What the Inglewood Letter Revealed About City Hall and What Can Be Done to Fix it
When hundreds of Inglewood residents received a letter from the city informing them that their streets would suddenly be classified as “private” and vital city services would be cut off in just 30 days, residents responded with confusion, disbelief, and anger.
Dozens of impassioned residents packed the June 3 City Council meeting and gave public testimony, prompting a rare public apology and course reversal on the hard deadline for ending city services. A solution is still in process, but if comments and questions heard from the 200 residents in attendance at the June 12 Inglewood Town Hall are any indication, there is concern about what the city will do next.
I’m not writing to rehash the issue or offer a legal solution. However, I have been thinking about the way this issue was handled to understand if this was an unavoidable side effect of a necessary government process or a symptom of a larger problem.
I believe this was a symptom of a larger problem.
Local government should focus on one thing: serving residents. Even if the city was technically in the right about making the streets private, it wasn’t handled in a way that prioritized residents. The larger problem, in my view, is our city council has created a culture that puts rigid adherence to process ahead of residents.
In Toyota’s factories, any employee can stop the assembly line by pulling the “Andon cord” if something isn’t right. It’s a simple mechanism that prevents small issues from becoming systemic failures. Culture, good or bad, is created by leadership. Toyota’s leadership created a culture that empowers and expects people to speak up.
I’ve met many of our city employees. They are hardworking individuals who care deeply about serving the community and when empowered by leadership, go above and beyond. It seems to me that no one at City Hall was empowered to “pull the cord” on the Inglewood decision. Or, if they did, no one listened. That’s a fixable problem.
Here are three things I believe can drive a turnaround at City Hall to create a government that works for the people who live here.
- Follow a Resident-First Filter
As a former Sammamish Rotary President, one of the values I try to live by is the Four Way Test — a helpful tool when making personal and business decisions. I have adapted it to create a four-part filter for city decisions to ensure residents are put first. They are:
- Is it necessary?
- Is it clearly explained?
- Are the tradeoffs transparent?
- Will residents feel respected?
- Expect Frontline Feedback, Then Take Action
City staff should be empowered to flag issues that don’t pass that filter. When they do, the issue must be immediately addressed and added to the next council agenda for review. The staff should be rewarded for flagging issues and ensuring residents are put first. - Shape the Culture with Accountability
To truly create this resident-first culture, council members need to lead this change, not leave it to staff. They must ask tough questions to ensure the first two steps are followed and show up where residents are to listen for warning signs before another self-imposed crisis is created. A culture change can’t happen without accountability, and that starts at the top.
I want a council where accountability is expected, not feared, where tough decisions are handled with empathy, where residents feel heard, respected, and well-served. That’s the type of government I believe everyone deserves.
Josh Amato is a candidate for Sammamish City Council Position #3, former President of Sammamish Rotary, former Sammamish Planning Commission Vice Chair, Board Member for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and has been a business owner for over a decade. Josh and his wife have called Sammamish home for 7 years.
