Parmeter Still leads Brown in Soap Lake council race
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 4 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | November 8, 2017 2:00 AM
SOAP LAKE — Debra Parmeter Still is leading former Soap Lake City Council member Robert Brown, who recently resigned from the council, in unofficial results released Tuesday night.
As of Tuesday, Still had 135 votes to 115 for Brown.
Tricia Stevens, Grant County certified elections administrator, said ballots that were dropped off Tuesday in ballot boxes around the county are collected after the official 8 p.m. poll closing and aren’t included in the Tuesday night totals. Nor are ballots that were mailed Tuesday, she said.
Brown resigned Oct. 18, after a tumultuous career on the council that included sponsoring a ballot measure to change the city’s form of government to a city manager. Brown and former council member Maynard Hagen sent a letter to Soap Lake residents in 2015, urging them to vote Mayor Raymond Gravelle out of office.
That earned Brown a rebuke from the council, which was later rescinded. Brown filed suit against the city in July 2016, claiming that council rules were a violation of First Amendment rights. The suit was settled out of court, with the city agreeing to pay Brown’s attorney fees, revise city policy and pay him $1.
In his resignation letter, Brown said he was left out of council discussions, including what he considered important topics such as the city’s water and sewer rate study.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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