Spokane7
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September 23, 2010 in City
ACLU argues city denied rights
Lawyer was told not to talk with council members while police oversight law was rewritten
The American Civil Liberties Union says the Spokane city attorney’s office violated the constitutional rights of a local attorney.
In a letter to city officials last week, Michael Kipling, an attorney representing the ACLU, said that Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi violated Breean Beggs’ rights by telling Beggs he was prohibited from talking to City Council members about proposed changes to the city’s police oversight law.
“There can be no dispute that accountability and oversight are matters of general policy and of legitimate public concern,” Kipling wrote. “As such, citizens such as Mr. Beggs have an absolute right to communicate with elected officials regarding such issues.”
Until earlier this year, Beggs led Spokane’s Center for Justice. He still represents the estate of Otto Zehm in a lawsuit against the city. Zehm died in 2006 after he was beaten, shocked with a Taser and hogtied during a confrontation with police. One officer involved in that incident faces federal charges of using excessive force and lying to investigators.
At one time, the Zehm estate proposed that the creation of a more vigorous police oversight system could be part of a settlement of the dispute, Beggs said. But the city and estate did not come to an agreement and the estate filed suit.
In the meantime, the Spokane City Council created the position of police ombudsman. The ombudsman, Tim Burns, started work last year. This summer the council approved changes to the ordinance to strengthen Burns’ position by allowing him to conduct investigations independently from the police.
Treppiedi’s letter, sent in June as the city was finalizing the new ordinance, argues that Beggs’ discussions with the City Council about the changes to police oversight were done on behalf of the Zehm estate.
“Your direct advice to the council members has been contrary to the advice provided by this office,” Treppiedi wrote.
But Beggs said he never talked about the Zehm case with council members. He added that changes to the ombudsman rules have no effect on the lawsuit.
“Because we once mentioned police oversight, his rule is that I can never talk to a City Council member about police oversight,” Beggs said.
Beggs said he was asked by City Council members to help craft a stronger ombudsman ordinance that could withstand a challenge from the Spokane Police Guild, the union representing police officers. He even participated in a meeting with city attorneys and City Council members about changes. No city attorneys in the room expressed concern about his presence, Beggs said.
In his letter, Treppiedi threatened to file a complaint with the Washington State Bar Association if Beggs did not cease contact with city leaders about the ombudsman ordinance.
City Attorney Howard Delaney said his office is taking the ACLU letter “under advisement.”
“I don’t view the factual scenario similarly to the way Breean couches it,” Delaney said.
In an interview last month, Mayor Mary Verner said she agreed with Treppiedi’s action.
“There wasn’t any concern about (Beggs) exercising his right to petition his elected official,” Verner said. “It was that he had simultaneous roles going and there was a blurring of which role he was engaged in at any given time.”
Some council members, however, said Treppiedi wrongly intervened and at least should have spoken to council members before sending the letter.
“I thought it was improper,” said City Councilman Bob Apple. “I should have a right to talk to my constituents.”
Meanwhile, the council agreed this week to pay $20,000 to attorney Keller Allen to defend the city’s new police oversight law.
Last month, the guild challenged the ombudsman rules with the state Public Employment Relations Commission, arguing that the new ordinance affects the working conditions of its members and thus must be bargained.
City Council members said that because the ombudsman can’t discipline officers, the changes don’t need guild approval. Union leaders had warned that they likely would challenge the new rules.
“The City Council knew that before they took that action,” said Spokane Police Guild President Ernie Wuthrich.
The original ombudsman ordinance, approved in 2008, was negotiated with the guild.
Delaney said he didn’t want to use an in-house attorney to defend the changes because the city earlier released a memo about the oversight law that talked about possible challenges. He said the memo could be used against the city by attorneys representing the guild. He also noted that one of city attorneys who specialized in labor issues is now the acting human resources director.
“Was the risk involved worth what was ultimately gained by the amendments?” Delaney said. “We’ll have to wait until PERC shakes out.”
MAC faces angry crowd 
Truthhurts on September 23 at 7:06 a.m.
The political process and the legal process are very distinct.
If the political body is going to make a new law or policy that has general applicability, then everyone, including an attorney involved in an opposing lawsuit, has the right to be involved in the political process.
Approaching the political body regarding the legal process in which the political body is represented, would be wrong.
However, these are distinct concepts, and the whole issue would turn on whether Beggs was “going around” the city attorneys on the narrow legal issues of the legal case, or if Beggs was simply having citizen contact regarding the political process.
Ninch on September 23 at 9:00 a.m.
Not surprising. Rocky has a long history of supporting the violation of constitutional rights which has cost the City millions of dollars.
hawken on September 23 at 10:04 a.m.
The whole government system and the police union seems to have a “them against us” mindset….. police against the public. Anyone who thinks that we do not have SERIOUS problems with Spokane County Law Enforcement. In my opinion, Spokane County Law Enforcement cannot be trusted with the power and authority they have been given. How many times do we need to read and hear about excessive force and questionable police shootings, some deadly… How many other handicapped people will suffer death by beating at the hands of police before citizens of this county demand change? How many private citizens will be shot to death by police on their own property such as the pastor? Even the multi-department investigating team could not say that the deputies fatal shooting of the pastor was “justifiable homicide!” Now, it’s in the hands of our District Attorney to make the call. Does anyone really expect that the DA will conclude anything but the Deputy was justified in shooting to death the pastor on his own property? Sadly, if this is the case, the pastor will be the second person to loose his life by this deputy…. the first was a person choked to death by this deputy while he was employed by a CA police department, also with impunity! How many more people will die in jail with little or no explanation by the jailers? We definitely need “a stronger ombudsman ordinance that could withstand a challenge from the Spokane Police Guild” …. and moreover the protectionist, self-preserving mindset of local government…. If you think that government is NOT first, self-serving….. just take a look at Bell City, CA where the city counsel and city employees approved insanely high salaries for themselves. They have been indicted and jailed! Not all government lacks integrity….. but even like the Bell City, CA example….. government integrity typically requires an uprising by the citizens of the city, county or nation. Tyranny is always the outcome of an unchecked government by the citizens! Our Founding Fathers clearly understood this at the birth of our nation.
PlanB on September 23 at 10:51 a.m.
Treppiedi sure seems to fabricate a lot of stuff. Then he again abuses his position by threatening Beggs with a complaint against him to the Washington State Bar. Treppiedi is the one that needs to have his license revoked.
eagleproducer on September 23 at 10:58 a.m.
PlanB: Voters could have begun ridding Spokane of Rocky’s influence by not re-electing him as president of the District 81 school board.
But no.
horse_feathers on September 23 at 12:42 p.m.
Rocky’s a bum who has been sucking from the public teat way too long. Don’t know how this guy sleeps at night.
WillyPeter on September 23 at 1:15 p.m.
You should have heard the whopper Rocco tried to sell once again at the District 81’s meeting last night. He repeated the lie that the decision had not been made before last night to move Jefferson to Hart Field’s west end. For crying out loud, there is existing video of the District 81 spokesperson saying months ago that Jefferson had to be moved, and built on the field’s west end so that Jefferson’s “old buildings” could be used for Hutton student occupation while their school is being renovated. Sheesh, Rocco…tell the truth.
PlanB on September 23 at 2:10 p.m.
Spoke: I wanted that badly, but once again voters faced the issue of having no one even remotely qualified running against him.