Internal email from city manager: Staff refusing to present to council

An internal email regarding the Mountlake Terrace Council’s behavior became a topic of conversation during the Feb. 20 council meeting, when Councilmember Laura Sonmore verbally responded to the message sent by City Manager Jeff Niten.

As Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright finished her liaison report, Sonmore stated she wanted to respond to an internal email sent by Niten on Feb. 19 regarding council behavior during the Feb. 13 meeting.

Sonmore said that she was “appalled” that Niten did not call or speak to her personally rather than email the council.

Councilmember Steve Woodard said he took the email as a blanket request that the council consider how its words are perceived publicly and “appreciated the email for a lot of different reasons.”

Woodard said that Sonmore’s question about whether she was the only one concerned about the budget when discussing the agreement with Baker Tilly for consulting services earlier in the Feb. 20 meeting was “triggering” and not about one person but the entire council.

“I promise you, [the] seven of us, although one of us resigned, deeply cared about this budget,” Woodard said. “And you can see that through the public record, through past experiences called meetings in minutes and recordings.”

Woodard said that the council must be aware of how their words are received by the listener, especially for those new city staff members. And although council speakers may cut corners to make their points, “those corners still cut.”

“I do not argue when I think that I’ve had enough information to make a solid decision, and that’s where I find myself right now, which is why I voted the way I did to have the $100,000 spent to figure this out because it’s a different way to look at that same problem,” Woodard said regarding the Baker Tilly agreement. “Why haven’t we done it in the past as well? Perhaps if we did, we wouldn’t be here. So why would I continue doing what we’ve done in the past if it got me here?”

Niten said in his email that city staff are declining the opportunity to present to the council, an activity that is part of the staff leadership pathway.

“Many members of the team watch the YouTube video of the council meetings on Fridays following regularly scheduled meetings, and they aren’t interested in presenting to [the] council when given the opportunity,” Niten wrote.

One of his responsibilities, Niten explained, is developing junior staff to gain experience and promotion opportunities and eventually lead divisions, departments or organizations.

“These team members are going to be nervous when asked to speak with [the] city council; that’s normal, but when team members are refusing that opportunity, it tells me something,” Niten wrote.

Niten requested that councilmembers who make comments in a public forum critical of the budget or any other presentation address him rather than the staff.

“They are only doing what I ask of them,” Niten wrote.

Niten wrote that he reflected on the comments made during the Feb. 13 meeting, particularly about the review of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) discussion.

“Following the city council work session last week, I reflected a bit on the comments, particularly during the LTAC discussion about ‘shock’ and how ‘no one consulted council,.’” Niten wrote. “How the [staff] team is ‘stepping on council,’ and council is “surprised” about the LTAC funding level. How we ‘arbitrarily’ changed the funding level.”

During the Feb. 13 discussion on LTAC funds, Sonmore, the committee’s council liaison and chair, said she was “shocked” that the funds increased to $50,000, although it was reviewed and passed by the council last year.

At the 2:03:17 mark Feb. 13, Sonmore said, “We already got the shock that it went up to $50,000, and nobody was consulted on that, and now we have this other new thing, and I do think funds can be used a little bit differently. There’s a couple cities; one person who used to work here now sees it a little bit differently as well. But I can’t get anybody to listen to me on that.”

Niten wrote in his email that public criticism doesn’t concern him, “that’s part of the job, and I accept that.”

“If you don’t think I’m adequately representing the goals and vision of council then asking for my resignation or making a motion in a public meeting to terminate my contract with or without cause is also something well within your authority and is viewed as perfectly legitimate by the professional city management community,” Niten said.

“I’m positive council knows this, but the city manager has a responsibility to develop budget recommendations focused on achieving city council goals, in this case additional, and more varied, community events implementing adopted Council goals for Growing Our Vibrant Community and An Informed and Engaged Community.”

Niten explained that his budget recommendations are based on available and projected resources and discussions with the council and community members. He also pays close attention to each council member’s public statements and brings “the internal team together to focus on how we can achieve the council’s shared goals.”

Niten wrote that the documents the city council reviews are his recommendation. However, a council majority “clearly has final authority to approve or modify” if they believe there is an error, a missing element vital to the city or “for any reason.”

“These things are presented, debated and decided in a public setting, not beforehand in private,” Niten wrote.

Niten explained that although funding numbers were unavailable at the time, the council reviewed the special revenue funds on Oct. 3, 2024. The numbers were available during the discussion on Nov. 7 and it was passed by the council on Nov. 21. Further, the recommended budget numbers presented for LTAC were presented on Nov. 7 and approved on Nov. 21.

Given the processes and procedures, Niten wrote that from his perspective, it was difficult to “characterize that as a surprise” and that he works hard to give each council member detailed communications equally.

“Transparency is a value that’s personally important to me. I am very hesitant to challenge comments like those above in public because, in doing so, the perception may be that I am challenging the authority of the elected city council. That should not and cannot be the perception.”

During the Feb. 20 meeting, Sonmore stressed that she was not asking for Niten’s resignation, adding she was sorry if “I go out of my way to ask questions.”