Camden: Courts have final say on recalls By Jim Camden
Share: Jim Camden is a columnist with the Spokesman-Review in Spokane. Email: jimc@spokesman.com. Photo
The way some local elected officials don’t follow pandemic guidelines has kept the Washington Supreme Court busy in recent months deciding what would warrant giving voters a chance to bounce them out of office for not following COVID protocols.
Based on a series of rulings, it’s clear an elected official can’t be subjected to a recall for criticizing the restrictions and encouraging people to protest them. The justices upheld a trial court’s decision to toss the recall effort against Yakima City Councilman Jason White for criticizing the state’s pandemic restrictions and masking requirements, urging people on social media to disobey them.
Recall campaign, Kshama Sawant dig in for lengthy battle over District 3
Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant at a weekend rally. (Sawant Solidarity, Facebook)
With a recall petition against Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant set to move forward into the signature-gathering phase, the two sides are preparing for what’s sure to be a months-long battle over the District 3 council seat.
Within 180 days, the recall campaign must collect just over 10,700 certified paper signatures from registered voters in District 3, a number that would constitute 25% of total votes cast in the last election for the district’s council seat.
The group, led by District 3 resident Ernie Lou, says it’s targeting August’s primary to get the recall on the ballot, given that the vote is required to take place during a regularly scheduled election. On Saturday, Sawant held a rally in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park, where she accused the group of purposefully avoiding the larger turnout afforded b
by Nathalie Graham • Apr 1, 2021 at 10:12 am
Not found on a Washington Supreme Court Justice’s lawn Nathalie Graham
Today, the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously decided the recall effort against Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant can proceed, a ruling that the Court originally planned to come out in January.
The Court ruled on Sawant s appeal of a King County District Court decision to certify four charges from the recall petition back in September, and found three of the four charges against Sawant legally and factually sound.
The charges from the petition accused Sawant of violating Gov. Jay Inslee s COVID-19 restrictions when she allowed protesters into City Hall over the summer, leading a march to Mayor Jenny Durkan s home, allowing the Socialist Alternative to make hiring decisions for her council office, and using city resources for Tax Amazon promotional materials. The WSSC had to decide whether or not those ch