Clyde Hill News: “You’re lying,” Police tell Mayor
Bellevue police officer killed in the line of duty; 2023 budget approved
Police officers expressed concern that their two and a half hour meeting with the Mayor on November 21 was a “check the box” exercise and that no action would result.
Officers’ concerns grew after the the November 29 council meeting. The Mayor’s limited comments and lack of commitment to deliver a written report left some concerned that the Mayor would downplay rather than fairly represent their issues.
The City Administrator did not attend the meeting with the Mayor and Police. There is no stated plan for the City Administrator’s role or deliverables in addressing trust issues.
Police comments to the Mayor included “you’re lying” and “you’re not doing your job,” according to people who attended the meeting on November 21st that kicked off the Administration’s efforts to address problems between them and the police.
Several officers expressed surprise when the Mayor told them that she had shredded the police report concerning an incident between the City Administrator and a police officer, when the City Administrator called the officer “homeboy.”
Details on this and more, below. 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.
Administration / Police Update
Context: “a clear lack of trust in the administration”
Public awareness of police distrust and concerns with Administration leadership go back at least to August of this year.
After the City Administrator called a police officer “home boy” at the end of 2020, police officers expected that the Mayor had taken some disciplinary action. In August 2022, the City fulfilled a public records request revealing that there was no written record of a disciplinary action or follow-up by the Mayor (link).
The Mayor did not inform the City Council of the incident at the time.
This fall, an exit interview with a departing Clyde Hill police officer indicated “a clear lack of trust in the administration.”
In October, the union representing Clyde Hill police officers sent the City a letter accusing the City Administrator and Mayor of misrepresenting facts and mishandling City documents, as well as dereliction of duty.
Also in October this year, the Chair of Clyde Hill’s Civil Service Commission (link) wrote that “We risk losing more Clyde Hill police officers” unless Administration leadership addresses the serious problem between them and Clyde Hill’s police officers.
These issues are separate from a police investigation of City Hall harassment claims, as well as a request to the Mayor earlier this year from city councilmembers to investigate concerns from individual officers. There was no report from the Mayor following up from that request.
For a details on issues, please see this issue (link) of the Clyde Hill News.
The Mayor’s Report
At the city council meeting earlier this week, the Mayor reported that a meeting with the police had happened and that she had additional “listening sessions” planned ahead of December’s regular council meeting.
She told the council that she will “be able to give you kind of a status report once I kind of have the all of those inputs taken care.”
Cm Steve Friedman reiterated a request for a written report to the community from both the Mayor and the City Administrator. The Mayor acknowledged the request with an “I hear you and I appreciate the request” but refused, when pressed, to commit.
According to people who attended the November 21st meeting between police and the Mayor, the Mayor asserted that this newsletter misrepresents her statements. As a show of good faith, here is the recording of the council meeting exchange summarized above:
The Mayor’s meeting with police
Here is some of what happened at the meeting between police and the Mayor, according to multiple sources who attended the meeting:
Comments made to the Mayor from the police included “you’re lying” and “you’re not doing your job.” An officer made a specific assertion that the Mayor had been derelict in her duty, echoing the October letter from the union that represents the police.
Officers expressed surprise at the lack of follow-through and documentation from the Mayor regarding the “homeboy” incident. The Mayor asserted that she had performed a thorough independent investigation of the incident. When the officer involved in the incident was asked if the Mayor had spoken with him, he said no, the Mayor had not spoken with him.
The Mayor did not dispute an officer’s assertion that the current City Administrator was hired into the role after threatening to quit as Finance Manager unless he was given the City Administrator job.
Officers present at the meeting were clear that they had no issues or problems with the Chief of Police or the department’s second in command, Lieutenant Hanson.
Covering the local news
After I participated in the city budget process two years ago, the absence of clear communication from the City about important issues surprised and upset me. Some examples:
the ongoing budget deficit
the absence of an approved contract with the city’s (now former) law firm
stormwater flooding affecting residents on 17th St, and the Administration’s confusing responses
This newsletter goes out every week because I believe that Clyde Hill’s residents are better off knowing what’s going on.
Washington State’s legislature codified, artfully, the public’s interest in knowing what its government is doing:
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed and informing the people's public servants of their views so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. (link)
In this newsletter, I work to provide fair coverage to multiple points of view, including ones that attack me personally (link).
Last week, this newsletter limited its coverage, reporting only that a meeting between the Mayor and police happened, in order to provide the Mayor the first opportunity to update the community at the council meeting earlier this week (link).
Clyde Hill residents care deeply about the police department and public safety. If Clyde Hill police officers have concerns, it is in the public’s interest to hear them.
My preference is to write positive news stories. Here’s one of my favorites from spring of this year:
Property tax increase, 2023 Budget Approved
The City Council approved next year’s budget and a 1% property tax increase at last week’s special council meeting. Last week’s newsletter (link) has details about the budget deficit as well as the impact of the tax increase on residents.
The Council also approved a set of Rules & Guidelines, or bylaws (link).
Bellevue police officer killed
Via City of Medina’s communications (link):
The Celebration of Life for Bellevue Police Officer Jordan Jackson will be on Tuesday, December 6th at 1:00 p.m. at the Meydenbauer Center. This celebration is open to the public.
Officer Jackson was raised in Bellevue and went to Issaquah HS. He chose to serve the Bellevue community and for that, we are eternally grateful.
If you would like to honor Officer Jackson and support his young family, you can donate through Bellevue Police Foundation:
Clyde Hill’s police will help “cover the road” so that Bellevue’s officers can attend the service.
Thank you for reading this far and your patience with my efforts to cover what’s going on in our community. I continue to welcome your feedback.
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