PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — Here at That One Place in Port Orchard, you’ll find that one list.
“So here’s the list everybody calls the tattletale list,” says owner Craig Kenady.
His bottom line:
But it’s not that simple, say the people on the list.
“If you want to tell on your neighbors, then your neighbors deserve to know who you are. Plain and simple,” says Kenady.
Deepening the divide
It all started in May of 2020 when That One Place opened for indoor dining in protest of Washington’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Sean Watkins, an army veteran, lives in Port Orchard and works as the director of a social services organization in Seattle. He filed one of the 260 complaints against the restaurant.
“We didn’t know anything about the virus. Hospitals were overwhelming. It didn’t seem very community minded to me, so I reported them,” says Watkins.
Cynthia Landry reported That One Place over the winter when the business was again accused of opening against lock down orders.
“God, yes I did! And I’m proud of it!” she says.
Posting a list of people’s names? That’s like a hit list.
— Sean Watkins
But then, Landry started getting some strange phone calls.
“Calling me a stupid b***. Telling me I’m full of s***,” says Landry. “I had no idea why I was getting phone calls of hate.”
And Watkins got messages from strangers on Facebook: “is this you on the bottom of this nark list?”
And the one thing connecting these two Port Orchard residents together is That One Place.
“We’re only trying to take care of our own. Why do you have to go to the government to tell on us?” says Kenady.
Inside That One Place
We sat down with Kenady at his restaurant. He calls it a man-cave, filled with Americana and local art, along with license plates sent in by patrons. It’s also an informal community center where Kenady hosts free Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, organizes neighborhood clean-ups, and has a “blessing box.”
“And so our community puts food in it and keeps clothing in it,” says Kenady.
Kenady says he has nothing to hide, and neither should the people who reported his restaurant.
And that’s why he put up this poster, listing names, phone numbers, and email addresses for some of the people who filed a complaint against his restaurant.
The Attorney General’s Office confirms all of this is information is legally obtained through a public records request.
But, a spokesperson says anyone who feels they are being harassed should report that to their local authorities.
“It’s deeply troubling that Washingtonians who are trying to keep their communities safe and healthy are being harassed. Anyone who received threats should consider contacting their local law enforcement who have authority to investigate potential crimes,” says a spokesperson in a statement.
Not one person has the right to destroy another person’s life. You can’t tell me that I can’t go to work and support my family, when you can support your family.
— Craig Kenady
But what does the sign accomplish?
“The biggest thing that accomplishes is entertainment,” says Kenady.
He claims anything that happens from the list outside his restaurant is outside of his control. He also put this disclaimer by the list, stating: “WE ARE NOT ADVOCATING FOR ANY CONTACT OR RETALIATION.”
So we asked him about Cynthia and Sean, and others who did not want to go on camera, who say they have been contacted or harassed because of the list.
“Nobody’s been harassed,” countered Kenady.
No one?
“I ask you to show, to have them show you proof. Is all I saw. Show you proof,” says Kenady.
KIRO 7 follows the trail
So I called one of the people who called Cynthia - a number she saved in her phone as Idiot That Called About That One Place.
A man picked up who said he lived in Port Orchard and saw the list. He agreed to let us record the call, and admitted making some calls - though we didn’t tell him who gave us his number.
“Yeah, because I was pissed off. Because people want to report these guys - for what? Trying to help each other out? It’s not like they were there trying to kill people,” said the caller.
I also showed Kenady the message Watkins received.
He smiled - and I asked him if that means he didn’t think that was harassment.
“You know, if you don’t want to be on that list, don’t turn in your neighbors. That’s all I’ll say to that gentleman,” said Kenady.
“Some of them are scared,” I told Kenady.
“Then they should not have reported us,” he replied. “Not one person has the right to destroy another person’s life.”
The list has been up since, with one exception.
“Yeah, I took the sign down,” says Ben Landry
Ben is Cynthia Landry’s son.
“That’s called doxing. It’s a thing that people do: put up other people’s personal information in a retaliatory fashion,” says Landry.
That’s when Ben retaliated himself by going to the restaurant and taking down the poster. A report by the Port Orchard Police Department shows the incident was quickly resolved with Ben agreeing to return the list.
I don’t want for my friends at the hospital, that work at the hospital to intubate them. I don’t want for them to lose their grandparents because of their poor behavior.
— Cynthia Landry
After we left Port Orchard, the dust-up moved to Facebook - where Kenady tracked down Cynthia Landry.
After an argument on an unrelated post, Kenady posted a picture of her profile on his Facebook page, writing: “This lady is a disgusting pig… Go to her page and read the things she says.”
“You know that retaliation is going to happen. And if you don’t know that, you’re an idiot,” says Ben Landry.
Kenady appears convinced Landry or someone else on the list called us to look into this controversy. But it was actually someone else, who we’ll call “TG.”
He said the controversy disgusted him.
“Mmhm. Yeah. It does on a big level,” TG says.
TG lives in Port Orchard and called us because he feels the list is pulling the community apart.
“It doesn’t get much more divisive than that,” he says.
So the obvious solution to TG, the Landrys, and Watkins:
“Take the list down. Stop putting your fellow community members at risk,” says Ben Landry.
Will the sign come down?
I asked Kenady: when does the list need to come down?
“Hmmm. I guess when it’s over with. I don’t know. I’m going to leave it up until people stop crying about it,” concludes Kenady.
No matter whom you talk to in this story, there’s a common thread: they all say they’re doing their job and that they’re being harassed.
That continues with Craig Kenady, who claims he’s being harassed by L&I. He’s fighting over $132,000 in fines from Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries for staying open for indoor dining when Covid-19 rules say he should have been closed.
In summary, L&I says they’re just doing their jobs.