Suit alleging Longview council open meetings violations postponed again

First hearing now slated for May 8

A first hearing in a case alleging open meetings laws violations by four members of the Longview City Council was postponed for a second time Wednesday afternoon.

The visiting judge assigned to the case, Donald Richter of Pacific and Wahkiakum county superior courts, told the video-assembled litigants that he could not hear the case because he and court personnel needed to be present live, not remotely.

All Cowlitz County Superior Court civil cases are heard through video feeds. It was not immediately clear why Richter had not been made aware of the restriction before the hearing was to take place.

The hearing has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. May 8 in Cowlitz Superior Court.

All Cowlitz Superior Court Judges have recused themselves from the case to avoid any appearance of bias.

The first hearing had been slated to take place on March 27, but Richter said he couldn’t make it then.

The plea for injunctive relief alleges that council members Kalei LeFave, Erik Halvorson, Keith Young and Mayor Spencer Boudreau broke the state Open Public Meetings Law (OPMA) when they hired and negotiated a contract with Jim Duscha to become the city’s interim manager.

Longview Councilman Mike Wallin and Longview residents John Melink and Thomas Samuels filed the case.

The suit grows out of the council foursome’s March 13 firing of City Manager Kris Swanson and appointment at that same meeting of Duscha, the former Longview police chief, to serve as interim manager. The suit seeks Swanson’s reinstatement, fines against the four council members and a judicial referral to the county prosecutor’s office for further investigation.

The state Open Meetings Act prohibits elected officials from conferring to arrive at decisions in private, even through a “serial” progression of private, one-on-one meetings.