Mayor Wilson’s office tells council she removed Shon Barnes to align SPD with her ‘values’

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office responded to a letter from City Councilmember Bob Kettle requesting a formal explanation for why she asked former Police Chief Shon Barnes to resign.

Wilson’s office said she wanted to build a cabinet that better aligned with her values.

“After careful consideration, the mayor requested his resignation due to the need to build a cabinet that is aligned with her administration’s values, policy goals, and vision for the Seattle Police Department,” Caedmon Magboo Cahill, general counsel for Wilson, wrote in a letter to Kettle.

The letter pointed to Article VI Sec. 2 of the Seattle City Charter, which states that the mayor is not required to file a statement with her reasoning upon receiving a resignation of a police chief. However, Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth previously confirmed that Wilson asked Barnes to resign.

Kettle: ‘Let’s call it what it is – Mayor Wilson removed the Chief of Police’

Kettle, who is also the chair of the Public Safety Committee, spoke out against Wilson’s lack of action earlier this week.

“It is clear Mayor Wilson removed Shon Barnes as Chief of Police in her actions and in her words, including at the end of a press conference appointing Andre Sayles as Interim SPD Chief when Mayor Wilson quite clearly stated, ‘I asked him to resign,’” Kettle said in a statement Tuesday. “This conduct makes the strong case that this was a forced resignation. So, let’s call it what it is – Mayor Wilson removed the Chief of Police.”

Wilson said she ‘firmly believed she was making the right decision at the right time’

During a news conference on July 31, Wilson told reporters she had a “different window” than the city council in response to sharp criticism from council members, including Hollingsworth, who called her decision “reckless.”

Wilson also said she “firmly believed she was making the right decision at the right time” and that the decision was made quickly due to upcoming summer events and “wanting to make sure that we have the right leadership in place at SPD, the right communications protocols, so that as we move forward, we can be much clearer with the public if something like that should happen again.”

Kettle disagrees with decision but says it’s ‘critical’ to respect the city charter

Kettle said in a statement Friday that he disagrees with Wilson’s decision to remove Barnes and how the process was handled, but that he understands her ability to do so based on the Seattle City Charter.

“It is critical for us as city leaders to respect our City Charter in contrast to what we are seeing in the other Washington with respect to our U.S. Constitution,” Kettle stated.

He added that moving forward, it’s important for the mayor’s office and council to work together and continue to abide by the charter to find a quality police chief.

“Given Seattle’s ongoing public safety challenges, we need to take these matters very seriously for the health and safety of our communities,” Kettle stated.

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