Forensic Evidence Brief

# Systematic Denial of Maintenance
& Pre-Planned Closure

Every capital request denied. Budgets starved for 8 years. A closure scripted months before the public was told. The data tells a story the city doesn't want you to read. Every fact links to its native source document.

$94,370
Requested
$0
Approved
8
Years of Denials
6
Month Blackout
7
Days Before — Denied Closure
Explore the Interactive Forensic Corkboard →
↓
Section 1 — Capital Requests

## $94,370 Requested. $0 Approved.

Every single capital improvement request for the Old Fire House over an 8-year period was denied. Click any row for details.

Year | Request | Amount | Safety Issue | Result
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
2017 | Stage Lighting Replacement ▶ | $22,000 | Electrical faults causing shorting | Denied
The request: Replace stage lighting system experiencing intermittent electrical faults and shorting — a documented fire and electrocution hazard in a building used by teenagers. What happened: Capital request denied without documented alternative. The hazard was left unaddressed for 2 more years until the same request was resubmitted at a reduced amount. Significance: This is a safety issue in a building serving minors. Denial without remediation could constitute negligence. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) →
2019 | Stage Lighting (Re-requested) ▶ | $12,000 | Same electrical faults, 2 years unresolved | Denied
The request: Same stage lighting replacement, resubmitted at a 45% reduced cost ($12,000 vs. original $22,000) — staff already self-compromised on scope. What happened: Denied again. The electrical hazard that had been documented since 2017 remained unrepaired. The building continued operating with known electrical faults for another 6 years. Significance: When staff cut the request nearly in half and it was still denied, the pattern becomes clear: no amount was going to be approved. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) →
2021 | ADA-Compliant Stage Replacement ▶ | $40,000 | Non-compliant since 1995 — federal violation | Denied
The request: Replace the stage to meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility requirements. The stage had been non-compliant since 1995 — 26 years of federal accessibility violation. What happened: Denied. A public building serving teens — including disabled teens — was knowingly kept in violation of federal disability law for over a quarter century. Significance: ADA compliance is not optional. The city had a legal obligation to make this repair. Denying it while operating the building is a federal violation. The city then cited building condition as justification for closure — a condition they deliberately created by refusing to maintain it. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) →
2021 | Awning Frame Repair ▶ | $15,345 | Detaching from building — falling hazard | Denied
The request: Repair the awning frame, which was physically separating from the building structure — a falling debris hazard in an area where teens gather. What happened: Denied. A structural element actively detaching from a public building over a pedestrian area was left as-is. Significance: A falling awning is a liability event waiting to happen. The city chose to accept that risk rather than spend $15K on repairs. This suggests the decision to let the building deteriorate was already in motion. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) →
2023 | Amplifier Replacement ▶ | $5,025 | 2 of 3 amplifiers dead | Denied
The request: Replace 2 of 3 non-functional amplifiers. The teen center's recording studio and performance space — its core program offerings — were becoming non-functional. What happened: Denied. $5,025 — less than the monthly cost of the PR firm later hired to manage the closure narrative ($4,468.75/month). Significance: The city spent more per month on spin than it would have cost to keep the teen center's core programs running. This request represents the death of the program by a thousand cuts — deny the tools, then cite declining engagement as justification for closure. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) → 📄 S&A Contract — $4,469/mo comparison (PDF) →

$94,370
Total Requested
$0
Total Approved
5 of 5
Requests Denied
$4,469
Monthly PR Spend (to manage the closure)
The math: The PR firm hired to manage the closure announcement cost $4,468.75 per month — nearly as much as the $5,025 amplifier request that was denied. The total capital denied over 8 years ($94,370) represents less than 22 months of PR fees. The city chose narrative control over building maintenance. 📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 (PDF) → 📄 S&A Communications Contract (PDF) →
Section 2 — Budget Analysis

## Starve It, Then Say It's Failing

PRR Budget vs. Actuals data reveals systematic underfunding. Emergency repairs ballooned because planned maintenance was denied. Revenue targets were set to guarantee failure.

