Clyde Hill News: Residents demand action on “Rat Infestation and Public Health Crisis”
Suspected poisoning claims life of neighborhood dog
Residents of Clyde Hill are demanding urgent intervention from city and county officials to address what they describe as an “out-of-control rat infestation” in their neighborhood. The crisis, which residents say has been festering for years, is now endangering children, pets, and public health—and spreading beyond the property in question.
“This is a public health disaster,” wrote Stefanie Bell in an email to city and county officials. “An exterminator has set 20 traps, all expected to be filled within a day.”
The infestation is reportedly affecting surrounding homes and yards. Ms. Bell wrote that her dog recently located an active rat hole on their property
that appears to be an entry point for rats coming from the neighboring property. I am now rushing to update her rabies vaccine and take precautionary measures—because your departments have not.
According to neighbor Wayne Burns, “We see rats every time we walk down the street.” He recounted a disturbing loss earlier this year:
“We lost one healthy six-year-old lab to a violent, convulsing, ugly death… likely due to poison exposure.”
A video shared with city officials this week shows rats visibly scurrying across the site:
Neighbors plan to appear at the June 10 City Council meeting to share more photos, videos, and testimony. Some have hinted at launching a broader media campaign if immediate action is not taken.
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.
Residents speak for themselves
The remainder of this newsletter focuses on giving residents a voice and sharing their words. There are many, many emails and messages among residents in addition to the emails between residents, city staff, and elected officials.
The most recent update available from the city on its website appears to be from May 23rd: “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)
I asked ChatGPT to select the most important parts of about 30 pages of resident emails shared with me; below are the excerpts1 it selected:
“You Have Lost the Plot”: Emails Reveal Growing Tension
Frustration is boiling over in direct emails between residents and city administration.
“[City Administrator] Dean [Rohla], I think you’ve lost the plot,” wrote one resident on May 29. “This is not about the impact on the property owner.”
That email and others reveal what residents see as a lack of seriousness and professionalism from officials:
“That you would make a comment that it would be better for all of us if somebody just put a match to the place. While the house is likely uninhabitable due to the rodent damage, this is a totally unprofessional comment and really makes me wonder if you are taking this matter seriously and have compassion for the poor individual that lives there.”
“We are already incurring costs for our own pest control. We are monitoring our pets and yards. We are documenting everything. This is your jurisdiction and your responsibility—and we are calling on you to meet it with the seriousness it now demands.”
“Truth vs. Fiction. Your statement of “What began as a front yard trash problem eventually became a side/ back yard trash problem, junk vehicle problem, interior problem, and finally a rodent colony.” is just flat out wrong. I have lived through this movie for years and it is pretty simple. The problem did not start in the front yard. It started in the house and when that got filled up he had to start putting the garbage outside as the house was full. It is really important to focus on the facts here if this problem is going to get addressed. I have plenty of pictures to document this if you want to see them.”
Below, longer excerpts of emails from neighbors of the rat infestation site.
Email to King County Environmental Health and City of Clyde Hill
From Stefanie Bell (May 29):
Dear King County Environmental Health and City of Clyde Hill,
I am writing as a neighbor directly adjacent to 2305 88th Avenue NE.
The rodent infestation and unsanitary conditions at this property have now escalated into a full neighborhood health crisis. My own dog has now located an active hole in my yard where rats are entering from this home.
I understand that the city has been aware of this issue for months, if not years, and that Wayne Burns and others have filed multiple complaints…. the property… has been described by exterminators as harboring a rat colony and by city officials as having conditions that may render it uninhabitable.
Rats are running into surrounding yards. Exterminators on-site described it as 10% of the colony visible in a doorway video. The “cleanup” company was unwilling to enter the house due to the danger….
The health risk to neighbors, pets, and children (there is a daycare nearby) is no longer speculative. It is active. This is gross negligence on the part of the city if allowed to continue.
“I find your actions today disturbing”
From Wayne Burns (May 27):
[City Administrator] Dean [Rohla] - I find your actions today disturbing on a number of fronts as outlined below.
First in your interaction in person with my wife.
You asked her if she had email and phone contact info for Sandra Sultan. It is beyond my comprehension that you would ask this after I have filed 6 formal complaints over the last 5 years and the current complaint has been open for more than 8 months at this point.
That you would make a comment that it would be better for all of us if somebody just put a match to the place. While the house is likely uninhabitable due to the rodent damage, this is a totally unprofessional comment and really makes me wonder if you are taking this matter seriously and have compassion for the poor individual that lives there.
It is both interesting and disappointing that you could not contact the owner today when my neighbor Janine Dyer called her this afternoon and got a call back later in the day….
[N]ow the City is going to give [the owner] a couple more weeks before doing anything. Whose decision is this and what is the logic behind it? Yours, the attorney, Kevin Anderson’s? Clearly the resident continues to play the city using the same playbook of do nothing, promise action and delay, delay, delay….
I find the following comment offensive.
I have reached out to our attorney working this issue and have been reminded that code enforcement is a process.
