Your For vote will change the structure of our local government to be more accountable to residents while improving daily operations and maintaining city staff.

We elect our Mayor and City Council members to serve the needs of the community.  When the current Administration ignores the City Council’s feedback, they do a disservice to us all by acting in defiance of the majority of our elected officials – and there is no recourse.  Local problems that directly impact property values are not proactively addressed and city service quality suffers.  That’s why residents requested asked that this measure be added to the ballot and the City Council voted unanimously to listen to resident concerns and advance it to this election. 

Your For vote will move oversight for City Administration to the City Council.   The City Manager will be accountable to the City Council every four weeks, as in Bellevue, Kirkland, Medina and Mercer Island which have Council Manager governments.

Endorsed by Bellevue City Councilman and former Mayor John Stokes. 

Submitted by: Lisa Slivka, Pam Phillips, YesOnClydeHillProp1.org

You deserve the right to decide your executives—from President, to Governor, to King County Executive, and your Mayor. This measure takes that away, putting it in the hands of a simple council majority —4 people. More than 80% of Washington cities trust our mayor-council form of government.  

Checks and balances will be lost with a council-manager form of government. Currently our city council’s power is limited by the Mayor, and the Mayor’s by the city council. The city manager would answer only to the city council, not the residents. This change will remove a critical check on city council power. 

This measure would increase costs, some include severance for the City Administrator, headhunter fees, staff turnover, and legal fees. These costs to our small city budget are astronomical. Our tax dollars are better spent on basic government services, not overhead. 

This is a solution in search of a problem. This measure removes your right to choose your mayor, eliminates checks and balances, and increases costs. For 69 years, Clyde Hill residents have been discerning voters and chosen our mayors well. We trust that we will all continue to do that in the future. Vote No! Learn more at clydehillcoalition.org. 

Submitted by: Bruce Dodds, Marilyn (Lyn) Adams, Spencer Nurse, www.clydehillcoalition.org                   

Per the explanatory statement, this change removes neither our right to choose our representation nor any checks and balances. This is the latest attempt to misinform the voters, following multiple exaggerated cost estimates denounced by the council. As of August 11, there is no official cost estimate.

Since 1970, almost all new cities in Washington state have incorporated under the council-manager system and several, such as Bainbridge, have made this switch and reported minimal costs.

Submitted by: Lisa Slivka, Pam Phillips, YesOnClydeHillProp1.org    

A change this drastic should be solving clear problems, but only vague concerns are offered. This is a power grab by some on the council, calling checks and balances “defiance.” This arrogance is why we must continue to separately elect our Mayor.

We need our Mayor to be directly accountable to residents and be a check on council power, rather than a city manager who answers only to four councilmembers. Vote No!

Submitted by: Bruce Dodds, Marilyn (Lyn) Adams, Spencer Nurse, www.clydehillcoalition.org

Complete text of measure

Simple majority (RCW 35A.06.060)

For questions about this measure, contact: Tom Brubaker, City Attorney, (206) 273-7440, tom@lighthouselawgroup.com