Robert Brown resigns from Soap Lake council

SOAP LAKE — Embattled Soap Lake City Council member Robert Brown has had enough with the council and made the design to resign from his post last week.

Brown submitted a letter of resignation to Mayor Raymond Gravelle and the Soap Lake council, making the resignation effective Oct. 18. Brown is currently running for reelection for Position No. 4 on the council against Debra Parmeter Still in next month’s general election. Brown could not be reached for comment on what he plans to do if he comes in ahead of Still on Nov. 7.

In his letter of resignation Brown lays out a number of reasons behind his decision to leave the council, one being his ongoing problem with how Gravelle has performed his duties as mayor over the years.

“By law a mayor has general supervision of all city interests and is entrusted by the people to do so. To superintend is to take care of with authority. To mismanage is to superintend poorly, improperly or dishonestly,” reads Brown’s letter.

Brown has been an outspoken critic of Gravelle over the years, even going as far as to draft a letter, along with former council member Maynard Hagan, that was sent out to Soap Lake residents in October 2015 urging them to vote out Gravelle in the November 2015 general election.

Three days after the letter was sent, the council called an emergency meeting and voted to censure Brown for not abiding by the Council Rules of Procedure. In response, Brown filed a civil suit against the city, claiming the city policy violated his right to free speech. The city ended up settling the suit with Brown and agreed to pay him $1 in nominal fees, cover his attorney’s fees and revise the city policy.

Brown, in his resignation letter, makes the claim that Soap Lake streets are deteriorating and “not one dollar” of tax revenue is being put toward street repair and/or maintenance. He also states he was left out of discussions regarding recent important topics discussed in council meetings.

“I was excluded from input on the scope and element phase of the city’s water, sewer rate study, the results of which will stagger many. The implementation of the study as is will be a travesty on those with less means. I cannot explain how we got to this point without conjecturing,” Brown wrote.

Brown states that an incident earlier in the month was the driving force behind his decision to resign.

“My trust was abused on Oct. 6 to the extent that I reconsidered my role in city government and upon retrospection I have decided to resign.”

Gravelle declined to comment on Brown’s resignation.

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