Clyde Hill News: Police Investigate City Hall Harassment Claims
Also, May Council Meeting “Study Session” Preview and more ducklings rescued
First, more duckling rescues, courtesy of Clyde Hill Police:
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One more item before our disclaimer: if you find this newsletter useful or interesting, please forward it to your Clyde Hill neighbors and friends. Thank you!
Disclaimer: while I am a councilmember 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. The 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.
About covering this story…
This newsletter exists because there simply wasn’t much coverage of issues important to the local community.
Writing positive stories like “City to fix 17th St stormwater problems” and “Resident offers petition to allow chickens as pets in Clyde Hill” (in the next issue!) is my preference much more than writing “City attempts to stick residents with stormwater repair bill” and “Residents upset with City’s unclear, inconsistent enforcement policies.”
The item below is in this week’s newsletter because while it is not a positive story at all, I think it’s important for our community to have the information.
I ran for office, and feel honored to serve as a councilmember, in order to help our City government earn the public’s confidence and trust. My hope is that we (the community, the City Administration, and the City Council) can learn from this incident and find ways to improve as a result.
Police Investigate City Hall Harassment Claims
Police in Medina and Clyde Hill conducted an investigation of Clyde Hill’s City Administrator, Dean Rohla, according to a police report obtained via public records request. The investigation was in response to a complaint of harassment.
The gist of the complaint involved reports of bullying and intimidation as well as allegations of other abusive and unprofessional behavior.
A prosecutor with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was quoted in the report stating that “he believed the case met the requirements for a civil harassment case and possibly a criminal case for discrimination.”
Possible “abuse of power;” criminal charges “unlikely”
Another government attorney quoted in the police report suggested a case against City Administrator Rohla “could possibly be abuse of power.”
Criminal charges are unlikely, because “to be considered criminal in nature, threats to the victim need to be present but are absent in [the] research into this case,” according to one officer’s statement in the report. “Throughout my review of the provided documentation, the provided emails and the described phone conversations with Rohla never involved any threat of harm,” according to the same officer.
“I do not feel safe interacting with Rohla. I will not meet with him 1:1 either in person or via video conf[erence],” according to a statement in the police report from the complainant. “I am concerned that if he’s going after me he may be harassing and/or abusing other city employees,” their written statement continued.
It is not clear, based on public information, if there are additional complaints or investigations of abuse or harassment at City Hall.
Tuesday Night’s City Council Meeting
Tuesday night, the City Council will hold another “study session.” You can find the agenda here (link).
From a resident’s point of view, the most interesting item will likely be whatever discussion happens concerning Code Enforcement. The agenda includes a memo from Councilmember Steve Friedman (link) describing another set of inconsistencies in enforcement and the lack of information provided to residents.
The Council will also vote on an ordinance “to require council confirmation authority over the city administrator position” (link) for future City Administrators. A memo discussed at a previous Council meeting described how Clyde Hill is currently the only city in King County whose mayor can appoint an administrator without council confirmation.
The memo from the City Attorney introducing the ordinance describes how “the city administrator position is unique within the city organization. The mayor selects a city administrator through an executive search process.”
The attorney’s memo continued that “It is my understanding that this process did not occur with Mr. Rohla’s selection.”
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Dean Hachamovitch