In response to the court’s order in Danieli v. King County, the City of Bellevue updates and corrects the Bellevue City Code.

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON

Following the entry of the Court’s Order on November 13, 2020, deeming the City of Bellevue’s City Code invalid, the City of Bellevue has taken action to update its laws.  On December 7, 2020, the Bellevue City Council passed Ordinance No. 6546, which updated Bellevue’s City Code sections 8.04.180, 08.04.340(6)(a) and 8.04.350, effectively fixing the problems in the law that were pointed out in Danieli v. King County, et. al., and ordered to be rectified by the Court.

The City of Bellevue’s change to the law is one of the significant wins for Danieli in her case against the City of Bellevue, and other government agencies. “We are happy for both our client as well as the citizens of the City of Bellevue,” stated Jeffrey Possinger, one of Danieli’s attorneys. “It is unfortunate that it took a lawsuit and a court order to get the government actors to do what should have been done all along, but we are very pleased with this result.”  The new updates to the law will go into effect five days after passage and publication.

This update corrects a significant flaw in the previous Bellevue City Code, which failed to grant legal authority for the King County Hearing Examiner to hear animal control cases arising out of the City of Bellevue.  In 2016, the City of Bellevue entered into an Interlocal Agreement with King County for Animal Control Cases, which required the city to update its code for certain changes in the processes used by King County for appeals of decisions made by Regional Animal Control of King County (“RASKC”). However, after entering into this agreement with King County, the City of Bellevue failed to update its code, which the Court ruled caused earlier decisions made by the King County Hearing Examiner, which included Danieli’s case, to be void. RASKC is the King County agency in charge of enforcing animal control laws in King County, and on behalf of a number of cities, like the City of Bellevue, which King County has entered contracts for services.

Despite this significant win by Danieli in Pierce County Superior Court in October 2020, the case continues against the various Government Defendants, as various tort claims remain unresolved with a trial expected in the Spring of 2021.

We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).