Hearing set for civil suit against city council
By Terry Murry on Thursday, May 25th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – A hearing is set for June 12 for the civil suit against the Walla Walla City Council, claiming the council violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
The hearing is to address plaintiff Arthur West’s request for a summary judgment, and a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the defendants Tom Scribner, Steve Moss, Brian Casey, Rick Eskil, Ted Koehler, Susan Nakonieczny, and Gustavo Reyna, who are all current members of the council.
West, an open-government advocate from Olympia, alleges council members knowingly conducted unlawful meetings and repeatedly took action and final action outside the context of properly scheduled and noticed public meetings or executive sessions on two separate occasions.
The first time was during tattoo policy discussions in 2021 and the second time was during the hiring process of City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlain in 2022.
