Olympia, WA – October 20, 2023 – Today the Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) filed suit against the City of Seattle for its failure to provide records pursuant to a request made by unDivided Media LLC and podcast host Brandi Kruse regarding a controversial vote by a Seattle Councilmember.
On June 6, 2023, Councilmember Andrew J. Lewis voted to reject a proposal by the city attorney to prosecute drug offenses. His vote was contrary to statements he’d made in support of the measure just hours before the vote took place. On June 21, 2023, in an effort to ascertain whether special interests influenced his vote, Kruse filed a narrow public records request, seeking text messages, emails, and phone calls to and from the Councilmember over a ten-hour period prior to and after the vote.
The city indicated it would provide the records on August 18, 2023 (after the primary in which Councilmember Lewis would be on the ballot). The city provided only 578 emails on that date which were comprised largely of constituent communications to Councilmember Lewis expressing support or opposition to the vote. The city then indicated it would not be able to provide any additional records until November 10, 2023 (after the general election in which Councilmember Lewis would again be on the ballot). As of the filing of this lawsuit, no other records have been provided. The suit seeks all outstanding responsive records in addition to a court award of attorney’s fees, costs, and penalties.
“The Public Records Act exists so that citizens and the media alike can hold their elected officials accountable. There is no legitimate reason it should take five months to provide the records in question, particularly given the narrow scope of the request,” said Jackson Maynard, Executive Director of CADF. “Brandi Kruse is a respected member of the Seattle media, and in withholding these records until after the November election, the city is acting in bad faith. Period. Unfortunately, this is not the first recent instance of Seattle violating public records law to protect a city official from scrutiny. We intend to seek the full remedies available under the law to hold the city accountable for its political gamesmanship.”
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For more information:
Jackson Maynard
Executive Director
Office: (850) 519-3495