Updated Thursday with responses from three additional councilmembers.

Mayor Mike Nelson’s new administrative order, announced Tuesday, sounds simple and straightforward:

“The City of Edmonds places the highest value on our employees and their well-being. We strive to ensure that our employees are satisfied workers and have the resources and support necessary to be effective and productive in their positions.”

— Mayor’s Administrative Order on Workplace Professionalism

In the administrative order, you will read the words “unprofessional,” “discrimination,” “harassment,” “inappropriate” — nowhere is the word “bullying” used. But, make no mistake about it, “bullying” is the target and Edmonds city councilmembers are in the crosshairs.

I sat down with the mayor Wednesday to get his take on why he felt he had to issue an order that states:

“It has come to our attention that City employees have experienced workplace interactions with City Councilmembers that the employees have felt to be unprofessional, and that such interactions may have impacted employee productivity and job satisfaction.”

— Mayor’s Administrative Order on Workplace Professionalism

“This is not a political issue,” said Nelson, “Nobody should be bullied. People should not be bullied and there’s no tolerance of bullying. And I’m not going to allow people to bully the city staff; especially people like our city councilmembers.”

Nelson is blunt – “All you have to do,” he told me, “is watch a city council meeting and you can see sometimes how councilmembers will direct their questions to staff members, and you can tell they are treating them in way like they don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and that they are idiots and that they are incompetent.”

Nelson said some councilmembers “are critical of them (city staffers); they’re criticizing them and then, they are threatening them” – and he alleges that the councilmember will threaten to complain to the mayor or to the department head. He claims that is why some staffers have left the city, that other employees don’t want to work here, and still others will not take a job in Edmonds.

I asked how many staffers feel the council is intimidating or harassing them. Maybe 20 to 30, he answered. How many have said they don’t want to continue to work here, I asked? “I don’t have a number,” Nelson replied. The city has 350 employees.

There has been discontent among some city staff. We have reported on concerns among Edmonds public works staffers during COVID, and the union representing wastewater treatment plant workers has complained about new hires and staff shortages.

Other published reports cite an “informal worker survey.” This quote is from an unnamed employee who is said to have responded to the survey: “I have felt over the years very grateful that I don’t have to interact with council and the mayor because they have accused staff of having hidden agendas, or the hoops they make us go through to prove that what we are doing is in the best interest of the public.”

In each quote from the survey, staffers mention the council and the mayor when they speak of concerns. When I asked the mayor about that survey, he told me that he hadn’t yet seen it; that it was conducted only among staff in the development services department, and that the comments were intended for follow-up discussion during a departmental retreat which has not yet been held.

The new administrative order further tells employees who feel they have experienced unprofessional or inappropriate interaction with the city council, to take their concerns to the human resources department, which may initiate an investigation.

The city already has policies to address job harassment or discrimination. I asked Nelson why Edmonds needs a new policy. He said this is a different dynamic at work; that the council does not supervise city staff; that these issues may not rise to the level of official discrimination or job harassment, that workers may feel powerless to complain about perceived bullying by council members.

Some members of the city council said they feel blindsided by the mayor’s action:

After the city sent out a press release Tuesday afternoon announcing the administrative order, Council President Vivian Olson said: “It saddens me that the mayor doesn’t work with councilmembers directly to resolve any communications concerns and that he distributes a policy naming council to staff and press without council engagement (or even knowledge of) the policy.”

Nelson sent the following email response to Olson Wednesday:

Subject: Re: Media Release – Mayor Issues Anti-Bullying Order of City Staff

“Council President,

Just want to make sure I understand you correctly…you want council input/influence on a policy that was crafted to protect city employees from bullying by Council?

Mike”

Councilmember Will Chen told me: “I am not aware of any bullying happening within our city government. I wish the council is made aware of the issue and can be part of the process for building a respectful work environment among different governmental branches. In fact, a respectful and professional work environment can only be achieved by all personnel involved, elected or not.”

Councilmember Susan Paine responded: “All of the city’s employees deserve a workplace that is free from council interactions that are unprofessional and a distraction, or worse, by having any councilmember direct their work. The expectation of workplace professionalism by council isn’t unreasonable and I hope that city staff know that their work is valued by our residents and also by me as a councilmember. We have a solid code of conduct and I trust that all councilmembers are following it both in its intent and also recognizing that behaviors have impact.”

