Council hears update on Snoqualmie police contract, independent investigation and staffing

North Bend City Council on Feb. 18 heard updates from Snoqualmie officials about the cities’ shared police services, an independent investigation into Snoqualmie Police Chief Lynch and a monthly operations report from Snoqualmie’s interim police chief.

The Snoqualmie city administrator, Mike Grama, told the council that the city placed Chief Lynch on administrative leave and “brought in an outside investigator to conduct an independent investigation,” and said the probe “will take several weeks.” He said no further updates would be provided until it is appropriate to do so and named Captain Gary Hiracy as acting police chief for the joint service period.

The matter drew public comment. North Bend resident Simone Grayling used the public-comment period to say she has personal concerns about officer conduct and the level of transparency from Snoqualmie’s administration. “I think the transparency and honesty from both our mayors have been lacking in regard to an investigation that has already been done and completed about an officer who spent many nights with me in our parking lots,” Grayling said, and told council she would submit evidence to members after the meeting.

Why it matters: North Bend contracts with Snoqualmie for police services; the outcome of the investigation and any contract decisions affect public safety services for North Bend residents.

Details from Snoqualmie’s report: Interim Chief Gary Grama reviewed January 2025 activity for both cities and highlighted staffing and response-time figures. He reported 416 calls in January for North Bend, up slightly from 406 in December 2024 but down from 470 in the same period in 2024. For priority-1 calls (the department’s highest-priority incidents), January response times averaged 2 minutes, 29 seconds in North Bend and 2 minutes, 54 seconds in Snoqualmie. The interim chief said overall thefts and vehicle-prowl reports declined from January 2024 to January 2025.

Gary Grama also reported operational details the department is addressing: a vacant mental-health professional position after a staff member left to care for a newborn, 44 public-records requests to the police department year to date, and 93 shift-cover assignments recorded in January (one day shift officer, one night shift officer and rotating sergeants shared between the cities). He said the department is recruiting, including a lateral hire from California, and is using county crisis teams and regional partners to cover the temporary gap in mental-health coverage.

Council discussion and direction: Council members asked clarifying questions about how the department classifies priority calls and whether public-record requests can be broken out by city; Gary Grama agreed to provide a city-by-city breakdown of records requests going forward. No formal action or new contract vote occurred during the meeting.

Public records and next steps: According to the Snoqualmie administrator, the investigation into Chief Lynch is ongoing and communications will be limited until the investigation is complete. Grayling told council she would submit materials to members for review; council did not take action on the allegations during the meeting.

Ending: Council did not vote on changes to the police contract at the Feb. 18 session. Officials said recruitment and the mental-health staffing issue remain priorities for the department while the independent investigation proceeds.