In re Recall of Davis
Washington Supreme Court
193 P.3d 98 (2008)

- Written by Joe Cox, JD
Facts
Christopher Clifford filed a recall petition and alleged six charges against Pat Davis, a commissioner of the Port of Seattle. The petition to recall was premised on Washington state law, which required that such a petition had to set forth the officer to be recalled, recite that the officer had committed malfeasance or violated an oath of office, state the particular acts complained of, and give detailed accounts of each act. Davis filed suit. At the trial court level, five of the six charges were found to be legally and factually sufficient to move forward. Such a determination, not unlike a summary-judgment proceeding, does not consider the factual proof of the allegations but rather considers only whether the allegations, if true, constitute a sufficient factual and legal basis for recall. Davis appealed this finding, and the court focused on allegations that she 1) committed malfeasance by approving $239,000 of payments to an outgoing CEO of the Port of Seattle without approval of the commissioners at a regular meeting; 2) committed malfeasance by voting in executive session in a meeting in violation of Washington statute; 3) committed malfeasance by voting in executive session in a second meeting in violation of Washington statute; and 4) committed malfeasance by knowingly exceeding the purposes of executive session by negotiating and voting on the gift of public money to the outgoing CEO in executive session. Clifford had no personal knowledge of the pair of voting-in-executive-session charges but grounded his details in media accounts, although these accounts lacked details regarding the alleged executive sessions. In regard to the first charge, Davis admitted entering into, without approval of the commission, a memorandum with the outgoing CEO that reflected an agreement between Davis and the CEO.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Johnson, J.)
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