Legislators authorize city manager to sue Councilmember Hendrickson for libel and slander

During its regular July 19 session, Kenmore City Council voted to authorize the city manager “to take legal action against Councilmember John Hendrickson for libel and slander.”

In a separate motion, council also voted to censure Hendrickson “for gross misrepresentation of the council.”

In both cases, the votes were 6-1, with only Hendrickson objecting.

This is hardly the first time Hendrickson and the rest of council have crossed swords, and council has moved to censure Hendrickson in the past. The latest flap sprung primarily from Hendrickson’s criticism of a financial report released earlier this month.

“It is unfortunate for the community as a whole that the city manager and the City Council choose to spend public resources on personal attacks and political infighting while they simultaneously deflect attention away from a legitimate budget issue regarding the accuracy of our June 30th 2010 projected six year deficit,” Hendrickson said in a written statement.

As he has in the past, Hendrickson argues that council and staffers greatly have underestimated a budget deficit the city is heading toward, mostly because they allegedly have mishandled dollars needed and intended for road maintenance.

According to Mayor David Baker, the figures Hendrickson criticized were intended to be a starting point for future financial discussions, not the last word on the city’s finances.

“They were some assumptions… that’s all they were meant to be,” he said.

But Baker seemed to feel Hendrickson had gone beyond a simple questioning of budgetary figures. He said Hendrickson was accusing the council and city staff of wrongdoings possibly amounting to illegalities.

Councilmember Allan Van Ness accused Hendrickson of distorting facts, of “telling outright lies.”

“It’s become so disruptive, we had to take it to the next level,” Van Ness said.

He contended that staffers, from City Manager Frederick Stouder on down, spend an inordinate amount of time responding to Hendrickson’s questions and alleged accusations.

“He’s questioned their behavior one too many times,” Baker said.

“It’s not just this one thing,” Stouder said, before declining further comment, citing the possibility of legal action.

“The issue here was just about accounting irregularities,” Hendrickson said. “I have struggled with (Stouder) for the last two years to try and understand our financial position.”

While he stated he was not out to hurt Stouder, he produced several documents alleging problems Stouder supposedly had in other cities. He also has a handwritten letter, which he claims Stouder gave to council and in which Stouder seemed to resign.

In the letter, dated December 2009, apparently responding to comments from Hendrickson, Stouder states he did not threaten the councilmember.

Regarding the city’s current financial status, Hendrickson claims monies that were supposed to go into road maintenance were put in different funds, partly paying for construction of Kenmore’s recently opened new City Hall, a project he strongly opposed.

In talking about the budget and related issues, Hendrickson repeatedly returns to a 1997 King County report prepared at the time the city was incorporated.

According to Hendrickson, the report warns the city must continually take into account its low tax rate. However, Hendrickson admitted the city is under no obligation to follow the recommendations in the report.

Even as he and the rest of council clashed over the budget, Hendrickson also has opposed a council initiative that could result in city residents paying a $20-per-vehicle license-tab fee to support road work in Kenmore.

“We have to come up with the money from somewhere or admit we are going to leave the roads as they are,” Deputy Mayor Milton Curtis has said regarding the license fees.

Council has not made any decision on the fees and the issue may go to a public vote.

While Hendrickson is highly critical of Kenmore’s accounting methods, state auditors have not reported any problems with the city’s books. A quick check of the state auditor’s Web site revealed no audits that showed any findings against the city.

The most recent audit reports available appear to be an accountability audit covering 2008 and released last year. A financial audit covers the same time frame and also was released last year.

“In areas we examined, the city’s internal controls were adequate to safeguard public assets,” the accountability report states in an introduction.

The report adds the city complied with all state laws, as well as its own policies and procedures in the areas audited.

The financial audit says much the same. The report said no significant deficiencies were found in the city’s books, no material weaknesses in its accounting methods.

While he was not responding directly to any state findings, Hendrickson criticized state auditing methods, insisting public entities are not held to the same standards as private entities.