Millwood mayor will not face recall

A group of citizens wants Millwood Mayor Jeanne Batson out of office.

But a judge ruled that Citizens for a Better Millwood didn’t provide enough facts or a good legal rationale to force Batson to face a recall petition.

Judge Jerome Leveque’s ruling Wednesday, unless it is appealed, will kill the current effort to get the 82-year-old Batson out of office before her term expires next year. Batson has said she won’t run for re-election. Attorney Steve Eugster, who represents Citizens for a Better Millwood, said he doesn’t know whether the group will appeal.

Leveque didn’t consider whether the charges against Batson were true, because that is not allowed under the procedures for recalling a publicly elected official. He only considered whether the legal documents filed in the case provided enough facts and a legal basis for the recall to go forward.

“The voters have to be able to recognize what’s going on and why it’s a concern,” Leveque said at the beginning of the hearing.

Millwood – with 1,649 residents – is a town with tree-lined streets and historic homes, surrounded on three sides by Spokane Valley and the Spokane River on the fourth. It incorporated in 1928, and was the only town in the Valley until Liberty Lake incorporated in 2001.

People agree the town has had a tumultuous year. In May, Fire Chief Bill Clifford was put on administrative leave and the same day nearly all of the town’s volunteer firefighters quit. Ultimately, town officials dissolved its fire department and signed a contract with the Spokane Valley Fire Department, a large department that completely surrounds the small town. Bill Clifford and the other three full-time Millwood firefighters were hired by the Spokane Valley Fire Department after the takeover.

Citizens for a Better Millwood formed during the fire department controversy and the group includes the ex-chief’s wife, Kris Clifford.

They blame Batson for more than just the end of the town’s fire department.

The group made 14 allegations against Batson. They alleged that she served beer to town maintenance employees who returned to work and drove town vehicles. The citizens group alleged that Batson used town equipment to run her re-election campaign. It said Batson let employees smoke in the kitchen of Town Hall. It said she held illegal executive sessions, among other claims.

Batson denied all the allegations and said she won’t change how she runs the town.

“It’s a great town, and I’m glad we got this behind us and we can go on like we were before,” Batson said after the hearing.

Judge Leveque seemed nearly persuaded by the allegations about Batson serving beer. But the dates in the original court filing didn’t match the date in the statement filed to back it up, Leveque ruled.

Several members of Citizens for a Better Millwood said after the hearing they felt Batson got off on legal technicalities.

“Certainly we’re going to keep an eye on the mayor. I think this should be a wake-up call to her,” said Jean Gerrells.

One issue from the case remains to be decided. Attorney Brian Werst, who represented Batson for the town of Millwood, had asked the judge to force Citizens for a Better Millwood to pay the town’s legal fees as the charges were frivolous.

In response, Steve Eugster, attorney for Citizens for a Better Millwood, countered that Batson was trying to illegally kill debate on public issues and asked that she be required to pay his clients’ attorney’s fees, as well as a $10,000 fine.

Leveque said he didn’t believe the claims made by Citizens for a Better Millwood were frivolous or done in bad faith, but said he needed more time to rule on Eugster’s request.