The recall petition against Mayor Katie Wilson has been dismissed — by the people who filed it.
Those petitioners, Seattle couple Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud, told KIRO on Thursday that their work wasn’t done.
Judge Patrick Oishi, who presided over the hearing Thursday afternoon, called the whole process “befuddling.”
It all started Wednesday when Jacobson and Osterud missed a court filing deadline.
Judge Patrick Oishi said Jacobson and Osterud showed up to his courtroom and attempted to withdraw the recall petition.
Oishi said it would have been “absolutely inappropriate” for the court to communicate with the couple without representatives from the other side present. That’s why he set a hearing for Thursday afternoon.
In that hearing, Jacobson said they wished to withdraw the petition because they learned additional information that needs to be investigated. She also said they found a lawyer to represent them only last night.
Mayor Wilson’s counsel did not oppose the motion to dismiss the petition, but issued the couple a stern warning.
Wilson’s attorney called the effort “frivolous,” and said that if there were another “frivolous” petition filed by the couple against Wilson, they might need to seek sanctions against them.
The attorney said Mayor Wilson would prefer to think that dismissing the petition will be the end of this, but if not, “there would have to be an effort to require the recall petitioners to take responsibility for their abuse of the law.”
The judge allowed the recall effort to be dismissed. He did not rule on the sufficiency of the recall charges, nor did he make any ruling about whether Jacobson and Osterud would be on the hook for Wilson’s attorney fees.
Jacobson told KIRO 7 that this is “not over.” She declined to specify whether she and her husband would file another recall effort, but said more information would be shared soon.
She responded to the comments from Wilson’s attorney. “How do you define frivolous?” she said. “I don’t think anything in that petition filing was frivolous. I think it was to the point.”
She confirmed she obtained counsel last night and said she feels Wilson still deserves to be recalled.
“She’s got some issues here,” she said. “Whether she wants to address it with her lawyer or not is beyond me, but I’m standing up for what’s right about the city.”
Jacobson would not specify when her next steps would be released, but noted it “won’t be weeks” and “it won’t be years.”
“It’ll be sooner rather than later,” she said. “I’m not deterred by the Mayor’s attorney.”
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