Results of the August 17th special meeting

This special meeting was called to formally receive the report from Mr. Barney Knight detailing his review of the allegations against City Manager and Police Chief Yost Zakhary. Mayor Bill Weber opened the meeting right at 5:30 pm to a packed room with several standing along the back. Mayor pro tem Gil Lillard did the invocation.

The Council immediately went into Executive Session, but in a rear conference room so that the gathered crowd would not be asked to move (this was appreciated). The Executive Session lasted until about 6:42. Open session was convened at 6:58 pm. The Mayor introduced Barney Knight, the external counsel, and asked him to review his findings. Mr. Knight is a lawyer and very experienced in all sort of municipal matters, having served as a City Manager himself in several capacities. He is absolutely independent, having no ties to Woodway or to Mr. O’Bric, and has carried out reviews of other cities. Mr. Knight read from an abbreviated version of his report made up of a summary of the findings and the conclusion. Copies were handed out at the end of the meeting, and the entire report, with parts redacted on the advice of legal counsel, will be posted on the City website tomorrow.

Note 8/19: The redacted report is posted here.

But a few highlights of his statement were that the report (41 pages) was entirely his own, influenced by no one. He considered every allegation and complaint, and ultimately categorized all of them into one of six categories, but not a single one was “material” (substantial). He found Woodway to be “well organized, with excellent documentation”. Regarding the 1.5 hours he spent with Mike O’Bric, Mr. Knight said that not a single fact or piece of evidence was given despite repeated requests. Along the way, he stated “The City has now exhaustively examined each and all of the many complaints. My concise summary is that most are fabricated out of thin air.” This was followed by applause of almost everyone present.

There were lots more pertinent things, but the basic conclusion is that the accusations were, at best, unsupported by the evidence or gross misrepresentations of underlying facts, and much more often were simply false. I’ll post a link to the City website when the report becomes available there.

There were a few things that Mr. Knight recommended be done differently, but they were relatively minor and he often finds the same things in other cities.

Then Mayor Weber read a statement that began, “As Mr. Knight has presented, he found no basis of illegal or unethical behavior associated with the allegations against the City Manager and Police Chief, Mr. Yost Zakhary.” Copies of that statement were handed out at the end of the meeting, I believe. Incidentally, this investigation cost will total about $25,000, not counting any costs associated with the initial internal review by City counsel.

Then the Mayor gave the Council members an opportunity to ask Mr. Knight questions or make statements.

Councilman Scott Giddings thanked Mr. Knight.

Dr. Paul Scibielski stated that he saw the need for the investigation, but that he himself had naively assumed the truth of some of the allegations and had used some in his campaign literature. He realized now that there was nothing to the allegations, and apologized to Mr. Zakhary for any pain he had caused. (applause)

Councilwoman Jane Kittner thanked Dr. Scibielski for his statement and Mr. Knight for his hard work, asked that we put all this behind us and take on the next big task: the Arboretum expansion.

Next was my turn. If I remember correctly (none of this was prepared ahead of time), I thanked Mr. Knight for his service and told him that he was exactly the right person for the job because of his complete independence. I then went on to say that I had gotten into this pretty naively, assuming that “where there is smoke, there is fire”, that is, that so many allegations must have some basis. I hadn’t used any of them directly in my campaign materials but I had bought into some of it. But Mr. Knight’s investigation had made it clear that there was virtually nothing to the charges. After being on the City Council awhile, I could see that there was no grand conspiracy there. I now realize that Mr. Zakhary is a talented manager who has the respect of his employees.

Councilman Don Baker then stated that he knew what the result would be before the investigation began, that Barney Knight was the right guy for the job, that Mike O’Bric was full of lies and that he was glad its over.

Gil Lillard thanked Mr. Knight, especially since the job got bigger and bigger as time went on. But the money was well spent, and now we can focus on the Public Safety Department Barbeque. (which is Sept. 25)

Mayor Bill Weber thanked Mr. Knight for “eliminating all of the rabbit holes” (that allegations could hide in).

Then Barney Knight thanked the City, saying that it had been a privilege to work with such quality people. He began to excuse himself when Mayor Weber reminded him that he needed to stay to answer questions from the gathered citizens.

Then was time to hear visitors, but the time would be limited to 15 minutes total. This worked out OK, since only four expressed an interest in speaking.

First was Lieutenant Ben Selman (police and fire), whose service with the City goes back to 1989. He stated that he had followed Mr. Zakhary into many fires and hoped to continue to do so. He was glad there was no basis for the allegations, but deplored the use of so much money on the investigation, which could have purchased 10 sets of bunker gear for the firemen. He went on to say that it would all happen again (new allegations) and for the Council to not be persuaded, and hopes the City’s money spent on this can be recovered. He affirmed his confidence in Yost Zakhary, and would follow him anywhere.

Next was Ray Dobbs, a Lieutenant with the volunteer police and fire, and who grew up in Woodway. He stated that Yost Zakhary is not just his Chief, but more importantly his friend, a good man but one with faults like us all. Lt. Dobbs was here on the night of his 36th wedding anniversary because he loves this city and resents all the trouble Mike O’Bric has caused. He hopes this is all behind us, but if the same thing happens again, the Council needs to deal with it immediately. He finished by saying that the money spent on this investigation was just a drop in the bucket compared to what this city means to him.

Then Glenda Strum spoke, a 30-year resident and also a realtor. She said that she owes Mr. Zakhary a lot for the hundreds of homes she has sold in Woodway, where the streets and especially the police service is so good (“where they take crime seriously”). But she said that Mr. Zakhary does lots of good behind the scenes, like at the Rotary Club (which she once included in a letter to the Council). She said he has a tough guy image but a big heart and she remembers when he was “just a pup”.

Finally, Barbara Tennison asked Barney Knight about his background, and what he thought of Woodway’s management. He said everything he saw “was a 90 or above”. She then spoke to Mr. Zakhary, to say that she realized her part in all of this by not dealing with the accusations much sooner. To the “new guys on the Council”: she heard some good things tonight but now you need to tell Woodway that Mr. Zakhary stays in both positions, in the Police Chief job because of his upcoming presidency of the International Police Chief Association and in the City Manager position “because he is so damn good at it”. She hasn’t known a better City Manager.

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 pm.