Soap Lake councilmember sues city over free speech

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake City councilmember Robert Brown is claiming a city policy violates his First Amendment right to free speech and wants an answer from Grant County Superior Court on the matter.

Brown’s civil suit seeks a declaratory judgment over a perceived violation of his right to free speech, claiming a city policy adopted in June 2014 violates his civil liberties. The policy details inter-councilmember communication and lays out a specific code of conduct about relations between the mayor and councilmembers.

“The relationship between the mayor and city council honors the fact that the mayor is the chief executive of the city. The council’s dealings with the mayor, whether in public or private, should respect the authority of the mayor in administrative matters,” reads a section of the policy. “Disagreements should be expressed in policy terms, rather than in terms that question satisfaction with or support of the mayor.”

The policy states that any councilmember found violating the rules of council conduct will be subjected to admonition for a first violation of a particular rule, reprimand for a second or third violation of the same rule, and removal from office via two-thirds majority vote by the council for a fourth violation of the same rule.

The policy was put into action in October, when Brown and former councilmember Maynard Hagan sent a letter to Soap Lake citizens urging them to vote out Mayor Raymond Gravelle in the November general election. The letter aired grievances Brown and Hagan had with some of Gravelle’s decision making.

“Should the mayor be rewarded with reelection for paving over a 65-year-old cement water main under Main Street? We really should not reward senseless decisions by elected officials. The water main could have been installed at the same time as the sewer main and would have saved a huge amount of money over digging up Main Street again at a later time, especially when we had the cash to do it with," reads the letter. "Former councilmember Maynard Hagan so advised the mayor, but was ignored. Water customers will pay dearly for this bad decision."

Brown and Hagan also alleged:

At the beginning of 2015 the city had a surplus of $108,827 in the street fund, but the city didn’t do any chip sealing or dust control work on city streets in 2015.

Gravelle appropriated $50,000 more for parks than the city spent in 2013.

The city did not receive rent money on land with cell towers.

An emergency council meeting was called on Oct. 16, when the council refuted Brown and Hagan’s grievances one-by-one. Using the council code of conduct policy, the council voted to censure Brown. Gravelle was present at the beginning of the emergency meeting, but recused himself before the agenda items were discussed following the advice of legal counsel.

Brown’s suit noted Gravelle was reelected on Nov. 3 and on Nov. 4, in a meeting presided over by Gravelle, the council voted to rescind Brown’s reprimand, as the council did not follow previously set procedures in the reprimand vote. The city policy is still in effect, which Brown says limits his,” freedom to act as a member of the city council and as a private citizen. Soap Lake retains the ability to reprimand and remove council members deemed to violate its provisions.”

The suit claims the city policy violates Brown’s right to the freedom speech, the letter was protected under the First Amendment and his protected speech was a “substantial or motivating factor” for the reprimand. The lawsuit calls for a declaratory judgment on the matter, a jury trial, a court injunction prohibiting Soap Lake from enforcing and attempting to enforce the council code of conduct policy, nominal damages in the amount of $1, and attorney fees and coverage of other costs that come with court proceedings.

Brown and a representative from the city could not be reached for comment.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.