Seattle Mayor Accuses City Attorney of Ethics Violations

03/06/13

On Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn sent an email accusing City Attorney Pete Holmes of breaching attorney-client privilege several times by directly dealing with the monitor in charge of overseeing police reforms, and without keeping the Mayor in the loop. The email, written by a legal counsel of the mayor and at the mayor’s direction accuses Holmes of violating ethical standards by sharing privileged information with a consultant, Merrick Bobb. Bobb was hired as an independent consultant after an investigation by the Department of Justice found the Seattle Police using a pattern of excessive force.

The email stated, “Your letter of today discloses a document that was transmitted to you in confidence, and uses it to undermine your client’s position,” as reported by KIRO Radio.

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The “document” referred in the email was a proposed plan for monitoring the police for compliance with the DOJ’s observations, and prepared by Seattle Police Chief John Diaz.

The email accused that Holmes had removed the words amounting to “privileged” from the document and submitted it to Merrick Bobb as an “alternate statement of the framework for setting specific goals and requirements of the Plan.”

The mayor’s mail blasted the City Attorney for playing it high-handed and observed, “It appears that you are actively undercutting your client’s objectives in this matter … Again, you didn’t consult with anyone in the Executive before taking this action.”

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The office of the mayor also questioned the intention of the City Attorney in reaching an agreement with the Department of Justice on Monday to extend the deadline for submitting the proposed monitoring plan.

While the mayor hinted that Holmes should hand over his duties regarding police reforms to an assistant city attorney, a spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office issued the following statement in response to the mayor’s mail:

“City Attorney Pete Holmes will not screen himself from representing the City in this case. The City Charter gives the City Attorney supervisory control of all litigation and, although the City has entered a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, this remains a pending lawsuit under the supervision of a federal judge. Mr. Holmes has violated no client confidences or breached any ethical obligations to his client, the City of Seattle.”

See related assistant city attorney jobs available on LawCrossing :
 

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