The code enforcement process does not happen overnight.
…
My neighbors and I have been incredibly patient throughout the last eight months but we need to see that this situation is being dealt with in the serious manner that it deserves based on the health hazard it presents to all of us. I had a neighbor approach me on the street today after seeing all the rats and ask me whether she needed to be worried about hanta virus. I honestly did not know what to tell her.
At this point my neighbors and I believe we have done everything we can to get this rectified as good citizens by Clyde Hill. I look forward to getting your response to my questions above. It seems like our only option after 8 months and your response today if this is not immediately addressed in a material manner is to go public with a full media campaign which we are fully prepared to do with both interviews and video.
Subject: Follow-up: Immediate Risk to Pets & Public Health—Failure to Escalate
From Stefanie Bell (May 29):
Following up on my email from last night, I need to speak plainly: this is no longer a situation for measured updates or cautious coordination. This is a public health emergency, and the response has been insufficient and disingenuous.
You say that pest control placed over 100 traps, yet no one has informed the surrounding neighbors of the type of poison being used. If a pet ingests something lethal, it will be on the hands of those who delayed serious enforcement.
In February, a dog across the street had a seizure. We didn’t connect the dots then, but now we are asking new questions. This infestation is not theoretical—it is spreading….
We are already incurring costs for our own pest control. We are monitoring our pets and yards. We are documenting everything. This is your jurisdiction and your responsibility—and we are calling on you to meet it with the seriousness it now demands.
Thank you for your response. We appreciate the update, but we need to be honest—this situation has reached a point where cautious optimism is not enough.
Our Concerns:
This has been going on for over five years. Temporary fixes followed by reversion to squalor have now escalated into a major public health crisis.
The rats are not just on one property anymore. They have infested the neighborhood. Families, pets, and children are at risk.
The owner has not granted access to inspectors. This is unacceptable and should trigger an urgent legal path to obtain a warrant or court order.
“Progress” is not the same as “compliance.” One hundred traps is not proof of remediation without independent verification.
Telling neighbors to hire pest control is a financial burden caused by someone else’s violations. That’s not acceptable.
What We Want:
Immediate formal inspection of the home’s interior—by any legal means necessary.
Set deadlines at the Monday meeting, and share them publicly. We expect hard dates, not “assessments.”
Official written commitment from the city and PHKC detailing what happens if the owner fails to meet the next benchmarks.
Consider condemnation or public abatement, especially if access continues to be denied or rodents spread further.
Financial accountability. If the city has to abate, the cost should be recouped from the property owner—not dumped on neighbors.
Subject: URGENT: Uninhabitable Hoarded Property Must Be Condemned – Rodent Breach Now Affecting Surrounding Homes
From Wayne Burns (May 29):
[City Administrator] Dean [Rohla] - I think you have lost the plot here as this is not about the impact on the property owner. I have included the whole council (3 were missed in your email), not just select council members as they all need to be on notice of the public health hazard that continues to exist. Not sure why you just included a couple council members and not all of them….
I could not disagree more with the part of your statement that is in bold: The City has been working closely with Public Health - King County & Seattle (PHKC) to avoid duplication of efforts by staff and undue hardship to the property owner.… You need to focus on the residents of 88th Avenue that are negatively impacted by this situation on a daily basis and not worry about the property owner….
Rats - You said they set up 100 traps. Wrong. I talked to the guy baiting the traps and he said he had 12 new boxes to bait with 12 traps per box or 144 traps. Everyone should stop and think about what it would be like to live in a house that had 144 spring traps in it plus whatever is left over from yesterday. The guy baiting the traps had two interesting/disturbing comments.
When I asked him how many rats were in the house his response was “Enough that I can smell them from out here on the street.” Not good and consistent with my wife hearing the rats from the street when she took the video.
When I pressed him on the number he said his partner inside the house estimated the colony at about 100 rats. He also commented that they were very big and aggressive.
Want everybody to have an appreciation for the problem.
Subject: Urgent Follow-Up – Rat Infestation and Public Health Crisis
From Stefanie Bell (May 29):
Dear King County Environmental Health,
I am writing on behalf of myself and other residents of Clyde Hill who are extremely concerned — and now deeply frustrated — by the lack of meaningful response to an ongoing, severe rodent infestation at 2305 88th Avenue NE.
This property has been the subject of multiple formal complaints over the past five years, including a current complaint that has been open for over eight months. Rats are running through yards, visible from the sidewalk, and multiplying inside the home — described by professionals as a “colony.” An exterminator has set 20 traps, all expected to be filled within a day. This is a public health disaster.
The “cleanup” conducted so far has been performative at best. The junk removal crew removed barely a fraction of the waste, reportedly were hesitant to enter the house, and noted it could take a month or more to complete the job — all while the rat colony spreads through the surrounding area. Neighbors are using industrial-strength bait nightly. Children live on this block. There’s even a childcare center two houses down. We have pets.
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Dean Hachamovitch
I did check for “hallucinations” by ChatGPT and correct them back to the original quotations.