#### Building Maintenance

Planned maintenance funding 15–30% under budget
Outside repairs (emergency) 300–432% over budget
R&M supplies (2023 → 2025) ↓ 76% drop
Translation: Deny planned maintenance → building deteriorates → emergency repairs explode in cost → cite rising costs as proof the building is a liability. A self-fulfilling prophecy. 📊 PRR Budget vs. Actuals 2019-2025 (XLSX) → 📊 OFH Teen Center Budget vs. Actuals (XLSX) →

#### Revenue & Internet

Revenue target $106,271
Actual revenue collected $6,129 (5.8%)
Internet budget accuracy (4 years) 300–800% underbudgeted
Translation: Set a revenue target 17x higher than what the center could possibly generate, then point to the gap as evidence it "wasn't paying for itself." The budget was written to make the center look like a failure. 📊 PRR Budget vs. Actuals 2019-2025 (XLSX) →

### The Maintenance Cost Argument Is Circular

The city's stated reason for closure was building maintenance costs. But the maintenance costs were high because the city refused to approve planned maintenance for 8 years, forcing every repair into emergency status at 3–4x the planned cost.

They created the problem, then cited it as the reason.

📋 Full Forensic Analysis → 📄 FCA Summary Report v4 (PDF) →
Section 3 — The Pre-Planned Closure

## 24 Months of Planning. 0 Days of Public Input.

The forensic email analysis reveals the closure was being planned at least two years before the public announcement. Filter by evidence type to trace the decision.

January 2023

#### "Alternate Facilities Plan" appears on OFH Team Meeting agenda

Meeting

The phrase "Alternate Facilities Plan" begins appearing on every single OFH Team Meeting agenda — and continues for 24 consecutive months.

Source: OFH Team Meeting agenda documents recovered via PRA

Significance: This is the earliest documented evidence that the city was actively planning to move programming out of the Old Fire House. The item appeared on every single agenda for two full years before the public was told anything. This was not a spontaneous decision driven by a facilities report — it was a years-long process conducted entirely behind closed doors.

📄 OFH Team Meeting Agenda — Jan 2023 (PDF) → 📄 OFH Team Meeting Agenda — Nov 2023 (PDF) → 📄 OFH Team Meeting Agenda — Feb 2024 (PDF) → 📄 OFH Team Meeting Agenda — Aug 2024 (PDF) → 📊 Alternative Facilities Initial Plan (XLSX) → View in Corkboard →
April 2024

#### Meng Analysis FCA presented to Council — left in DRAFT

Budget

The Facilities Condition Assessment by Meng Analysis was presented to City Council but deliberately left in DRAFT status — preventing it from becoming an official public document.

Source: Council records, FCA report metadata

Significance: A draft document can be revised before finalization. Keeping it in draft for 10 months gave the city flexibility to adjust findings before they became the official basis for action. The DRAFT watermark was only removed on Feb 27, 2025 — 12 days before the public announcement.

📄 FCA — City of Redmond Final Report (PDF, 18MB) → 📄 FCA — Redmond Summary Report v4 (PDF) → View in Corkboard →
August 2024 — February 2025

#### 6-Month Email Blackout

Email

Near-zero emails appear in the PRA production for this entire 6-month period. This is where the closure decision was finalized — and those records are missing.

Source: Forensic gap analysis of 7,573 PRA-produced documents

Significance: The city produced thousands of emails from before and after this period, but virtually nothing from the 6 months when the closure decision was being made. Either: (1) city employees stopped using email for 6 months (implausible), (2) they switched to non-discoverable channels (likely — 45 channel-switching events detected in the broader corpus), or (3) the emails were withheld from the PRA production (consistent with the 911+ withheld email finding).

This is the black hole at the center of the investigation.

⚠️ PRA Suppression Report → 📋 Full Forensic Analysis → View Forensic Analysis in Corkboard →
December 2024

#### Stepherson & Associates PR firm engaged

PR / Narrative

The city hired Stepherson & Associates at $4,468.75/month to manage the closure narrative — more than the monthly maintenance cost of the building (~$3,083).

Source: City contract records

Significance: A PR firm was contracted three months before the public announcement. You don't hire a crisis communications firm for a "facilities decision" — you hire one when you know the decision will be unpopular and you need to control the story. The monthly PR cost exceeding monthly building maintenance is the number that tells the whole story.

