This Kennewick leader lost an $8M lawsuit. Now he could be recalled

A petition to recall a Kennewick city councilman has been filed in Benton County Superior Court.

The petition, filed by four city residents, accuses Steve Young of violations they believe should cost him his elected office.

They include an $8.1 million jury verdict reached in October 2017 against Young and his previous employer Mission Support Alliance, a contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation. The verdict is under appeal.

The jury in that case found that Young aided in discriminating against Julie Atwood and retaliating against her, which violates Washington state anti-discrimination laws, the petition charges.

At the time Young was the Kennewick mayor, elected from among councilmembers. He no longer is mayor but remains a councilmember, elected to a term that expires at the end of 2019. He retired from Mission Support Alliance this spring.

The petition relies on information from the discrimination trial to accuse Young of theft.

Young conducted Kennewick city business as the mayor during his work day at Hanford, according to testimony during the trial. As a Hanford worker, he was paid with federal money.

Young said he was working 65 to 75 hours a week, including about 16 hours for the city of Kennewick, according to court documents.

The petition also alleges violations of the code of ethics for municipal officers, based on trial testimony that Mission Support Alliance sought his services as an employee only after he became mayor.

“The biggest return on me being mayor is the Department of Energy,” Young testified during the trial. “I’m able to do what the Department of Energy can’t do because I’m an elected official.”

For instance, Young said that as mayor, he could testify before congressional committees to seek federal money for the Department of Energy at Hanford.

Mission Support Alliance and other Hanford contractors depend on the budget DOE receives for Hanford.

He said during the trial that what was good for Hanford — a massive project to clean up environmental contamination from nuclear weapons work — was also good for Kennewick, including its businesses and its residents who work at Hanford.

He used his position as mayor to secure privileges for his employer and DOE, a violation of state law, the recall petition said.

The recall petition, in an allegation unrelated to the trial, also accuses Young of violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

It says in 2014, Young was raising money for Dan Newhouse’s successful campaign for Congress.

Young sent an email to Marie Mosley, the Kennewick city manager, through her city email account, asking her to make a donation. She responded by contributing $100.

The Fair Campaign Practices Act prohibits a local official from seeking a political contribution from an employee in the official’s agency, the petition said. It also says he used public resources, the Mosley’s city email, to ask for a contribution and notes that Mosley was his subordinate in the city government.

The petition for recall was brought by James E. Wade, Vincent Rundhaug, Robert McClary and Charles Tamburello.

Councilman John Trumbo was not a petitioner, but Young said Trumbo asked him to resign. Young declined.

Young referred other questions to his attorney, Bob Thompson, who also is Richland’s mayor.

Thompson was not available Friday afternoon.

The petition was filed Aug. 1 with the Benton County auditor. The county prepared a draft ballot synopsis and filed it with the court Thursday.

The law requires a hearing before a judge, who will decide whether at least one of the charges made in the petition is sufficient for the recall effort to move forward.

The judge will not decide whether the charges are true.

A hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Aug. 24.

If the petition moves forward, signatures would have to be gathered and then verified by the auditor’s office before the recall is scheduled for a vote.

The number of signatures needed was not immediately available Friday.

This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 5:34 PM with the headline "This Kennewick leader lost an $8M lawsuit. Now he could be recalled."