WOODWAY — Four years ago I saw our community come together after howling, tornadic winds crashed through this town of 9,000 one night, uprooting our beloved oaks and pecans and battering our homes. What I recall of that night was nothing less than disturbing; what I saw in the days of aftermath was wondrous, inspiring.

What we’ve seen and heard of our city leaders in this town today leaves me not only disturbed but fearful. And in the end I worry that what has made Woodway a great place to live may be put asunder amid unproven allegations against a longtime public servant and a rush to judgment that, if allowed to continue, could reflect badly on us all as a community.

I’m referring to the move by some of my cherished neighbors to feed rumors about longtime City Manager and Public Safety Director Yost Zakhary. This is an obvious outgrowth of Zakhary’s decision last summer to fire Karen O’Bric as Carleen Bright Arboretum manager. She responded by filing a lawsuit against him for wrongful termination. Fair enough.

Let cooler heads prevail

This month four new council members came to power, apparently driven by concerns Zakhary had gone too far. If you attended last week’s council meeting, as Tribune-Herald staff writer Erin Quinn did, you could sense that this new bloc was champing at the bit to do something.

Seasoned council members reminded them that they all had to abide by law and governmental procedures in such matters. For instance, before a council can act, it must post matters on the agenda for a future meeting.

My fervent hope: Perhaps this will allow time for cooler heads to prevail, regardless of which side they favor in the dispute.

Certainly, the new council bent the rules some for Mike O’Bric, Karen’s husband, allowing him to speak far longer than the usual time permitted for public commenting. His claims against Zakhary include misuse of city funds, taking 100 vacation days a year and not caring properly for city equipment.

I’ve been a resident of Woodway nearly 10 years. I feel compelled to support city management in every respect, including law enforcement. I had not lived here long before I was caught for speeding and ticketed. Was I guilty? Absolutely. Did I pay a fine? Absolutely.

Who did I blame? Myself.

On far too many occasions my burglar alarm has accidentally been activated. Within minutes, my home has been surrounded by Woodway police, courteously asking about my welfare. Never has anyone even remotely been unfriendly about these false alarms created by our own errors. And we probably deserved rebuke.

But that’s the kind of city government we have.

Do I feel safe in Woodway? You bet. Travel the streets of my town and you’ll almost certainly see police patrolling the neighborhoods.

We have a great community where so much works so well. Our streets are clean, our parks are picturesque, our ordinances are upheld, the utilities work and our water is great. Common sense rules. Most remarkably, our tax rate hasn’t risen since 2002 — something an old conservative like me respects. What’s more, they’re expected to remain constant in 2010.

I’d hate to lose Yost Zakhary, who has lived here since 1978 and has gone from being a volunteer firefighter here to running our city and its police force. (He’s also an officer of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.) What concerns me even more is the idea that, in that mad scramble to take action on unverified allegations, we may be putting our very way of life at risk. That seems senseless to me.

The good people of Woodway and our entire council must come together, not work at cross purposes. Everyone should take a deep breath, step back, review all the facts, hear testimony from all parties involved and, for all our sakes, make no rash decisions on city management based on rumor and innuendo.

Yost Zakhary’s years of service for us rate at least that much consideration, if not far more.

Clifton Robinson is chairman of Robinson Media, which owns the Tribune-Herald .