Bellevue Council: Conflict Brews Over Conflict of Interest Probe

Bellevue City Council members tussled Monday night over how far an independent reviewer should probe when looking into possible council conflicts of interest relating to the Sound Transit light rail line through Bellevue, known as East Link.

The eventually tabled the unscheduled discussion in a 4-3 vote, after some political maneuvering, with the vote splitting along the same lines of support over an alternative light rail route that would avoid Bellevue Way Southeast.

The probe was after the Seattle Times questioned Councilman Kevin Wallace's business relationship with a railroad company that had an interest in using the BNSF right-of-way line; that line would be improved if Sound Transit adopts the "B7" alternative alignment preferred by the majority of the council.

Some neighbors have organized in opposition to Sound Transit's preference in putting light rail on Bellevue Way Southeast, citing the level of noise and impact to the Enatai and Surrey Downs neighborhoods. Others, including some who live in the same neighborhoods, recently have organized in favor of Sound Transit's preference, saying that the B7 alternative does not bring the same potential riders, and has its own negative environmental and neighborhood impacts--including the relocation of a new park-and-ride close to residential neighborhoods near Interstate 90.

Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson said that he wanted to see an independent investigator also look at the possible future conflicts of interest that Councilwoman Claudia Balducci, a Sound Transit board member, would face if Bellevue and Sound Transit were to be involved in litigation; and of votes that Councilman Grant Degginger took in 2003 when he directly represented Sound Transit as an attorney.

Community members who support Sound Transit's preferred rail line along Bellevue Way have questioned Degginger's and Balducci's possible conflicts of interest in the light rail line.

"I think it's the only way to heal this community," Davidson said. "It's the only way to heal this council."

But Councilman John Chelminiak questioned why Degginger and Balducci should be included after those possible conflicts had been vetted and dismissed by city attorney Lori Riordan.

He also questioned why Davidson was bringing up votes from 2003 now.

"It's eight years ago now," Chelminiak said. "Good grief."

Chelminiak, Degginger and Balducci oppose the B7 alternative alignment, which the rest of the Bellevue council has elected to spend $670,000 studying in order to make it more appealing to Sound Transit. The B7 alternative alignment would put the light rail line along I-90 and then head north on the BNSF rail line.

Wallace is president of Wallace Properties Development, which had a memorandum of understanding with GNP Railway over plans to expand a freight rail line from Snohomish to Redmond. However, GNP's plans eventually would have included the portion of the BNSF railroad line that would be improved by the city's B7 alternative. Wallace Properties' agreement with the railway fell through after creditors forced GNP into bankruptcy reorganization.

Wallace told the Times that he considered the issue "water under the bridge" because of the bankruptcy, but if the plans had gone forward, he would have discussed any conflicts of interest at that time.

Differing stances

Degginger said he welcomed any look at his past votes, but questioned why Davidson had not asked him about those previous votes.

"I don't have a problem with anyone looking at anything," Degginger said.

But he added that the legal issue when he represented Sound Transit ended in 2003, and that he questioned why Davidson was bringing it up.

"It sounds a little like an ambush to me," he said.

"When you are having to go back eight years, it looks very desperate and it looks political," he added.

"To me, what I would like to get out of this is that everyone knows that everyone sitting at the dais is working in the public's interest," said Councilwoman Jennifer Robertson, who said that she would support looking at all the questions.

"I welcome the review in the matters that have been raised against me," Wallace said. "My concern is that it's fair."

"So to get through this process where people don't feel that it's politically motivated, I think we should be addressing all the issues that have been raised," Wallace said.

During the discussion, council members made several attempts to set the scope of the probe.

Chelminiak proposed opening the ethics probe into Wallace Properties' dealings with GNP, with the option of allowing the investigators to look at other council members if it was warranted.

Deputy Mayor Conrad Lee moved to replace Chelminiak's proposal with one that included Balducci and Degginger in the probe.  Degginger later moved to replace Lee's proposal with one that stated the council would leave discretion of scope of the probe to Riordan, who said that falls under her position as city attorney.

Robertson moved to table the entire matter, which Davidson, Wallace and Lee agreed to, with Chelminiak, Balducci and Degginger voting against.

Bellevue Patch will update this story with a link to the video of the meeting when it is available.