Longview, Washington, residents will foot the legal bills for their city councilors who are accused of working behind closed doors to fire their top administrator.
A Pacific County Superior Court judge ordered the city to pay the legal fees for four councilors — Erik Halvorson, Kalei LaFave, Keith Young and Mayor Spencer Boudreau — who moved suddenly last month to replace the city’s top employee.
Three residents contend in court filings that the councilors acted as a de facto subcommittee to hire one of their campaign supporters to a $176,000-a-year job.
Washington laws require elected officials to have such discussions out in the open.
“We have mounting evidence of blatant violations,” said Mike Wallin, one of the plaintiffs and a former city councilor.
Judge Donald Richter’s order, issued Wednesday, does not address those claims. Instead, he ruled only that the city of Longview should be representing the four councilors in court; they were being represented by two private attorneys.
But the councilors nonetheless celebrated the judge’s order. Halvorson issued a statement calling it a “major victory.” In a Facebook post, LaFave declared herself and the other councilors “innocent of any (public meetings) violations.”
The case is still open, said Nick Power, the attorney who represents Halvorson and Young. Plaintiffs can still make their case, but he said he was confident councilors did not violate any public meetings laws when they acted to replace then-City Manager Kris Swanson.
“What happened here is that only two members met individually to discuss the termination of Swanson, and that’s perfectly legal,” Power said. Power also blamed the upcoming legal payments on the plaintiffs and accused other councilors as encouraging the lawsuit.
“There is a fracture on the council,” Power said.
There is currently no date set for the next hearing.
In the meantime, the three plaintiffs said they are working to get an attorney. They had represented themselves in court up until now — and have stumbled. Richter ordered them each to pay $500 penalties for failing to follow court rules.
One rule, for example, requires parties to include their addresses on filings.
“We regret that, and we’re going to immediately comply with the court order and pay those fines,” Wallin said. “However, we do look forward to our next hearing so we can present our evidence of these violations and have our complaints adjudicated.”
According to Wallin, their evidence includes cell phone records showing the four councilors communicated frequently before placing Swanson on paid administrative leave.
For Longview residents, the size of the legal bill remains unknown. It would encompass the fees charged by Power and attorney Eric Carlson, who represents LaFave and Boudreau. Power declined to estimate the costs.
The case “is still going on,” he said. “It’s a live thing.”
Wallin said taxpayers should place any frustrations on the councilors. He said he expected the case to protract into a “lengthy process.”
“And it will be costly,” Wallin said. “We believe this is a misuse — if not an abuse — of taxpayer funds.”