State Supreme Court rules recall of Pacific mayor can move forward
Apr 25, 2013, 6:15 AM | Updated: 11:12 am
(KIRO Radio Photo/Chris Sullivan)
The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a recall effort of embattled Pacific Mayor Cy Sun can move forward.
The decision means Sun can face recall on charges of personal use of police force and jeopardizing the city’s insurance.
“Unbelievable,” recall supporter Tracey Apata said after the ruling. “I’ve got goosebumps thinking about it.”
Apata and others plan to start gathering signatures this afternoon and to turn them in on Monday. They only need about 430 valid signatures to get the issue on the ballot. The elections division then has 45 days to get it before the voters. “We’re just excited that we, in the end, are going to put this in front of the voters and let them decide how they want their city run.”
Meanwhile, five fired members of the Pacific Police Department are suing the mayor to get their jobs back, and they accuse him of incompetence and corruption.
This is the third lawsuit filed against the 82-year-old write-in mayor. The Seattle PI reports four fired police officers and the fired police chief have filed a civil lawsuit against Mayor Sun asking that they be reinstated.
The officers also claim Mayor Sun threatened to kill a police lieutenant, that the mayor believes the FBI is bugging his home, and the mayor might be using an assumed name.
Mayor Sun became mayor in November 2011 after getting less than 500 votes as a write-in candidate.