill PD officer assisting Bellevue PD with an arrest for assault (link).
Changes to the process of land use code updates
Here’s a brief recap of actions taken at last week’s council meeting related to land use code updates. There’s a “big picture, from a resident’s point of view” discussion to be had on this topic… I’ll defer that to a future issue because this one is already getting too long.
For context, “land use code” refers to the rules for developing real estate in Clyde Hill, like minimum lot size, heights, setbacks, and view protections. Sometimes the city uses the term “development regulations” or “planning” work (as in “planning commission”) for this topic.
Recall of proposed changes
Council agreed by a 5-0 vote to recall three proposed land use code changes from the planning commission. In doing so, council followed the recommendation from city staff and the mayor. Council will work with staff to provide more specific guidance and structure to the planning commission about the proposed changes.
Council doing more of the work
Council agreed by a 3-2 vote to a change that would permit the council to take on more land use code update work directly. The council can now elect to address some development regulation updates and amendments on its own and not refer them to the planning commission.
The language that the council approved reflects feedback from council members at a previous meeting. It’s worth noting that any change to the land use code requires public notice and a public hearing, and that the mayor has the authority to veto a change.
Hearing view complaints
Council agreed by a 4-1 vote to revise the view ordinance code so that the city’s Hearing Examiner, and not its planning commission, will make decisions when residents bring a view complaint to the city. This change increases consistency in the city’s appeals processes. In 2018, the city moved to a professional Hearing Examiner rather than a “Board of Adjustment” made up of residents to make decisions related to certain applications and appeals (link) by residents.
The city attorney noted that hearing a complaint related to specific properties is “quasi-judicial” and quite different from the planning commission’s typical “legislative recommendation” role (link):
“It’s a very structured process that requires, or benefits from, expertise of the Hearing Examiner…. there’s also a risk of having inexperienced, non-judicial, non-judge Commissioners trying to run, essentially, a courtroom… and you can end up with appeals and they cost even more money than having a Hearing Examiner.”
City staff and the attorney will follow up with draft language as well as making sure that fees and contracts for this change are in place appropriately.
Ethics: personal interest and public disclosure
In response to resident concerns about possible conflicts of interest, the council discussed guidance from the city attorney about what council members should do when legislation under consideration could benefit them directly. As an example:
Does having a sports court (or complaining about noise from sport courts) disqualify a city council member from engaging in discussion and voting on legislation about noise ordinances and sports courts?
Is there a conflict of interest because the “area-wide” change could benefit the council member directly?
The gist of the guidance from the city attorney was no, it is not disqualifying because legislation is “area-wide” and applies evenly to all properties and residents. Council members agreed that they should disclose when they have a personal interest in a matter.
The meeting packet reproduced guidance from the city attorney to a planning commissioner (link) who inquired about a potential conflict of interest:
The fact that your personal property was affected by this very issue… would not disqualify you [from engaging] in any way. Each planning commissioner likely owns property in Clyde Hill, and each, arguably has in the past or may in the future find their property affected by this… provision. Obviously, we could not disqualify all commissioners who own property in Clyde Hill from addressing this issue.
The example of a sports court noise complaint reflects allegations raised by Cm Sinwell’s opponent during the fall 2023 election. The specific claim was that by engaging in an “area-wide” change that also directly affected their property, a council member was somehow seeking a “special privilege.”
In discussing how to codify this guidance, Cm Olson asked about “teeth,” or enforcement and consequences to council members who do not disclose an interest. Cm Olson is one of two council members on the Rules & Guidelines committee responsible for proposing specific enforcement language. The council discussion of this topic ended with his partner on the Rules & Guidelines committee, Cm Lisa Wissner-Slivka, saying “Cm Olson and I need to work on the ‘teeth.’” (link) You can watch the full discussion here (link).
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Dean Hachamovitch