Letter to the Editor: Shoreline City Council wants to rebuild trust: start here!

To the Editor:

In a July 22, 2013 letter to the Richmond Beach community, the Shoreline City Council concluded the letter by stating, “It is our desire to regain the trust of Richmond Beach residents…”

On July 26, I sent a reply letter. A complete copy can be found here

Here is a summary of points I made.

On May 12, 2013, I formally made a Public Records Act (PRA) request in writing for a copy of all records related to any Point Wells actions taken by the Council. After reviewing hundreds of documents provided by the City of Shoreline, here is a summary of my findings:

Every decision made by the City has either a) been made behind closed doors in direct violation of the Open Public Meetings Act; or b) been made by City Manager Julie Underwood in direct violation of the statutory obligations of elected city officials.

There are numerous discrepancies between explanations the City of Shoreline gave the community for the City’s actions and the real reasons as revealed by various internal City documents.

And if these findings are accurate in relation to one topic affecting one portion of the City of Shoreline, how widespread is this practice related to other issues in other Shoreline neighborhoods?

 And, if my findings are accurate, then where do we go from here?

Should we rally a write-in ballot for the November election? Should residents officially petition for a new form of City Government structure like those already in place in a majority of Washington cities?

After voting in 1995 to establish a city where the residents could have a local voice and be valid stakeholders in our city, are today’s conditions at City Hall what the Shoreline community envisioned? Absolutely not!

Pat Lessard

Shoreline