April 5, 2022: Mayor Christie Malchow, the swing vote, blocked a motion by Council Member Karen Howe for the entire council to receive an unredacted copy of the final reports of the ethics investigation of former city manager David Rudat.
Malchow, who was key to initiating the probe, sided with Council Members Kent Treen and Karen Moran, who opposed approving an investigation. Malchow, who voted to suspend Rudat and later a separation agreement, did not explain her vote.
Editorial
March 29, 2022: The Sammamish City Council is meeting tonight for a special meeting. Council Member Karen Howe may reintroduce her motion for the release—to council members—of the “report” concerning the ethics investigation of City Manager David Rudat. This is the opportune time for the City Council to vote to waive the attorney-client privilege of the Rudat ethics investigation reports—both of them
Rudat and the city council agreed March 1 that he would resign effective March 31. A golden parachute of an estimated $300,000 was provided in exchange for Rudat’s releasing all claims against the city.
At the end of the March 15 council meeting, Howe moved to have an unredacted copy of the “report” provided to each council member. She asked that the copies be numbered. Before the motion could be voted on, Mayor Christie Malchow noted that the meeting ran long and procedurally, a vote was required to extend it. A vote to extend the meeting by 10 minutes failed on a 3-3 vote, with Malchow voting against it. The move effectively buried Howe’s motion.
Continue readingBy Scott Hamilton
March 22, 2022: In an unusual twist in the long-running battle between Stephanie Rudat, daughter of embattled Sammamish City Manager David Rudat, and Miki Mullor, editor of Sammamish Comment, Stephanie on Feb. 24 filed for a restraining and protective order against Mullor in King County District Court. The court denied the request for an emergency restraining order. The court also found that “a preponderance of evidence has not been established that there has been harassment.”
A virtual hearing was scheduled for March 9 at which evidence could be presented. However, Rudat was a no-show. Mullor filed his response on March 18. The next court date is April 4.
In her 10 page petition, Rudat accused Mullor of harassment and stalking. Rudat claims she is a victim of cyberstalking and “repeatedly contacting the victim (Rudat) or monitor the victim for no lawful purpose and his/her actions caused the victim to feel intimated, frightened or threatened.”
Rudat also claimed she suffered substantial emotional distress or “caused me to fear for the well-being of my child.” In the complaint, she offered no example of Mullor contacting or threatening her child, however.
Rudat asked the Court to prohibit Mullor from engaging in “social media posts, comments, messages or blog post on The Comment.”
Mullor, in his response, denied all allegations. He called Rudat’s complaint frivolous. “In connection with her support for her father, the City Manager, Petitioner has thrust herself forward into the public controversies regarding his corrupt activities and the City’s investigations into those corrupt activities, making herself a public figure,” Mullor’s response states. In an exhibit, Mullor includes a screenshot of Rudat’s own profile in which she identifies herself as a public figure.
Continue readingBy Scott Hamilton
March 21, 2022: The reelection of then-Mayor Karen Moran took precedence for three council members over the ethics investigation of Sammamish City Manager David Rudat, data revealed in a newly released set of records.
The exchange of text messages between Moran, Ken Gamblin, and Kent Treen revealed they sought to delay a vote on whether to fire City Manager Dave Rudat until after the November 2021 city council election. Moran was seeking reelection to a second term.
Moran also blamed then-fellow council member Pam Stuart for the Rudat probe, according to text messages exchanged three weeks before the election. The vote to fire Rudat came at the November 16 council meeting. It failed on a 2-5 vote, with only Stuart and then-council member Tom Odell in favor. A vote to suspend Rudat for 30 days passed. Implementation was postponed to give Rudat a chance to respond to charges he violated Executive Session confidentiality and attorney-client privilege with his daughter, Stephanie. Stephanie and her allies control several Facebook groups which evolved into support groups for the city manager and hit groups on Sammamish Comment editor Miki Mullor. Mullor filed the complaint with the city leading to the probe and disciplinary action.
The complaint, filed in May 2021, resulted in the council hiring outside attorneys to conduct the investigation, recommend disciplinary action, and represent the minority opposed to the probe, Moran, Gamblin and Treen.
It took the city about 60 days to produce the text messages after a Public Records Request.
Continue readingThe Sammamish City Council failed to appoint a new council member to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Ken Gamblin in January.
There were nine nominations, although two failed to gain a second. Jerry Norman initially lost on a 2-4 vote. Later, in an attempt to break the stalemate, he was nominated again and lost on a 3-3 vote.
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Sammamish Comment 