📄 S&A Communications Contract (PDF) → 📄 Consulting Services Agreement (PDF) → 📄 Project Charter — OFH Communications (PDF) →
January 21, 2025

#### S&A formally begins PR campaign

PR / Narrative

Stepherson & Associates begins formal engagement. The PR machine is running 7 weeks before the public finds out.

Source: Engagement records, S&A billing

Significance: By this point, the decision is made, the narrative is being crafted, and the FCA report is still in draft. The only thing left is staging the announcement.

📄 S&A Contract — Billing Records (PDF) →
February 6, 2025

#### FCA report pulled from network drive, forwarded internally

Email

Quinn Kuhnhausen pulls "City of Redmond Final Report.pdf" from the N: drive and forwards it to Cameron Zapata.

Source: Email: Quinn Kuhnhausen → Cameron Zapata, recovered via PRA

Significance: The FCA report is being circulated internally while still in DRAFT status. The file name says "Final Report" but the document still carries a DRAFT watermark — it won't be officially finalized for another 3 weeks.

📄 FCA — Full Report (PDF, 18MB) → 🔍 View email thread in Corkboard →
February 18, 2025

#### "OFH Engagement Plan and team check-in agenda"

Meeting

S&A and Parks staff hold engagement planning session. Orphan thread: 20 emails.

Source: Orphan thread recovered via forensic analysis, 20 associated emails

Significance: The "engagement plan" is not about engaging the public for input — it's about managing the public's reaction to a decision already made. This is a communications rollout plan, not a consultation.

📄 Project Charter — Communications OFH (PDF) → 📄 Community & Stakeholder Outreach Plan (PDF) → 🔍 View orphan thread in Corkboard →
February 19, 2025

#### "OFH 2/18 team check-in meeting notes" distributed

Email

Meeting notes distributed. Orphan thread: 110 emails. Stepherson Associates cc'd on all internal communications.

Source: Orphan thread, 110 emails recovered via forensic analysis

Significance: 110 emails on a single thread about a single meeting's notes. This is the full internal coordination apparatus: Parks, Facilities, Communications, and the external PR firm all synchronized on messaging. The PR firm is embedded in internal city communications — they're not advising from outside, they're co-authoring the narrative.

📄 Staff Talking Points (PDF) → 📄 City-Prepared FAQs (PDF) → 🔍 View full thread in Corkboard →
February 24–25, 2025

#### Sprinkler system testing & maintenance bid issued

Budget

IFB 10861-25: The city issues a bid for sprinkler system maintenance on the Old Fire House — 2 weeks before announcing the closure.

Source: Facilities emails, IFB 10861-25 bid documents

Significance: If the building was being closed for maintenance costs, why was the city actively soliciting maintenance bids two weeks before the announcement? Either the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing (incompetence), or the "maintenance cost" justification was developed after the real decision (land play) was already locked in.

🔍 View IFB emails in Corkboard →
February 25, 2025

#### FCA report forwarded again internally

Email

Quinn Kuhnhausen forwards the FCA report to Glenn Coil. The still-DRAFT document continues circulating as the basis for an imminent announcement.

Source: Email: Quinn Kuhnhausen → Glenn Coil

Significance: The report that will justify the closure to the public is being distributed internally while still officially a draft. The public will be told the decision is based on "findings of the recent comprehensive condition assessment" — a document that was in draft status until 12 days before the announcement.

📄 FCA — Full Report (PDF, 18MB) → 🔍 View in Corkboard →
February 27, 2025

#### Sarah Partap removes DRAFT watermark from FCA

Closure

"I just removed the DRAFT watermark off the document." — Sarah Partap (Meng Analysis), attaching "Redmond Summary Report v4.pdf". 12 days before public announcement.

Source: Email from Sarah Partap, Meng Analysis

Significance: The report was in DRAFT for 10 months (April 2024 – February 2025). It was finalized 12 days before the public was told. This is consistent with the report being held in draft deliberately — available for internal use but not subject to public scrutiny — until the announcement machinery was ready.

