Clyde Hill News This Week
An experiment in distilling information from the weekly Administrator’s Report
Welcome to the first draft of what might become a weekly newsletter about what’s going on and how things work in the City of Clyde Hill! This week: chickens — and $12K, polluting less, and budgeting for public records
Context: A Feedback Loop
Over the last year, I've worked to get a better understanding of what the city does as well as how and why. In just about every interaction, there’s a slow trickle of information about recurring activity that is not well-explained to the public despite being for the public’s benefit and being paid for by the public. I’m trying to find ways to distill this information and make city government easier to understand and interact with.
The whole point is to get a feedback loop started. So, please tell me what you think.
Also: I’m running for Clyde Hill City Council because after the last year of learning and engaging on these topics, I really want to help City government get better at informing and listening to residents. We all win when that happens.
Thank you!
Dean Hachamovitch
www.votefordeanh.com
What is the Administrator’s Report?
Every Friday, Clyde Hill’s city staff sends the Mayor and City Council a report “of important information and/or updates on City-related business from that week.” Because last week’s just came out today (link to the original), and the previous week’s still hasn’t been published, this first edition is coming out a little later than expected. And that’s OK.
Chickens
At the last city council a resident asked about revisiting the city’s regulations on chickens in residents’ yards.
As promised, the city staff looked at the Fowl Code issue.
Ten years ago when the city last considered chickens in residents’ yards: “it was a highly contentious subject matter. Staff will not be looking into this topic further.”
So, they punted to the council members — which in some ways makes sense. This is a policy issue and the council sets policy. At the same time:
The city didn’t close the loop with resident; the resident found out when I sent them the weekly report.
Yes, good to know it was a contentious issue — but is that it? Is there anything else the council or residents should consider here? What was at the core of the decision last time? What do the cities around us allow on this issue?
The current ordinance (link) involves “chickens, roosters, ducks, geese, turkeys, or other domestic or wild fowls within the city of Clyde Hill. (Ord. 912 § 1, 2011)” as well as breeding. The resident asked about chickens. To me, this is either poor listening or poor reporting out of why all fowl are lumped together.
City business is supposed to be conducted in the open, not in secret. So, the guidance at the end (“If a Councilmember has a strong opinion contrary to this course of action, please contact the City Administrator or the Mayor directly”) seems… odd.
Another $12K
The city now anticipates a one-time $12K payout from the State “to offset the costs generated by law enforcement as a result of enacted legislation over the past 18 months.” (Criminal Justice Shared Revenue)
So, does this mean that the city has liberated $12K of budget to go into the ~$11m reserves? Or, that there’s some deliberate process for police and finance to go through and identify ways to use this? I sat in on the budget process last year, and am formally on the Budget Advisory Committee now, and I will offer that what happens now is really not clear.
Polluting Less, and the Federal Clean Water Act
The original notice describes “a campaign regarding stormwater” that will last months and involve sending residents postcards about a survey and involve the city’s website and social media. This has to do with the “City’s annual NPDES Permit Requirements.”
First, what is this about? Polluting less. The City of Redmond has a clear and easy to find explanation on their website: this is about actions by the city to “reduce the amount of polluted stormwater runoff flowing into our lake, river, groundwater, and streams.”
The permit requires the City to do a bunch of things including “provide outreach and education… to promote daily activities that reduce stormwater pollution” and “Inform and involve the public—give people the opportunity to weigh-in on how we meet permit requirements.”
I asked friends who have lived in Clyde Hill for a while and they had no idea about this. Having lived here for 20 years, I had no idea what this was about, and reading about this tipped me over into writing this mail.
Is the work here about activity or outcome? What is the measure of success in this effort?
Every month, there are a few items like this one — a recurring activity that is not well-explained to the public despite being for the public’s benefit and being paid for by the public.
Expect an Increased Budget Ask for Public Records Response
Our government doesn’t operate in secret. Anyone can make a public records request. This item reported that “So far this year the City has received a number of very large public records requests” and as a result “Council should expect to see an increase in certain line-items (particularly IT Support and Legal) in the 2022 Preliminary Budget as a result of this year’s activities.”
How do the requests compare to what the city expected and budgeted? How do they compare with the last two years? How do they compare — and how does the timeliness and cost of response compare — to our very similar neighbors (at least Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point).
Is there anything that we can do to anticipate common requests and just put the information on the web directly?
Two Open Positions
The Public Works Director position has been open for months, and a second position in city hall (Deputy City Clerk / Code Enforcement Officer) will open up at the end of the month.
Answers to some basic questions would be welcome. Over the last 2-3 years, how long has it taken similar cities (choose a measure — budget, population, etc.) to find a Public Works director? As the position stays open, what isn’t getting done that residents should know about? In terms of how we got here, how long did the city know that the Public Works director was going to retire and when did they start the search?
Work that might affect road traffic
“Starting on or about August 9th, PSE will be undertaking work on their transmission lines near 84th & 12th. Information regarding this work will be provided to the public in the next few days.”