(Editor’s Note: The Times/News has covered the SeaTac council controversy from the beginning. For our previous coverage, visit www.highlinetimes.com and search for ‘SeaTac City Council.’)

Update for Oct. 17 clarifies comments made by Councilmember Pam Fernald and adds her own clarifications at the bottom of the story.

With the election less than a month away that could change the City Council voting majority as well as the city’s form of government, tensions between the opposing sides boiled over at the Oct. 11 council meeting.

Councilwoman Pam Fernald blasted City Councilwoman Mia Gregerson and Human Services director Colleen Brandt-Schulter for “shameful, unlawful behavior.”

“…I’d rather travel on the high road. Right now the bridge is washed out and the only way to get to the higher road is to trudge through the muck,” Fernald declared.

Fernald recalled that a public disclosure request was filed for Gregerson’s public emails after Gregerson replied “lunatic” to an email from SeaTac resident Leonard Luna.

Fernald said Gregerson tried to stop the records request but the emails were eventually made public recently.

As read by Deputy Mayor Gene Fisher’s wife, Aileen Fisher, at the Sept. 13 council meeting, Gregerson and Brandt-Schulter exchanged emails disparaging Fernald, Deputy Mayor Fisher, Mayor Terry Anderson, Councilman Rick Forschler, SeaTac staffers, supporters of the 2009 elected mayor proposition and other residents.

When the city’s legal department began reviewed the emails last spring, city manager Todd Cutts hired an outside investigator. As a result of the investigation, Brandt-Schulter was given a written reprimand. She remains as the city’s human services director.

Many of the emails became public after the reprimand.

“The most disturbing revelation to me was that there were also discussion plans in those emails between a council member and the Human Services Manager which used the city of SeaTac Human Services contact information to invite representatives from city-funded non-profits to anti-change-of-government meetings,” Fernald said. “This activity violated city employee rules and state laws and is a direct conflict of interest and an abuse of the city of SeaTac Human Services position.”

Fernald said she would share any public information about the case with SeaTac residents.

Some of the emails have been posted at www.seataccoverup.com and www.youtube.com/seataccoverup.

Earl Gipson, SeaTac Citizens for Elected Mayor treasurer, has also filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission asking for an investigation into Gregerson and Brandt-Schulter’s actions.

Gipson also named facilities director Pat Patterson, who exchanged some emails with Gregerson, in the complaint. Patterson is the husband of King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson.

“In the recent SeaTac Council meetings it has come to light that, in violation of RCW’s (Revised Code of Washington,) the above persons (and possibly more) conspired to defeat SeaTac Prop #1 of 2009 using City resources,” Gipson wrote.

In a previous Times/News interview, Gregerson said, ”I’ve apologized to all of them (council members.) The emails were a mistake. I am very regretful.”
She added she would not resign from the council.
Gregerson did not make any direct comments about the emails at the Oct. 11 meeting.

At the council meeting, Mayor Terry Anderson declared, “ I’ll be glad when we get past this and just keep on going.”

Fernald replied, “What you are overlooking is that laws were broken. This is serious.”

The conflict between the two factions also came up while considering Gregerson’s proposal to form a Community Building Committee.

Cutts said the group would serve as a citizens advisory committee for the council to ensure community outreach as well as equal opportunity and access for all SeaTac residents.

However, the city manager said staff support for the committee has not been budgeted. Staff could only help the committee with limited administrative support, Cutts added.

Forschler said the committee’s purpose is “too indistinct.”

“Right now, I wouldn’t go for it,” Forschler added.
Fisher said he had been trying for years to add an ombudmen for the city.

“But this smacks of diversity,” Fisher said. “I do believe we need it but it needs to be refined. Who benefits? It can’t be just one group.”

Fernald noted the original proposal was to name it the Diversity Committee.

Gregerson said the committee would evolve in an organic way with the committee members deciding what they wanted to pursue.

She also accused other council members of wanting to postpone a decision on the committee until she is no longer on the council.

Fisher replied that Tukwila Councilwoman Joan Hernandez, who offered to brief the SeaTac council on a similar Tukwila committee, said she wanted to appear after the Nov. 8 election.

The council members decided to discuss the committee again at their Oct. 25 meeting.

SeaTac’s government, including the city council, could substantially change after the Nov. 8 election.
The elected mayor proposition is on the ballot again. It lost by only 9 votes in 2009.

Currently, the seven council members elect one of their colleagues to serve as mayor. The mayor presides over the council meetings and represents the city at ceremonial occasions. A city manager oversees city staff.

Under the proposed form of government, a mayor would be elected by SeaTac voters and serve as chief executive of the city.

Of the four council members who often prevail in 4-3 votes, three are up for election. Detractors have labeled them “the Angle Lake Elite” or “Angle Lake Democrats” because they all live on or near Angle Lake and are perceived by some as liberal.

Gregerson has become increasingly controversial.
Former mayor Ralph Shape is not seeking re-election. Current mayor Terry Anderson, who polled strongly in the primary, may vote with the new majority if re-elected.

That could leave Councilman Tony Anderson, whose seat is not up for re-election, as the sole member of the former majority in January.

On the other hand, state Republican chairman Kirby Wilbur points out to the Times/News that SeaTac voters overwhelmingly choose Democratic candidates in partisan elections. The council races are non-partisan.

