(The Center Square) – Efforts to recall Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson will continue with a new filing coming soon, according to the organizers of a campaign to remove Seattle’s chief executive from office.
On Thursday, Melinda Jacobson and her husband, Dale Osterud, told a King County Superior Court judge that they were withdrawing their petition to recall the mayor.
But in an interview with The Center Square on Friday, Jacobson said the withdrawal was made so the couple could hire a lawyer to ensure that a new recall effort will meet legal standards.
Their petition said Wilson had failed as mayor because she was not addressing public safety issues around Seattle.
Judge Patrick Oishi, who accepted the dismissal of the recall petition on Thursday, was the same judge who was scheduled to rule next week on whether the petition was valid.
The judge’s ruling was only the initial step; even if he determined the petition was valid, about 69,000 signatures would need to be collected to place the recall on the ballot.
Jacobson said that a lawyer has been hired and that new information will be used to help support the recall effort.
“I can’t reveal what we’re looking at, but I can tell you that more has come up that needs to be investigated,” she said.
“And now, with the help of an attorney, it will make things easier.”
Jacobson said the new information that needs to be examined centers around the mayor’s failed public safety initiatives.
Jacobson and Osterud have based their recall campaign on issues around crime in Seattle.
They have cited continuing problems on North Aurora Avenue, where homeowners have complained about gun violence fueled by prostitution, and in the Chinatown/International District where residents have demanded action against open-air drug markets.
The mayor’s order to pause a surveillance camera program aimed at catching perpetrators of violent crime and the city’s slow response to giving out public information after a shooting at a Seattle food festival on July 26 are all also mentioned in the petition effort.
The couple is also questioning the dismissal of former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, who was asked to leave by Wilson after the shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival last month.
“She’s in way over her head,” Jacobson said of Wilson.
Wilson did not respond to the dismissal on Thursday; her strategy has been to stay above the fray, arguing that she is working to address public safety issues and her key initiative to make Seattle more affordable.
The recall effort comes as city council members, officials of Seattle civil rights organizations and business groups have all criticized Wilson’s handling of public safety issues.
In court on Thursday, Wilson’s lawyers heavily criticized the initial recall petition, calling it “entirely frivolous,” meritless, and “legally and factually insufficient.”
They also warned Jacobson and Osterud that they could face court sanctions if they continue their effort to recall Wilson.
Those sanctions could force the couple to pay Wilson’s legal costs if the new recall effort is unsuccessful.
Wilson is not using city attorneys, but funding her own legal defense.
Jacobson said she has been advised by her lawyer, whom she would not identify, not to be intimidated by Wilson’s lawyers.
She would not say if the couple is paying the lawyer or if he or she is working pro bono.
Jacobson said she did not know exactly when the new recall effort would be launched, but that “it will be sooner rather than later.”