Mayor Katie Wilson will be served with charges after two Seattle residents filed a recall petition alleging she’s “derelict in her duties for public safety of the city of Seattle.”
Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud filed the petition with King County Elections on Tuesday, citing Wilson’s public safety approach to areas such as Aurora Avenue and Little Saigon, her move to turn off CCTV cameras in the Stadium District after the World Cup, and asking the police chief to resign two weeks ago.
“I don’t have anything against her personally. She is just in way above her head,” Jacobson told KUOW. She’s married to Osterud and said she voted for Wilson’s opponent Bruce Harrell last year. “If we have to have another almost three and a half years of this, this city’s going to be downhill like you wouldn’t believe.”
The petition lands amidst a lot of public pressure on Mayor Wilson. During the first eight months of her administration, moves to remove the police chief and install but not turn on surveillance cameras have angered city councilmembers, Black faith and community leaders, and even some of her core supporters.
This recall might not be a big threat. If a Superior Court judge decides the petition can go forward, recall supporters will have roughly six months to gather nearly 70,000 signatures to get it on the ballot.
But the chance it gets that far is low. Hugh Spitzer, a UW law professor and state constitution expert, says he sees recalls across the state of Washington get blocked by courts “regularly.” After reading the charges, Spitzer said he did not see any evidence of Wilson breaking specific laws or codes.
“ The petitioner appears to be alleging missteps by the mayor, and not necessarily illegal or improper behavior,” Spitzer said after reviewing the charges. “So she might have an uphill time with this one.”
Only two mayors have ever been successfully recalled in Seattle history, according to Seattle journalist Knute Berger: Hiram Gill in 1911 and Frank Edwards in 1931. Wes Uhlman faced a recall in 1975 but defeated it by a wide margin, according to HistoryLink. (Interestingly, Uhlman and Edwards also faced recalls for dismissing public officials — the fire chief and City Light head, respectively — and Gill faced a recall for allowing illegal activities like gambling.)
As recently as 2020, a recall petition against former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan was thrown out by the state Supreme Court before it could go to the voters. And in 2021, Councilmember Kshama Sawant faced a recall election and barely survived it, by just over 300 votes.
Mayor Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jacobson said she did consult a lawyer in writing the charges and felt they met the definition of “misfeasance.”
How recalls work
Once a sponsor files charges against the mayor, the county auditor or elections director certifies the charges and serves a copy to the official.
The county prosecutor prepares a ballot synopsis of up to 200 words and transmits it to the sponsor, as well as the official being targeted for recall.
The prosecutor’s office also forwards the synopsis to the local Superior Court, along with a petition to the court to approve the synopsis and to determine if the charges are sufficient to proceed.
Then, a hearing is scheduled in Superior Court where the sponsor can make their case and the target of the recall can challenge the charges.
If the recall survives legal review and the judge determines it can go forward, sponsors have 180 days to collect signatures on petitions to put the recall before voters.
That would likely mean an election next year.