Soap Lake, councilmember Brown settle freedom of speech lawsuit - iFIBER One News

SOAP LAKE – The City of Soap Lake settled a lawsuit filed by councilmember Robert Brown over accusations a city policy violated his First Amendment right of freedom of speech.

The city council voted to approve settling the case following an executive session during their Nov. 16 meeting.

Soap Lake agreed to pay Brown $1 in nominal damages and $7,667 for Brown’s attorney fees. The city council will also amend the council policy as part of the stipulated consent decree.

Brown filed a civil lawsuit in Grant County Superior in June asking the court to approve an injunction to prevent the council from enforcing a section of the city’s Rules of Procedure adopted in 2014. The suit was transferred to U.S. District Court in July.

The lawsuit involved a letter Brown and Soap Lake resident Maynard Hagen sent to all of the city residents during Mayor Raymond Gravelle’s campaign to be re-elected in 2015. The two men questioned rewarding “senseless decisions by elected officials.”

The letter triggered a special Soap Lake City Council meeting on Oct. 16, 2015. Gravelle excused himself after convening the meeting.

As part of the meeting, the city council reprimanded Brown citing a section of the council’s rules, which stated, “The council’s dealings with the mayor, whether in public or private, should respect the authority of the mayor in administrative matters. Disagreements should be expressed in policy terms, rather than in terms that question satisfaction with or support of the mayor.”

Neither the council nor, later, Gravelle, said how Brown’s letter violated the rule.

The councilmembers said the letter was inaccurate.

The day after Gravelle was re-elected to his position, the city council rescinded the reprimand, but the policy remained in place.

The policy was also used in January of 2015 when Brown submitted documents to the Grant County Commissioners without council authorization.

The council’s rules would allow the council to remove Brown from office following a trial and a two-thirds vote of the council on his fourth violation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington’s Communication Director Doug Honig told iFIBER One News in July the policy violates the First Amendment rights of any councilmember accused of violating it because it attempts to restrict what a person says.

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