📄 Redmond Summary Report v4 — DRAFT Removed (PDF) → 🔍 View email in Corkboard →
March 4, 2025

#### RYPAC member asks about demolition — news has leaked

Email

Freya Reiger (RYPAC) emails Jeff Hagen: she's heard the OFH is being demolished. She requests building history for a historic landmark application.

Source: Email thread "OFH Demolition Questions" — Freya Reiger → Jeff Hagen

Significance: Word has leaked a week before the official announcement. A community member is already trying to save the building via historic landmark status. The city's response to this inquiry will become one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case.

🔍 View thread in Corkboard →
March 4, 2025 — Same Day

#### Inquiry escalated up the chain in 4 hours

Email

Jeff Hagen → Erica Chua → Zach Houvener → Loreen Hamilton. A routine community question reaches the Deputy City Administrator in under 4 hours.

Source: Email forwarding chain, timestamps recovered via PRA

Significance: A simple inquiry about building history doesn't need to reach the Deputy City Administrator unless the answer is politically sensitive. The speed of escalation shows this was treated as a threat to the timeline, not a routine request.

🔍 View forwarding chain in Corkboard →
March 4, 2025 — 1:09 PM

#### Hamilton tells Reiger: "No such decision has been made"

Documented Lie

Loreen Hamilton emails Freya Reiger directly: "there has been no such decision made about the Old Firehouse Teen Center." The closure is announced 7 days later.

Source: Direct email from Loreen Hamilton (Deputy City Administrator) to Freya Reiger, March 4, 2025, 1:09 PM

At the time of this email:

• The PR firm had been working for 6 weeks

• The FCA DRAFT watermark had been removed 5 days earlier

• 110-email coordination threads were active between staff and S&A

• The engagement plan was already written

• The press release was 3 days from approval

This is not a misunderstanding. It is a direct, documented falsehood from a senior city official to a community member asking a legitimate question.

⚠️ Full Forensic Analysis — The Lie → 🔍 View Hamilton email in Corkboard →
March 7, 2025

#### Presentation, FAQ, web content, and staff comms reviewed

PR / Narrative

"COR Community Center_Presentation_03.07.25.pdf" created. "For Review: Web Content, FAQ, Staff Communications" thread active (32 emails). Brant DeLarme and Mayor Birney approve the news release.

Source: Internal attachments, orphan thread (32 emails), approval chain records

Significance: Three days after Hamilton told a community member "no decision has been made," the city is finalizing presentation decks, FAQs, web content, staff talking points, and the news release. The Mayor personally signs off. The entire communications apparatus is staged and ready.

📄 Staff Talking Points (PDF) → 📄 City-Prepared FAQs (PDF) → 📄 News Release 3.11.25 (PDF) → 📄 OFH Facility Discussion Presentation (PDF) → 🔍 View approval chain in Corkboard →
March 10, 2025 — 4:30 PM

#### Mayor and Hamilton meet with RYPAC teens at RCCMV

Closure

Mayor Birney and Loreen Hamilton meet with the teens after hours to tell them their center is closing. The news release goes out the next morning.

Source: Meeting records, RYPAC testimony

Significance: The teens — the people most affected — were the last to know. They were told the evening before the press release, in person, with no time to organize a response. By the next morning, the narrative was set.

March 11, 2025 — 9:00 AM

#### Press Release: "City Transitions Teen Programs from Old Fire House"

Closure

784 emails on announcement day. Lisa Maher tells Council the closure is based on "findings of the recent comprehensive condition assessment." The assessment that was in draft for 10 months.

Source: Press release, email to Council from Lisa Maher (Deputy Executive Director)

Significance: The official narrative is now public: this is a "facilities decision" based on a "recent" assessment. In reality: the assessment was 10 months old, held in draft until 12 days prior, the PR firm had been working for 3 months, the closure had been planned for 2+ years, and a senior official had denied the decision existed just 7 days earlier.

784 emails in a single day — the largest single-day volume in the entire PRA corpus — demonstrate the scale of the coordinated communications push.

📄 Official News Release — March 11, 2025 (PDF) → 📄 Staff Talking Points Distributed Same Day (PDF) → 🔍 View announcement in Corkboard →
November 2025

#### Demolition vote — no replacement plan presented

Closure

Council votes to demolish the Old Fire House. No concrete plan for the site has been presented. No public hearing was ever held on the closure decision itself.

