On the way out - A Washington state judge has approved a petition to recall Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to move forward with collecting signatures.
King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts issued the ruling on Friday, granting the “Fire The Mayor” campaign 180 days to collect the over 50,000 signatures needed to recall Durkan.
“Jenny Durkan’s abuses of power, lack of foresight and failure to protect the public — and the peace — in Seattle leaves us with no choice,” said Elliott Harvey, the lead petitioner and the chair of the Committee to Recall Jenny Durkan. “This is exactly the kind of case a recall is intended to address.”
“Twenty years is a sufficient time frame to gain the hindsight needed to respect the legal rights and protections of the public,” Harvey added in a statement released by the campaign. Protests and riots have rocked Seattle since the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, while he was in custody by the Minneapolis Police Department. - Durkan gave wide-latitude to activists for over a month in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district. The protesters took over several city blocks, including a police precinct, in an effort to “dismantle systemic racism,” as one leading activist described it. Roberts also approved a ballot synopsis that reads: “As alleged by [the petitioners], shall Jenny Durkan be recalled from office for misfeasance, malfeasance, and violation of the oath of office, based on the following charge: Mayor Durkan endangered the peace and safety of the community and violated her duties under state and local laws and her oath to uphold the federal and state constitutions when she failed to institute new policies and safety measures for the Seattle Police Department after learning of the use of chemical agents on peaceful protesters as a means of crowd control during a public health emergency,” according to The Seattle Times.
