Clyde Hill News: Police: WA last in nation in officers per capita; Clyde Hill below average
Also: Administration recommends update to fire hydrant code
Some items of interest for Clyde Hill residents from Tuesday night’s city council meeting and Friday afternoon’s budget meeting:
Clyde Hill police responded to repeated questions from residents during the budget process about “how many officers do we need” and “how much police can we afford” with an analysis, including data about officers per capita. City councilmembers expressed their support for maintaining current service levels for police and other city services.
City staff recommended a change to the city’s fire hydrant code. The recommendation reflects the Administration’s longstanding policy of not enforcing the hydrant code currently on the books, as the City of Bellevue operates and maintains fire hydrants located in Clyde Hill. Some residents expressed concerns based on a misunderstanding of the proposed change, which has been under discussion for months.
The Administration revised its cost estimate for responding to public records requests during 2022 to over $116,000 from an earlier figure of ~$98,000. Over a third of all public records requests to City Hall during 2022 came from a single resident, according to discussion at the meeting.
One request ahead of our disclaimer and details on these news items: 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.
Defunding the police?
The short version is no, there are no plans to defund the police.
During the development of the 2023 budget, some residents on the Budget Advisory Committee asked repeatedly about police staffing levels. Here’s one resident asking “how many officers do we need” and “how much police can we afford:”
Part of the context here involves the City’s planned ~$490K budget deficit this year. The city’s budget operated with deficits in 2020, 2021, and 2022 as well. More information about the city’s budget deficit issues is available here (link).
51st in the nation…
Police submitted a report, “7th Officer” (link), about police staffing as part of the agenda for a meeting on Friday about how to address the budget problem.
The report describes the realities and challenges of fielding and retaining a responsive, highly-trained police force for a small community. It notes that
Larger departments in our immediate area and throughout the region have higher rates of pay and benefits than Clyde Hill. The bigger departments have a greater opportunity for specialization in attractive areas in law enforcement that simply do not exist in Clyde Hill.
Distressingly, the report calls out that Washington state is 51st (behind all the other states and Washington DC) in officers per capita, fielding 313 per 100,000 residents (or 0.313%).
and below average for 51st place
The report points out that Clyde Hill’s staffing is the equivalent of 190 officers per 100,000 residents (or 0.190%), far behind Washington’s last place number:
With the staffing of seven officers plus the Lieutenant and Chief, the Clyde Hill Police Department is running nine commissioned officers per approximately 4713 residen[ts](servicing Clyde Hill and Yarrow Point), or .190%.
Councilmember Bruce Jones thanked the police, and Councilmember Steve Friedman expressed his support for maintaining current service levels across all city services, including police.
Fire Hydrants
Briefly: city staff recommended an update to the municipal code regarding fire hydrants. Staff also recommended that the city council approve an ordinance with the amended text next month.
The new text proposed by the administration reads:
“Fire hydrant visibility and clear zone requirements shall be in general accordance with standards as detailed by the City of Bellevue Utilities Department and the International Fire Code (IFC), as currently adopted or as subsequently amended.” (link)
At Tuesday’s meeting, city staff were clear and consistent that they do not enforce the city’s current code regarding fire hydrant visibility. There are no plans to begin enforcing it.
The City of Bellevue operates and maintains 5,950 fire hydrants, including the ~170 in the City of Clyde Hill. Discussion at Tuesday’s meeting from staff emphasized that Clyde Hill looks to Bellevue regarding fire hydrants. The proposed code change reflects that reality.
The discussion of the fire hydrant code is the result of the Mayor’s June 2022 statement about city code and its enforcement. The Mayor invited Council to “repeal or, at the very least, amend those parts of the Code... in which there is no vested public interest or a public health/safety issue present.” According to the administration’s document, a revision to the fire hydrant code has been under discussion since August 2022. The current city code dates to 1973.
In general, city staff works with the city council to ensure “that policy aligns with practice by removing or amending code that is not being enforced.” For example, in January 2023, the city council and administration worked together on an update to another part of the city code that the administration does not enforce.
At least one resident expressed concern to the city council about the proposed change around fire hydrants. It appears that the concern was based on a misunderstanding that the change involved a change to the city’s fire code with an impact on safety.1
Thanks for reading! Please forward and share with your friends and neighbors, and if you are not already getting this newsletter, subscribing is both easy and free.
Dean Hachamovitch
Clyde Hill last changed its fire code in January 2021 at the recommendation of the City's building official (link). To be consistent with the City of Bellevue as well as Bellevue Fire Department's standards, Clyde Hill adopted “International Fire Code (2018 Edition, with Washington state amendments).”