Clyde Hill News: Why will the City Council discuss the resident petition Tuesday night?
Also: who asked Clyde Hill police officers about their favorite kind of donut?
The news today is that King County’s Department of Elections certified that there are enough valid signatures of registered voters on the petition that went around our community. With this certification, we can expect that this question will go to Clyde Hill voters.
One more item before our disclaimer: 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.
Special Meeting
Tuesday night’s “City Council Special Meeting” agenda is available here (link) — while the agenda can change, it currently shows:
Discussion re: Petition to change the form of government submission and potential impacts
Visioning exercise re: the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update process.
Public Comment
Consideration of a motion to approve a resolution about the election proposed by the petition.
Context: What’s the petition?
For context, the petition going around the community involves putting an item on the ballot asking Clyde Hill residents to vote on whether
to adopt the “council-manager” form of government used by Medina, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Bellevue, or
to continue with the current “mayor-council” form of government.
Currently, Clyde Hill’s part-time Mayor is elected directly by residents and has full responsibility for the City Administrator.
The proposed change would result in the City Administrator having full responsibility for the executive branch, accountable to the City Council, just as a CEO is accountable to the board of directors. The role of the Mayor is somewhat ceremonial and without additional authority; the Mayor presides over Council Meetings and attends other meetings on the City’s behalf. The Council chooses a councilmember to be Mayor.
The City Council has not, to my knowledge, advocated or endorsed a change to the form of government. In discussing the public petition, and seeking public comment, it appears to be engaging with the concerns and expressed opinions of a large number of residents.
Discussion re: Petition
One way to make sense of why this discussion is on the agenda might be to recall the recent Flag Code Debacle.1
Public comment regarding the proposed Flag Code (regulation regarding flag and flag pole size and location) was — in the absence of specific and clear information about problems, goals, and priorities around the effort — heated and often involved nasty personal attacks.
The discussion on the agenda might provide helpful context for the public about why the Council is discussing this topic and what it’s trying to accomplish with its engagement. Right now, the best (well, the only available) clues are in the draft resolution (link):
A large number of residents (over 100 as verified by King County Elections) engaged on this topic;
The rules around how these petitions work are just not clear. For example, it’s not clear if the City Council has to take action; this page (link) shows at least two resolutions voted on by City Councils for “Election[s] to adopt council-manager form, initiated by petition.”
Ambiguities, like “what would the effective date for the change be, if the ballot measure were approved,” abound.
Right now, there are no materials (slide decks or documents) for this part of the agenda. We will see what happens.
Vision for City
There’s also a discussion related to establishing the City’s vision (link). This discussion is part of a process… the same discussion happened with the City’s Planning Commission back on May 26 (link) and will happen with residents as well. Some example questions:
What do you and the people you know value most about Clyde Hill?
When you think of your community, what core values come to mind?
What are defining characteristics of Clyde Hill?
What should change? What should stay the same?
Twenty-years from now, would you still wish to live in Clyde Hill? Why?
Public Comment
Public comment is an essential part of our democracy. Sometimes, public comment is even based on facts. This might be a challenge for some on Tuesday.
For example, someone on NextDoor was concerned about the cost to the City as it paid the City Attorney to verify signatures on the petition. The City does not pay the City Attorney to perform this task.
An email going around the community claimed that the Council-Manager form of government does not have separation of powers. It has separation of powers.
That email also made wild claims about expected costs and tax increases associated with this change. There was no evidence or basis offered for these estimates. In any event, the City is limited in how much it can raise taxes.
To be clear, there are valid arguments for and against keeping the current form of government. Very few have been aired to date.
For residents who are considering providing public comment (whether in person, virtually, or via email), this snippet from MRSC.org (link) about “Tips for talking with the council” might be helpful:
Public comment often says more about the person commenting than the issue itself.
“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”
Consideration of a motion
Finally, after the public comment section, the Council will consider “a motion to approve” the resolution (link).
Finally: a kid asked about donuts
From Clyde Hill Police’s Sentinel, which I strongly encourage you to subscribe to: Last week, Corporal Cobrea and Detective Swai visited Clyde Hill Elementary for the school’s Field Day. Students got to see how fast they could throw a ball with a speed radar gun, and were able to ask all of their law enforcement related questions. One of the favorite questions that the Officers received that day was "What is your favorite kind of donut?!".
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Dean Hachamovitch