Wallin, others sue council members, seeking to get Swanson reinstated as city manager

Suit alleges 'blatant' violations of state Open Meetings Act

Editor’s note: This story will be updated later tonight to include coverage of the Longview City Council’s special meeting.

A bipartisan trio of Longview citizens has sued four members of the Longview City Council for allegedly violating the state Open Meetings Act in the wake of their March 13 firing of City Manager Kris Swanson.

The suit, filed in Cowlitz Superior Court, seeks to reinstate Swanson.

It also asks for monetary penalties against the council members who voted to terminate her and to prevent them from further alleged illegal action.

This is the first of what likely will be multiple legal actions filed in connection with Swanson’s termination.The council, in a 4-3 vote, fired her despite pleas from prominent members of the public, former and current city officials and employees and the three-member council minority.

Former City Councilman Mike Wallin said the suit was served on Mayor Spencer Boudreau and Councilwoman Kalei LaFave Thursday evening just before the council began a special meeting. Councilman Keith Young, who was ill Thursday, and Councilman Erik Halvorson will be served on Friday.

Thursday’s special meeting was called to vote on a contract to hire former Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha as interim city manager, a move that has drawn complaints of cronyism. The meeting began with an executive session to discuss pending litigation.

Wallin, a real estate broker, filed the complaint, which also is signed by John Melink and Thomas Samuels of Longview. They are part of a much larger, bipartisan group that has formed to combat the council’s upheaval of Longview city government.

These plaintiffs are an unusual group of bedfellows. Melink, a Democrat, unsuccessfully opposed Wallin, a Republican, in the 2019 election, when LaFave was one of Wallin’s supporters. She turned on Wallin and defeated his re-election effort in November.

The suit seeks five outcomes from the court:

• Reinstatement of Swanson, who the suit says was fired and suspended illegally following “blatant” violations of the state Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).

• An injunction to block the council from appointing Duscha with the purpose of preventing further violations of the Open Meetings Act. 

• A judicial referral to the county prosecutor’s office for investigation of alleged breaches of the law and filing of possible criminal charges.

• $500 fines against council members Kalei LaFave, Keith Young, Erik Halvorson and Mayor Spencer Boudreau for initial OPMA violations and $1,000 fines for all subsequent violations.

• Reimbursement for attorney fees and other costs in connection with suit.

The suit focuses on council actions after Swanson’s termination. The foursome — without the knowledge of the three-member council minority  —  violated the OPMA by “empowering” LaFave and Halvorson to form a subcommittee to negotiate a contract with Duscha, according to the suit.

It also alleges that before the March 13 meeting, the council majority “apparently settled on (Duscha) as the preferred replacement”  for Swanson.

“These actions were done without public notice and out of the public’s view,” the suit alleges. It says the three minority council members — Angie Wean, Ruth Kendall and Mary Alice Wallis — will “attest to these facts in sworn affidavits.”

Under state law, elected officials cannot make decisions in private. Nor are they allowed to confer with one another separately to arrive at a decision. Such “serial” meetings are prohibited under the OPMA.  

At the very least, the council majority is almost certain to face a lawsuit for breach of contract from Swanson herself. Her contract requires  a five-vote “supermajority” to terminate her, but the council majority consisted of just four.

Before that happens, Swanson is expected to exercise her right to a public hearing before her termination takes effect next month. (She’s suspended with pay for 30 days until the termination becomes official.) Swanson was not allowed to speak at the March13 meeting, at which the council fired her “without cause.”