Redacted version of Sterbank Report now available from City of Kirkland

UPDATED: As of October 14, 2009, the total amount billed by attorney Bob Sterbank, of Kenyon Disend PLLC,  for the Bank of America report was $8,993.47.

The City of Kirkland has just released what is being called the “Bank of America Project Review” which tasked an outside attorney, Bob C. Sterbank, to review the process of a legal nightmare which engulfed the City Council in the summer of 2008.

The resultant 108 page report is now available for download from the City of Kirkland.

Below are the introduction and conclusion from the report as well as a copy of the list of 5 main issues and questions provided as a basis of the review:

I. Introduction

You asked that I review the design review process utilized for the SRM / Bank of America project, and provide any recommendations for adjustments to the process currently called for by the City’s code. The goal of this work is to assist City staff, the DRB and Council in avoiding a repeat of the controversy that accompanied the SRM / B of A project.
Before commencing work on the project, I met with Mayor Lauinger, Deputy Mayor McBride, and Council member Hodgson to discuss their views on what the review should encompass. Council member Hodgson provided a list of 5 main issues and questions he believed should be addressed (see copy attached as Exhibit A). Mayor Lauinger and Deputy Mayor McBride indicated their belief that while the review need not address the issues/questions precisely as articulated by Council member Hodgson, the general topics could be incorporated in my review as appropriate. The three council members also indicated that the review should also include interviews of all seven Council members, the four former Design Review Board members who resigned following the Council’s decision to reverse the Design Review Board decision on the SRM / B of A project, City Manager David Ramsay, City Attorney Robin Jenkinson, Director of Planning & Community Development Eric Shields, selected planning staff involved with the project, the outside attorney retained by Council member Hodgson during the project, and officers of CiViK.
Most but not all of those interviews have taken place. The outside attorney for Council member Hodgson indicated that given his busy schedule, this review was not something for which he would typically volunteer his time. Two of the four former DRB members did not respond at all to requests for interviews; one indicated he required “more information about what’s going on” before he would finalize an appointment. The fourth indicated that she would “have no part” in what she labeled a “witch hunt.” In addition, when contacted the attorney for SRM indicated that SRM representatives would respond only to written questions and would not participate in an interview. SRM’s attorneys themselves declined to speak on the subject. I was able to speak by telephone with Patrick Schneider, an outside attorney who advised the City Council and Ms. Jenkinson during a portion of the Council’s consideration of the appeal of the DRB decision.
Council Meeting: 11/02/2009 Agenda: Unfinished Business Item #: 10. a.
Nevertheless, the interviews that have occurred, combined with review of the relevant documents, have provided a fairly complete picture of the events that transpired, as discussed below.

IV. Conclusion

Based on the foregoing analysis, I conclude that the actions taken by staff and the City Council during the SRM / B of A project were appropriate, in light of the various legal, planning, and ethical standards applicable to those actions. While there is room for reasonable disagreement about some of those actions, and a range of different options for future projects is available, none of the actions taken in this matter were outside the range of appropriate action based on the information available to me, and given the applicable standards and the information available to staff and Council members at the time.

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