Recall effort on Kennewick councilman goes forward. He vows appeal

Kennewick City Councilman Steve Young will ask the state Supreme Court to overturn a recall initiative filed by four citizens after a housekeeping move in court Thursday.

Benton County Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner formally entered his Aug. 31 judgment that voters can consider if an email Young sent to the city manager in 2014 is grounds for being removed from office.

By entering a written ruling, Spanner started the 15-day clock for both sides to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Entering a ruling is typically a routine matter. But the Young case is not routine.

The citizens promoting the recall effort are not trained attorneys and have taken unusual steps to press their case. Spanner was set to enter the order in September but put the matter off a month after the petitioners asked him to back date the judgment to Aug. 31.

Had he agreed, the 15-day appeal window would already be closed and neither Young nor the petitioners would be able to ask the Supreme Court to review their arguments.

Spanner declined, noting that back-dating orders is reserved for situations where the record needs to be corrected or legal language clarified. Neither applied in the Young recall case. His order took effect Oct. 18.

Young’s attorney, Bob Thompson, said he will appeal within the 15-day window.

Vince Rundhaug, a Kennewick jeweler who is representing himself and the petitioners in court, said his colleagues have not decided if they too will appeal Spanner’s ruling, which narrowed their complaint.

Rundhaug together with James Wade, Charles Tamburello and Robert McClary, initially wanted to recall Young on seven charges stemming from Young’s role in a multimillion dollar lawsuit involving him and his former employer, Mission Support Alliance, a Department of Energy contractor at Hanford.

Julie Atwood sued Young and MSA for retaliation and discrimination after she was forced to resign from the Department of Energy contractor in 2013. A jury returned an $8.1 million verdict for Atwood a year ago.

Rundhaug and his colleagues said his testimony in the case revealed conduct that warrants removal from office.

Spanner allowed the recall to proceed on only one allegation, concerning a 2014 email Young sent to Kennewick City Manager Marie Mosley.

Young sent an email regarding a fund raiser for Dan Newhouse, the Republican then running for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings. The petitioners claim the message is illegal pressure by the then-mayor on a subordinate, the city manager.

Mosley has clarified that the two had a separate conversation in which Young clarified he was not soliciting her support. Mosley told the Kennewick City Council she made no contribution.

The Kennewick City Council has agreed to pay Young’s legal fees, as allowed under Washington law when an elected individual faces a recall.

Young, who has served on the city council since he was appointed to succeed Jim Beaver in 2008, has indicated he will likely seek re-election when his at-large seat is up in 2019.

His disclosure to the Tri-City Herald has been challenged.

In September, a local election watchdog complained that Young violated campaign laws when he told the Herald he would likely run for re-election.

The complaint is the second lodged against Young by Roger Lenk, who complained about the Mosley email concerning the Newhouse campaign in 2017.

In his most recent complaint, Lenk said Young should have paired his comments to the Herald with campaign disclosure reports to the Public Disclosure Commission.

“Candidate (Steve) Young has initiated his run for city Council without filing the appropriate paperwork, putting other potential candidates at a disadvantage,” Lenk wrote.

A PDC spokeswoman confirmed that sharing election plans with a journalist is a public announcement of candidacy because it is assumed a reporter will report the information.

Both of Lenk’s complaints are being assessed to determine if they warrant a full investigation.