Mayor Andy Rheaume appeared very nervous in his interview on King 5 last week. Based on his shifting explanations about the firing of City Manager Bob Stowe he has good reason to sweat.

The night of the meeting when Stowe was fired without notice or public comment, Mayor Rheaume said he had consulted an outside lawyer whom he declined to name. He told King 5 he routinely does this on city business.

At the start of last week’s meeting Rheaume read from a script that “legal review” had indicated his actions did not violate the law. But legal review by who? His unnamed outside lawyer? The temporary city attorney (who now may fear being fired on vacation if his answer displeases the Mayor)? It begs the question, why isn’t a genuinely independent counsel reviewing Rheaume’s actions with an eye toward accountability not covering the Mayor’s political livelihood? Interestingly, the Mayor said the “legal review” has determined there were specific laws he didn’t violate in firing Bob Stowe while he was on vacation, but missing from this list was the Open Public Meetings Act.

It is time for an independent review of the Mayor’s stunning behavior in firing an employee of 11 years with no notice or cause while he was out of the country on vacation. The taxpayers of Bothell are on the financial hook for his reckless behavior, and he announced last week he wants a massive tax increase as well. Bothell deserves better than the embarrassing and costly behavior of Mayor Rheaume, if he cannot fully and publicly explain his actions he should step aside so our City can find out the truth and move forward.

Kim Dill, Kenmore