The Times/News will publish the SeaTac candidates’ answers to its questionnaire in the Oct. 28 issue.

Here is a full text of Councilwoman Pam Fernald’s comments on the emails:

Like many people, when presented with a choice, I’d rather travel on the high road. Right now the bridge is washed out and the only way to get to the higher road is to trudge through the muck.

I’ve put together a little verbal timeline to share tonight. I‟ll start back with a May 2010 council meeting, shortly after I was elected, where members of the SeaTac Human Services committee spoke during public comments praising our Human Services Manager and expressing outrage that she was the subject of a witch hunt and under threat of losing her job…

At that time I had NO earthly idea what the speakers were talking about. During those comments I sat and listened while a Human Services member called me a bigot, said I ran with the wolf pack, accused me of unethical behavior and said I used my “bullies, henchman and lackies to create havoc at city hall.” Then another Human Services Committee member followed suit with similar acidic drivel.

At that same council meeting, citizen Leonard Luna came to ask for an apology from a council member who had disparaged him in an email.
For anyone who doesn‟t remember the infamous “lunatic” email, I’ll just refer back to it for a moment. It was written on March 31, 2010 by a council member about a citizen, calling him a lunatic, and then actually sent TO that citizen. This is what started the ball rolling and what helped shed light on the hidden waste, fraud and abuse that is going on at city hall.

As a direct result of the “lunatic” email, a Public Records Request for emails between the human services manager and the council member who wrote the lunatic email was made by a citizen.

THAT public records request caused the same councilmember to do something which cost the city even more staff time and money because she wanted the records request STOPPED.

However, the request was not stopped. It has taken over a year for that request to be completely fulfilled by our legal department and I was told that as recently as a couple of weeks ago the last batch of emails were finally completed and picked up.

So, the fact that this information, or mud, as it has been referred to by others, has come out now is because now is when the requests were completed and the severity of what they contained was determined. Taxpayers need to be informed of the information discovered from the public records request.

So, let me back up a bit. In mid July 2010, I was asked by the City Manager if I would accept an apology from the human services manager. At that time I didn.t know why the city manager thought I should have an apology, but I soon found out. I said if I was going to accept an apology, I needed to know what the apology was about. The City Manager eventually gave me selected emails to read.

That is when I found out that there were numerous emails written by the human services manager which, among other things said unprofessional, and downright nasty, things about other City of SeaTac staff members, citizens and certain council members, myself included. I was very annoyed by the disrespectful and toxic tone of the emails I read—particularly considering WHO had written the emails.

By the way, the emails I received from the City Manager through the legal department match the emails read here at the last council meeting by Aileen Fisher. To me this proves that Mrs. Fisher did not cut and paste any emails she read during her public comments as was suggested by the council member who was writing the emails in question.

On October 8, 2010 I received a written apology letter by the Human Services Manager which reads in part: “Please accept my heartfelt, most sincere apology I have thought long and hard about what happened and I realize how very upset you must be… While it is no excuse, I truly didn‟t mean to harm anyone…”

I responded in part with: “Since you have „thought long and hard,‟ surely you can appreciate that your bad-faith conduct leaves the citizens of SeaTac as the truly aggrieved parties and therefore it is the citizens that are the ones in need of (and who deserve) an apology for your unprofessional behavior conducted on their dime.”

I began to ask questions and read more of the public records request emails. The most disturbing revelation for me was that there were also discussion plans in those emails between a council member and the Human Services Manager which used the city of SeaTac Human Services contact information to invite representatives from city-funded non-profits to anti-change-of-government meetings. This activity violated city employee rules and state laws and is a direct conflict of interest and an abuse of the city of SeaTac Human Services position. These meetings were coordinated and planned on taxpayer money against an initiative on which the taxpayers would be voting!

As I see it, the only ones who have created any mud here are the authors of these unseemly, abusive, wasteful and unlawful emails. Had I not seen these emails myself, I would have never imagined such unlawful, bad-faith behavior was happening at city hall on the taxpayers money. And it didn‟t happen just once or twice—this email behavior went on for more than a year‟s span of time.

Another thing I would like to mention—it was brought to my attention that a citizen had posted on his Facebook page that “the Republican plot to demolish the Bow Lake Mobile Home park has been revealed…” That was the screwiest thing I had ever heard and really didn.t make any sense at all, but I knew that Bow Lake residents could be upset if this rumor got around.

I called one of the Mobile Home Park owners and told them what was going on. I was told that the information in that post was “unfounded” and that I was authorized to say so. I was told by the owners that they would take care of it. Subsequently that post was no longer on the Facebook page.

I cannot condone what I read in any of those emails and I don‟t want to remain silent on this shameful, unlawful behavior. My allegiance as an elected official is to the citizens of SeaTac—not anyone who indulges in waste, fraud and abuse of city time and resources.
To me, this behavior is indefensible and it all needs to be out in the open so it can be properly dealt with and then put behind us so that we can take care of the legitimate business of the citizens.

I will share all of the public information I have with any citizen who wants to contact me.
This is your city, your government and you have a right to know what has been going on.

This is not just about name-calling in emails—the human services manager and a
council member broke laws in those emails.