Clyde Hill News: Police ticket driver going 72 MPH
Progress on rat issue; activist complaint raised months ago in public comment
This week, a look at the city’s most recent first-responder reports.
Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services represent a little over half the expenditures in the city’s budget and are a key factor in the area’s high property values (along with stunning views, prime location, and Bellevue schools).
Ahead of that update: city staff reported that the owner of the Clyde Hill property at the center of a neighborhood’s significant rat issue responded to them last week:
She is taking action to comply with the 05/02/25 Notice of Violation including hiring a junk removal service and rat exterminator. We will continue to monitor and work with the property owner, as well as the County, until the cleanup and rat extermination process has been completed. (link)
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.
Police, Fire, and EMS
Briefly: the May updates from Clyde Hill PD (link) and Bellevue Fire Department (link) capture what typically happens around the city.
One issue that is emerging: electric bicycles.
Officers have been contacting Ebike riders in the community and letting them know the rules of the roads as well as where they can, and can’t ride (school track and field for example).
The “Issued Ticket Report Summary” at the end of the report recaps speeding tickets, including one driver alleged to have been traveling 48 MPH over the speed limit.
Other items from the police report include:
Clyde Hill PD provided drone assistance to other agencies in locating a driver that fled on a traffic stop, a possible burglary suspect, and a suicidal subject. Another officer “assisted a juvenile having a mental health crisis and was able to get her assistance at a hospital.”
Two motor vehicle thefts were reported: “Owners returned from vacation and their vehicle had been stolen,” and a “truck that was full of tools.” The “truck was later recovered by another agency and driver arrested.”
An “officer found 2 mailboxes that had been broken into. Advised owners and report taken.”
An officer responded when a dog bit an Amazon driver. The “driver had minor injuries; report taken and forwarded to animal control.”
Of the twenty calls to Bellevue Fire and EMS from Clyde Hill, most of them were for medical services:
Also of interest: two calls handled by “Bellevue CARES:”
In recent years, a number of fire agencies throughout the country have established community outreach and assistance programs often known by the acronym CARES (Community Advocates for Referral and Education Services). This internal referral service, utilized by the Bellevue Fire and Police departments, is a truly innovative way to reach residents in our community outside of the 911 emergency system. (link)
Activist complaint
Thank you to the reader who pointed out FutureWise’s January 2025 public comment in relation to its April complaint against the City of Clyde Hill (link).
In its January comment (link), the activist organization raised concerns that closely mirrored the formal complaint it later filed. In April, FutureWise submitted a Petition for Review to the state’s Growth Management Hearings Board, alleging that Clyde Hill’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update contains “significant compliance issues.”
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Dean Hachamovitch