Breaking News: City Manager agrees to resign, effective March 31

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March 1, 2022: The Sammamish City Council voted 4-2 to enter into a separation agreement effective March 31 for the resignation of city manager David Rudat.

Rudat will get severance pay as outlined in his contract plus another six months of pay and benefits. He will also get a letter outlining his accomplishments in return for a release of all his claims against the city.

Christie Malchow, Amy Lam, Kali Clark and Karen Howe voted to adopt the settlement agreement. Karen Moran and Ken Treen voted against it.

City staff delays release of full investigation report of their boss

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

An investigation report of suspected malfeasance by Sammamish City Manager David Rudat has been kept from the public by his staff for over three months now.

Multiple public records requests (PRRs) submitted by media outlets and citizens have been delayed because of “legal review.” However, invoices from the law firm handling PRR reviews  show a review has not been started in two and a half months.

The Sammamish Comment also learned that City Council members were only given a temporary, staff-supervised limited access to a shortened version of the full report.

Only an 11 page executive summary,  prepared by the city staff’s request so as to not disclose confidential information, has been released to the public. 

And while the investigation of the City Manager is still pending, the outside attorney in charge of his investigation was hired by the City Manager to represent the City on another case–raising concerns for the appearance of a conflict of interest. 

Due to misinformation spread in the community and social media, The Comment is resuming limited coverage of city hall.  

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Development gates are wide open again

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

** Special coverage ** 

After four years of battle, in which city council was able to temporarily put control on over development, a one-two punch by former mayor Don Gerend and city staff ended the fight.  

As of July, development in Sammamish can continue uninterrupted, regardless of inadequate infrastructure. 

The concurrency measure known as Volume over Capacity, or V/C, that gave City Council a tool to prohibit development that exceeds the ability of infrastructure to handle it, is gone and so was a development moratorium that has been in place in hopes of restoring it. 

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Local politics Facebook group vows to remain open and be censorship-free

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

A relative newcomer to the local social media scene, the Facebook group Sammamish Central, takes a different direction than other Facebook groups. 

Kerry Boswoth, the group’s administrator, says it intends to keep it “open,” as opposed to other groups which require permission to join in order to see the content. 

Originally named Sammamish Election Central, the group renamed itself to Sammamish Central after the November city council election.  Anyone with a Facebook account can view the content, post or comment without having to join the group. 

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City Council tables action on City Manager to January 4, for new council to handle

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By Scott Hamilton

Dec. 15, 2021: The Sammamish City Council last night tabled until Jan. 4 action on whether to suspend city manager Dave Rudat.

Last night was the last meeting of the year for the current council. The next council, seated Jan. 4, includes three new members elected Nov. 3. A fourth member elected then, Amy Lam, was sworn on Nov. 24, filling a seat once held by Jason Ritchie. Ritchie resigned in January after moving to California. Former council member and mayor Tom Odell was appointed to Richie’s seat until the November election and certification on Nov. 23.

Rudat, the subject of a lengthy investigation, gave his first public response to the investigation. His response also included the first specific details released publicly of the probe. Council members previously discussed the investigation in general terms in open sessions, but details remained sealed in executive session deliberations.

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