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Jenny Durkan recall, Seattle, Washington (2020)

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Seattle Mayoral recall
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Officeholders
Jenny Durkan
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2020
Recalls in Washington
Washington recall laws
Mayoral recalls
Recall reports

A recall effort in Seattle, Washington, to recall Mayor Jenny Durkan was initiated in June 2020.[1] On October 8, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that allowed the recall effort against Durkan. The supreme court's order read, "The allegations in this case are deeply troubling and our review requires that we treat the factual allegations as true. Nevertheless, after carefully considering the issues presented, the court concludes that the recall charges presented in this case are factually and legally insufficient."[2]

Recall supporters

The recall effort was organized by Elliott Grace, Harvey, Alan Meekins Jr., Courtney Scott, Leah Solomon, and Charlie Stone. Petition filings accused Durkan of the following:[3]

“
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amend. 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 3; when she issued a city-wide curfew without sufficient notice for individuals to safely disperse.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amends. 1 and 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1 Sec. 3-5, when she failed to institute new polices and safety measures for the Seattle Police Department when using crowd control measures during a public health emergency.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amend. 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 3 and 5 when she failed to enforce Seattle Police Officer compliance with the Seattle Municipal Code and the Seattle Police Manual, when the police deliberately attacked members of the press despite their identification as such, attacked street medics attempting to treat the injured, destroyed medical supplies, and deliberately did not use appropriate de-escalation techniques.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amends. 1 and 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 3-5, when she failed to protect the Right to Freedom of Speech and the Right to Peaceful Assembly under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Sec. 4-5 of the Washington State Constitution.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amends. 1 and 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1 Sec. 3-5, when she wrongfully subjected bystanders to chemical weapons and crowd control measures.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amends. 1 and 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1 Sec. 3-5, when she endangered the lives of people around the SPD East Precinct by allowing police to leak false information about fabricated crimes and threats to the media.
  • Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under RCW 35.18.200, Seattle Charter Art. V, Sec. 2, SMC 10.02.010A, and her oath to uphold US Const., Amends. 4, Washington Constitution, Art. 1 Sec. 3, when she wrongfully disallowed certain property rights in downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill.[4]
 ”

A King County Superior Court judge found that the second charge, which accused Durkan of failing to institute new policies and safety measures to prohibit the use of tear gas and other chemical crowd control agents by the Seattle Police Department when such use would be particularly detrimental to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, was sufficient grounds for the recall effort to move forward. The other six charges were dismissed as being insufficient for a recall election. The superior court hearings were to determine if the accusations were legally sufficient for a recall election. It is not the role of the court to decide whether any alleged facts are true or not.[3]

Recall opponents

A spokesperson for Mayor Durkan responded to the court decision to allow recall organizers to begin gathering signatures.[3]

“

In the midst of unprecedented challenges for the City, Mayor Durkan consistently has acted to protect the City’s public health and safety and to respect the constitutional rights of peaceful protestors. She also believes Chief Best has exercised her challenging duties lawfully and appropriately to protect the public peace. At this stage, the Court is required to accept the petition’s allegations as factually true. Even under this low standard, the Court dismissed six of the seven claims in the petition, in addition to dismissing outright another petition. The Mayor believes the remaining claim will be dismissed.[4]

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Washington

The Washington Constitution allows for the recall of elected officials if they violate their oath of office or "in commission of some act or acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office." To put a recall on the ballot, recall supporters have 180 days to collect valid signatures equal to 25% of the total vote for the office in the last regular election.

Organizers in the recall effort against Durkan began filing paperwork on June 15, 2020.[1] King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts ruled on July 10, 2020, that petitioners could begin gathering signatures. Roberts dismissed six of the seven charges as insufficient for a recall election. The second charge was found to be sufficient grounds for the recall effort to move forward. Recall organizers had until January 6, 2021, to gather about 54,000 valid signatures in order to put the recall election on the ballot.[3][5] On October 8, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court reversed the superior court ruling, effectively ending the recall effort.[2]

A separate recall effort, relating to accusations of misuse of police force during protests, was deemed insufficient by the King County Superior Court on July 10, 2020.[3]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 KIRO 7, "Police response to protests fueling petition to recall Seattle mayor," June 13, 2020
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 October 8, 2020, "Washington Supreme Court tosses out Durkan recall effort," October 8, 2020
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 KOMO News, "Judge: Petition to allow recall election for Mayor Jenny Durkan can proceed," July 11, 2020
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  5. ↑ Associated Press, "Judge: Petition to recall Seattle mayor can move forward," July 11, 2020
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