Source: Council records, November 2025

Significance: The building is now slated for demolition. The lot — 0.64 acres of downtown Redmond, zoned for 144 feet at FAR 8.0, adjacent to the new light rail station, next door to NLG — will be "available." No plan has been publicly presented for what replaces it. A cleared lot with no plan is not a promise. It's an invitation.

📄 Council Agenda Memo (PDF) → 💰 Follow the Money — Land Play Analysis → 📄 Mayor's Bond Letters of Intent (PDF) → 🔍 View full investigation in Corkboard →
Section 4 — The Lie Exposed

## "No Such Decision Has Been Made"

What Loreen Hamilton told a community member on March 4, 2025 — versus what was actually happening inside City Hall at that exact moment.

What They Said

> "There has been no such decision made about the Old Firehouse Teen Center."

— Loreen Hamilton, Deputy City Administrator
Email to Freya Reiger, March 4, 2025, 1:09 PM

🔍 View Original Email in Corkboard →
What Was Actually Happening

- ✓ PR firm hired and working for 6 weeks ($4,469/mo)
- ✓ FCA report DRAFT watermark removed 5 days earlier
- ✓ 110-email coordination thread active with S&A
- ✓ "Engagement Plan" already written and reviewed
- ✓ 20-email planning thread for rollout logistics
- ✓ Press release approved 3 days later
- ✓ Teens told 6 days later
- ✓ Public announcement 7 days later

📄 S&A Contract → 📄 FCA Report v4 → 📄 News Release → 📄 Engagement Plan → 🔍 Full Corkboard →
"A cleared lot with no plan is not a promise. It's an invitation." — SaveOFH Forensic Analysis
Primary Source Documents

## The Full Document Archive

Every document cited on this page is available for download. All were obtained through PRA requests or recovered from public records.

#### Capital & Budget

📄 Capital Equipment Requests 2018-2025 📊 Budget vs. Actuals 2019-2025 📊 OFH Teen Center Budget vs. Actuals 📄 Mayor's Bond Letters of Intent

#### Facility Condition Assessment

📄 FCA — Full Report (18MB) 📄 FCA — Summary Report v4 (DRAFT removed Feb 27) 📄 OFH Facility Discussion Presentation

#### PR Firm & Contracts

📄 S&A Communications Contract 📄 Consulting Services Agreement 📄 Phase 2 Teen Services Engagement 📄 Project Charter — Communications OFH

#### Council & PR Materials

📄 Council Agenda Memo 📄 News Release — March 11, 2025 📄 Staff Talking Points 📄 City-Prepared FAQs 📄 Community & Stakeholder Outreach Plan

#### Meeting Agendas (24 months of "Alt Facilities")

📄 Team Meeting — Jan 2023 (first appearance) 📄 Team Meeting — Nov 2023 📄 Team Meeting — Feb 2024 📄 Team Meeting — Aug 2024 📊 Alternative Facilities Initial Plan

#### Forensic Analysis & Investigation

📋 THE FULL PICTURE — Master Forensic Analysis ⚠️ PRA Suppression Report 💰 Follow the Money — Financial Analysis 📄 Affidavit Exhibits 🔍 Interactive Forensic Corkboard (7,573 emails)
What You Can Do

## The Evidence Is Public. Make It Count.

Every document cited on this page exists in the public record or was recovered through PRA. Share it. Challenge it. Demand answers.

🔍

#### Explore the Corkboard

Interactive 3D forensic tool with all 7,573 emails, network graphs, campaign finance data, and ghost detection.

Open Corkboard
📧

#### Email the Council

Ask why every capital request was denied. Ask who approved the PR contract. Ask for the 6-month email gap.

council@redmond.gov
🏛️

#### Attend Council Meetings

Public comment is still open. Bring specific questions. Reference specific documents. They can't dismiss what's on the record.

Meeting Schedule
📱

#### Follow @SaveOFH

Updates, documents, and community organizing on Instagram.

@SaveOFH
🌐

#### Visit SaveOFH.com

The main campaign site with petition, full document archive, and community resources.

SaveOFH.com
📢

#### Share This Page

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