The Burien Council decided Jan. 9 to select an outside agency to conduct an investigation into allegations of ethics violations against new Mayor Joan McGilton and Councilman Gordon Shaw.

On a 4-1 vote, with new Deputy Mayor Jack Block Jr. opposing the motion, lawmakers decided that due to the extent of the allegations the matter should be turned over to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Council members Sue Blazak, Rose Clark, Lucy Krakowiak and Sally Nelson voted for the investigation.

McGilton and Shaw recused themselves from voting and did not take part in the debate.

Allegations of ethical misconduct involving an improper connection to a Water District 49 service line were outlined in a confidential Dec. 23 memorandum from then-Mayor Noel Gibb to all current and future council members.

Interim City Manager David Cline noted at the meeting that the memo was a complaint, not a determination of facts.

He said the information was intended to assist the council in its discussion to determine if any action was appropriate.

However, some council members did not receive the information in a timely manner, and others did not receive the memo at all.

McGilton, who stated that Gibb brought this information to the council’s attention without notifying her, said she looks forward to an investigation.

“I did nothing wrong, and I have nothing to hide,” she said before excusing herself from the discussion.

Shaw outlined a chronology of the incident in question in a lengthy statement before taking leave.

He recalled that in 2004, he was at McGilton’s house discussing city business when she pointed out a septic problem in her yard.

Shaw stated that she told him it would cost her around $23,000 to have a new drain installed.

He said he thought a better answer would be to speak with her neighbor, developer Ron Halsen, and see if McGilton could hook up to the sewer through his lot.

Halsen agreed to the sewer hook-up at cost, Shaw told his fellow council members, if McGilton would let him run his water line up the side of her property to the street above.

This would reduce the water line to Halsen’s property from 400 to 100 feet.

Shaw said he subsequently spoke with Dale Cap, manager of Water District 49, who responded that he would need to ask Highline Water District for their permission to serve Halsen as he was in their district.

According to Shaw, Halsen notified McGilton that he would need to buy six feet of her property so that District 49 could serve him.

“In this discussion it was revealed that Highline wanted $15,000 to hook up the water meter to Halsen’s 10 feet of frontage on their system; whereas his cost of hooking up to District 49 would be $4,500,” Shaw recalled.

He said that Halsen had cost and service incentives for wanting to hook up to District 49.

“Who could blame him for wanting to save over $10,000 for the same meter service?” Shaw asked.

Shaw also questioned of whether the Times/News obtained the memo as an inadvertent mistake, or as part of a deliberate act to discredit two councilmembers.

He noted that in December, Nelson and then-Councilman Stephen Lamphear, who writes a garden column for the Times/News, were at a District 49 meeting when an editor from the paper was also present.

As Shaw stepped down, he declared that the publicity of this incident has been a “hatchet job from the beginning” and he has “nothing to hide.”

Shaw and Clark requested that Nelson also Nelson recuse herself.

But Nelson refused, noting she had no idea that Shaw would accuse her of “some duplicity.

“I have the perfect right to sit here and participate as a member, fully-elect by a huge majority for this seat,” she declared.

The investigation should not be a “witch hunt,” Nelson added, and full consideration should be paid to the ethics policy the council adopted in June 2005.

According to this policy, the council is allowed full participation in the review of alleged ethics violations and has the right to choose an outside party to conduct an investigation if appropriate, said Cline.