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Resident questions Ryan House demolition and calls for public legal explanation; council moves to executive session on litigation
Summary
A Sumner resident urged the city to publicly address questions about the demolition of the Ryan House and alleged procedural irregularities. The council recessed into executive session to discuss threatened or pending litigation under state law and said no action would follow.
Randall Adams of Sumner used the public-comment period at the Oct. 6 council meeting to press the City Council to answer questions about the demolition of the Ryan House and its legal basis.
Adams asked the council to examine whether the city acted lawfully after a judge’s filing and said he believed the city issued a demolition permit and proceeded with demolition while the court was awaiting the city’s response. “If the gazebo was placed on the Ryan parcel, doesn't that invoke the reversionary clause of the deed and the property therefore goes back to the Ryans?” Adams asked.
Adams also said documentation involving Nancy Ryan Dressel’s attorney and court filings raised questions about which portions of a lawsuit had been dismissed and whether the city followed the Comprehensive Plan amendment or CEMA process before authorizing demolition. He urged the city attorney to answer those questions in public: “If you are tired of paying attorney's fees…then have the city attorney stand at this very podium in a public setting and answer these questions.”
The council then announced an executive session “for the purpose of discussing with legal counsel pending or threatened litigation per RCW 42.30.110 and labor negotiations pursuant to RCW 42.30.140” and stated there would be no action to follow. The meeting record shows the session began immediately after adjournment to executive session; no public response from the city attorney was recorded in the public portion of the meeting.
