Constantine recall effort legal fee issue in Beachcomber

Friday night, March 11, 2005

Subject: Legal fee issue in Constantine recall effort makes Vashon Beachcomber front page news in this week's issue.

Dear Friends, Colleagues and others I thought might be interested,

FYI, the article below on the James Dow (Chairman "Mao") Constantine recall legal fees issue is front page news in this week's Vashon Island paper - the Beachcomber. You can see it by going to: www.vashonbeachcomber.com and clicking on the article "Attorney-fee issue new bone of recall " , or, see it below.

We think it's pretty clear that the statute (passed by the legislature that Constantine was a member of for many years), along with the case law (decided by the Washington State Supreme Court in 1998) say that a recall effort is to be without cost or legal fees to the petitioning party. This doesn't include the petitioner's own legal fees, but it certainly does mean that legal fees can't be assessed for a target public official's defense costs. This has been litigated before, the issue appears to be well settled law, and Constantine's lawyers must have known that. That's why the judge ruled as he did, and it is the the statute and Supreme Court case law that he referred to repeatedly in an hour of oral argument discussing whether he had the authority to assess legal fees against me. All the same, Constantine's lawyers had taxpayer dollars with which to try to get fees out of me, with nothing to lose on their side but to run up a bill for the taxpayer to pay - to them.

I also notice Constantine continues to characterize my recall effort as having been frivolous. But the judge made no such ruling and, in fact, a line of text in the order that the judge signed, saying that the recall was frivolous and brought in bad faith, was stricken (the crossing out of the language was initialed by Constantine's lawyer).

Armen Yousoufian

Attorney-fee issue new bone of recall

By Allison Arthur
Mar 09 2005

Islander Armen Yousoufian says he shouldn’t have to pay attorney fees for his efforts to try to hold a public official accountable to the people.

King County Councilmember Dow Constantine says taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay attorney fees for Yousoufian’s frivolous recall effort against him.

So far King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell hasn’t ruled on the issue of whether Yousoufian brought a recall effort against Constantine in bad faith, but Ramsdell did conclude last Thursday that he doesn’t think he has the the authority to require Yousoufian to pay some $23,000 in legal fees King County has incurred defending Constantine.

Ramsdell issued an oral ruling that sides with Yousoufian on the issue of attorney fees. Ramsdell directed Yousoufian’s attorney, Charles A. Klinge, to write an order that says Yousoufian doesn’t have to pay Constantine’s attorney fees.
Klinge said Friday he would prepare that order this week.

“The request for attorney fees was outrageous. This clearly was not frivolous,” Klinge said.

Yousoufian says he feels he won the attorney-fee battle, but he says the war is not over.

“This effort to get legal fees out of me was frivolous and in bad faith and brought in retaliation for me trying to hold a politician accountable,” Yousoufian said.
Ramsdell ruled last month that Yousoufian’s three-prong recall effort against Constantine was insufficient under the law to warrant allowing Yousoufian to start collecting signatures on a recall petition.

That’s where Constantine says he won.

“I definitely won, but the problem is Armen’s misadventure has cost taxpayers $23,000, and the judge didn’t take up the issue of whether it was in bad faith. All he said is he didn’t have the authority to award attorney fees, and he invited us to take it to the (state) Supreme Court to clarify it. In order to do that, we’d have to spend more money,” Constantine said.

Constantine says he’s not sure that’s a choice he’s willing to make.
“I won, but the taxpayers still lost, because the guy who brought the petition isn’t having to pay them back,” Constantine said. That’s why he is questioning whether to appeal Ramsdell’s decision.

“I guess the question is, if someone brings a frivolous petition that’s dismissed by a judge, is it appropriate simply to write off the thousands of dollars taxpayers had to pay because of that irresponsible action?” Constantine said.
“Believe me, I have lots of real work I’d like to be doing rather than to be distracted by this little sideshow,” Constantine added.
Yousoufian, in the meantime, says it would be a “mean-spirited thing for democracy” if Constantine does appeal Ramsdell’s ruling.

Yousoufian also has incurred attorney fees.

Still unresolved is a disagreement between Constantine and Yousoufian on the issue of the Critical Areas Ordinances, which was central to two of the issues Yousoufian tried to use to bring a recall against Constantine.

Constantine supported the CAOs; Yousoufian continues to press ahead with an effort to force the King County Council to put the CAOs on the ballot. That legal battle also is winding its way through the court system.

Once Klinge writes an order for Ramsdell to sign, there is a 15-day appeal period. Constantine said he won’t be making a decision on whether to appeal by himself.
“It’s really about the county’s budget. I’m not sure that’s a choice I, alone, should make,” Constantine said.

Yousoufian’s attorney, Klinge, said last Friday that it would be a shame if the county tries to “go after a citizen” for exercising his right to question the actions of an elected official.

“Armen Yousoufian had a constitutional right to file a recall petition,” Klinge said. He added that county attorneys twice have asked the judge to declare the recall effort as having been in “bad faith” and so far the judge has not done that.
Yousoufian’s time to appeal Ramsdell’s decision on the recall petition ended last week, but Constantine still could appeal a decision on attorney fees, Klinge said.
That’s a decision Constantine has yet to make.

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