Camden: Courts have final say on recalls
By Jim Camden
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Jim Camden is a columnist with the Spokesman-Review in Spokane. Email: jimc@spokesman.com.
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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.