Councilmember Neil Tibbott commented: “It’s regrettable the mayor chose to address a concern without talking with councilmembers. I truly do not know what has happened or what he considers “bullying.” I have had nothing but courteous and useful communication with our city staff  If I’m bullying someone, I’d like to know that so I can fix the problem. As it is, I’m left in the dark like most of us on the council. Personally, I look forward to working with our city staff to serve our wonderful city together. We make a great team.”

Councilmember Laura Johnson added her response: “It is disingenuous for anyone, especially those on Council, to say they are unaware that council conduct with city staff is an issue. There is a decade-plus of news reports on the issue and there have been many documented public comments, as well as private conversations.  Two years ago, I sent the email below with council bcc’d and submitted a LTE to the Edmonds Beacon regarding council conduct. The issue has continued despite numerous reports and attempts to bring it to light and address it. It has impacted the vity’s ability to attract, hire, and retain staff members. This is wrong from both an ethical and fiduciary perspective. It is unfortunate that the mayor felt it necessary to step in and do what Council could not- ensure all Councilmember’s conduct with City staff is both professional and respectful.”

Councilmember Diane Buckshinis said: “This is the fourth mayor that I have worked with and it is unfortunate that this mayor chose to make statements publicly without facts, documents or discussion with some councilmembers or the council president.  I am unaware of any complaints, concerns or bullying issues brought forth from any employee or through the human resource director, or mayor. Every employee of the city deserves respect and attention, and these issues should not and will not be taken lightly and our human resource director affirmed to me this commitment.

“Most importantly, we all need to work together — as the city has some serious issues at hand such as: our sewer treatment plant and capacity issues, Civic Field cost overruns, our lack of comprehensive codes, our comprehensive planning updates, our human services updates, the upgrading of our entire software system and a new budgeting module purchased first, updating our comprehensive emergency management plan, finalizing our tree code, working on fixing our federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act audit findings, our American Rescue Plan Act funding changes and consultant hiring, correcting the capital facilities plan and capital improvement plans …. and so much more – so maybe this is the crux of the issue? The tremendous workload that we face and two new councilmembers that ask questions? Whatever the resolve, we must all work together to provide the citizens with the best answers and optimal operating and professional conditions so that we can continue to gain the trust of our citizens.”

And Councilmember Kristiana Johnson added: “I think the mayor’s comments were politically motivated. He has taken no responsibility for the turnover of his directors. While he blames the council, he has not taken the time to discuss his concerns with the council.”

 I asked the mayor if he had approached or worked with any councilmembers before he published his new order. He told me: “No, unfortunately, it’s sort of like I’ve never met a bully that knows they’re a bully or admits that they are a bully.”

I then asked whether he was saying the councilmembers are bullies. “I’m not saying councilmembers are bullies,” Nelson said. “I’m saying I have seen bullying by councilmembers on city staff; yes, yes. Not the whole council.”

The last two years in Edmonds government have been, at times, tumultuous; from the tortured search for a new police chief, to budget squabbles, to the council elections last November. Nelson said he had been hopeful that a new council would ease what had become a rocky relationship, but added:

“This is not any better. In fact, it’s getting worse; that’s the reality, it’s getting worse,” the mayor said. “Should I have stepped in sooner; probably, yeah, there’s no question I could probably have taken some actions to address this sooner; maybe like you, I was hoping that with new people, they’ll be a new dynamic, but that didn’t happen.”

He feels, he told me, that he must protect his staff; that at the end of the day, he is responsible for “seeing that we have a healthy and safe workplace for our employees.” He warned that if the council does not treat staff more respectfully, he can and will change the way the council gets information from the city; that it could mean working only through department directors, not support staff.

There is much more at stake than a policy to try to curb perceived bullying by some councilmembers. That may be the flashpoint. But what is on the line is whether the mayor and the council can find any common ground, any way to work together and trust each other to tackle the issues that will help move the city into the future.

— By Bob Throndsen