In brief
The City abandoned an approved and funded stormwater project, likely sticking residents with the project’s cost and complexity.
The City will reconsider its legal representation for the first time in 33 years.
The City continues to have problems retaining experienced staff.
The City has temporarily put on hold its planning for a new tax in the form of a stormwater utility charge.
The City claimed that it is fulfilling its legal responsibilities in response to questions about another transparency and communication shortfall.
Coming up this week
The first Budget Advisory Committee meeting. Details available here.
Context
Welcome to the first Week in Review issue, offering a recap of the last week in a few bullet points. (The original premise of this newsletter — distilling information of interest from the City’s Weekly Administrator’s Report — assumes the City will post that report. It’s not yet been posted.)
My memories of the Sunday New York Times as a small kid are still vivid: carrying five pounds of thick newspaper into the house was a two-handed operation. Over many years, the section I’d read first moved from sports to magazine to book review to — The Week In Review.
I bring this up for a few reasons. First, this seems like a good pattern to try: let’s see how easily digestible I can make what happened this week. Also, it’s a fair reminder that the sheer mass and volume of words can be counterproductive: let’s see how briefly I can write and how well I can judge which details to skip.
Thank you —
Dean
Drill Down
The City abandoned an approved and funded stormwater project, likely sticking residents with the project’s cost and complexity. When one lives in a city located on a big hill with the soils we have here, the stormwater system is important. The Mayor and Staff requested and received approval and funds in July for stormwater repairs (for good reasons). At the next meeting in August, the Mayor and Staff told the City Council its plan to abandon those repairs. (Full report on that here)
The City will reconsider its legal representation for the first time in 33 years. Clyde Hill has not evaluated its legal services provider since 1988. The Council voted in favor of doing so now, by a 3-2 margin; the three members in the majority cited “good business practices” as their reason. This may be a promising sign for a more collaborative and less antagonistic approach from the City to disagreements with residents.
The City continues to have problems retaining experienced staff. The latest: the Assistant City Administrator — who has also been the Interim Public Works Director for several months as well as filling in on code enforcement, as there’s an open position there — announced that he is “taking an extended leave of absence effective immediately.” The City has also been down a clerk since the end of July.
The City has temporarily put on hold its planning for a new tax in the form of a stormwater utility charge. The discussion to not move ahead reflected some frustration with the clarity of the analysis and thinking from the City despite moneys the City has spent on consultants.
The City claimed that it is fulfilling its legal responsibilities in response to questions about another transparency and communication shortfall. The City has had non-compliance issues (discussed here) with the State Department of Ecology regarding a permit to operate the stormwater system. The City has chosen to not disclose the problems to residents (on its website, Weekly Administrative Report, or public City Council meetings).
Reminder
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