Tonight, for my Mayor’s Report, I wanted to let you know about some of the challenges that I’ve been facing in my position and detail for you the things that have been taking up my time and energy, a good portion of the City’s resources and some of the impacts to the staff who work with me here at the City. This written statement contains some information about lawsuits the City is involved in and I am going to have to limit what I can say about those things in order to avoid liability to the City, but I feel the risks of discussing the suits are necessary because there is too much misinformation out in the community right now. I have had the City Attorney review this statement. If you have questions specifically related to lawsuit issues, Hester will write down your questions and the questions will be submitted to the City Attorney to review and he will make a determination on what can be answered at this time.

I took office November 19 of last year. My first task was to pass the 2004 budget which required cutting approximately $330,000 in costs and expenses in order to balance the budget. As part of the cuts, I proposed eliminating two positions—the Deputy Clerk position which was already vacant as a result of the resignation of January Sadler. The other position I proposed to eliminate was the building inspector position occupied by David Sonsteng. The City had only issued 4 building permits in 2003 and was paying the building inspector close to $50,000 a year in salary and benefits. Though Sonsteng could have remained in the position until the end of the year of 2003, I terminated him for cause the end of November. February 11, I was served with a claim against myself as mayor and the City of Gold Bar on behalf of David Sonsteng alleging retaliatory discharge.

On the weekend of February 28-29, Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng (David Sonsteng’s wife), her 13 year old daughter, and Dorothy Croshaw went door-to-door here in the City of Gold Bar hand-delivering an anonymous letter calling for citizens to recall me as Mayor for the firing of David Sonsteng, among other things.

On March 5, a citizen came into Gold Bar City Hall to tell me that she and her husband wanted to distance themselves from the "things" that former Council Woman Dorothy Croshaw was trying to get them to do for her. She went on to explain that her husband had been asked by Dorothy Croshaw to "do something horrible" concerning me that he didn’t want to do and she wanted me to know that.

On March 6, I was advised by a Gold Bar resident that Dorothy Croshaw had sent "someone" into the Prospector Bar in Gold Bar to question him as to whether he had ever seen my husband, Frank Hawkins (a Deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office) drinking in the Prospector while in uniform and on duty. When this citizen said he hadn’t, the inquirer asked if this citizen knew anyone who would know if Frank Hawkins were in there drinking on duty.

Approximately March 8, I contacted the person who had been inquiring about my husband at the Prospector. At first he denied it. Then he admitted that Dorothy Croshaw had told him to do it and made him promise not to tell anyone. He indicated that he didn’t want to get involved and didn’t know why she was singling out my husband.

On March 15, I received a copy of the lawsuit filed on behalf of David Sonsteng against me personally and the city of Gold Bar. This suit was filed with the Court on March 5.

On April 8, Dorothy Croshaw contacted Sammamish City Council Member Jack Barry by phone. I work full time for the City of Sammamish. Dorothy complained to the Sammamish Council Member that I was illegally using Sammamish’s email system to send derogatory and slanderous emails to "One of Gold Bar’s most respected Council Members, Robert Amenn." Croshaw complained that I was using Sammamish’s equipment illegally to perform City of Gold Bar business and demanded that I be punished for this.

On April 12, I was contacted by my Public Works Director for Sammamish (my direct supervisor), Delora Kerber, who advised me of Dorothy Croshaw’s complaint to Sammamish Council Member Barry. Ms. Kerber advised me that she believed it was Croshaw’s intent to do me harm and to harm my employment with Sammamish. Ms. Kerber advised me that she knew I had been given permission to conduct email communications regarding Gold Bar from Sammamish as part of my own personal lunch and break time allotments but felt I now needed to protect myself against these people who were trying to do me harm. She asked me to conduct all personal emails by accessing a remote or alternative email system from work if I needed to conduct Gold Bar business during my own personal time. I complied with her directive. Later that same day, I was contacted by my City Manager, Ben Yazici, who also relayed to me the complaint of Croshaw’s to Council Member Barry. Mr. Yazici advised me that he believed there were people who were trying to do me harm and trying to harm my employment and advised me to take whatever precautionary measures necessary to protect myself.

The week of April 26, I was advised by my Director, Delora Kerber, that Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng had contacted Sammamish City Council Member Jack Barry by phone and was also lodging similar complaints with him regarding my emails and demanding that I be punished or fired. Ms. Kerber indicated that Kemp-Sonsteng was calling Council Member Barry repeatedly and getting him very upset. Ms. Kerber advised me that it would be in my best interest to now handle all of my contacts with Gold Bar via my cell phone on my personal break times. I complied with this directive.

On May 4, Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng came to Sammamish City Hall and met with Sammamish Council Member Barry behind closed doors. She handed him copies of email communications between myself and Council Member Robert Amenn and demanded that I be punished and fired for the emails. Council Member Barry handed the emails over to Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici. Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng then placed a Public Records Request for all of my personal emails at Sammamish from October, November and December of 2003 as well as all City of Sammamish phone bills from the same time period.

Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng made daily phone contact with Sammamish City Clerk Melonie Anderson from May 4 forward, asking when the records would be ready, asking if I’d been fired from my job yet, asking if I was going to be punished for the emails. Clerk Anderson advised me that Kemp-Sonsteng was calling 3-4 times daily and always inquiring about me or making references to me in some way. Clerk Anderson advised me that she believed the City Manager was getting very angry with me over the repeated contacts from Kemp-Sonsteng to the Sammamish Council Member Barry and the "embarrassment" that these repeated contacts were causing the City. Clerk Anderson agreed to not release my emails until Gold Bar’s attorneys had a chance to review the emails for attorney-client privileged content, since Kemp-Sonsteng was involved in an active case of litigation against me and the City of Gold Bar.

On May 12, Sammamish Council Member Barry met with Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici regarding his frustration over the repeated and increasingly hostile phone calls from Kemp-Sonsteng. Barry indicated that Kemp-Sonsteng was threatening him that she was "bringing in the Press" and would be "contacting the State Auditor" if something wasn’t done about me (if I weren’t fired or punished in some way). Kemp-Sonsteng also threatened Council Member Barry with the same if my emails were not released to her immediately. She indicated she had spoken with Sammamish Clerk Melonie Anderson and was told that Gold Bar’s attorneys were being allowed to review my emails before release. Kemp-Sonsteng threatened to "go to the press" with Sammamish’s "cover-up" if they didn’t release my emails to her immediately. City Manager Ben Yazici, upset and angry over these threats, ordered the immediate release of my emails to Kemp-Sonsteng (including all attorney-client privileged emails) without review by Gold Bar’s attorneys.

On May 13, Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng came to Sammamish City Hall to pick up her records request which was ordered released to her the day before.

On the afternoon of May 13, Allyson-Kemp Sonsteng called Sammamish City Clerk Melonie Anderson, angry and yelling at her, stating that she had only received my December 2003 emails and she wanted October and November’s emails as well. Clerk Anderson advised her that her initial records request was unclear and that she needed to submit another request for the October and November emails. Clerk Anderson advised me of this second request and I notified Gold Bar’s City attorneys.

Later that same evening (May 13), Kemp-Sonsteng’s daughter called my house on our unlisted phone number and asked me if my son could go bowling with her and her parents the next evening. She said it was her birthday and she had invited others but that it was her "parents’ idea" to invite my son and they wanted my son to ride with them to the bowling alley. This obviously upset me as this young lady had never called my house before and certainly in light of the contacts that her mother was having with my employer up to and including that very day.

On May 14, I attempted to talk to my City Manager, Yazici, about the matter of my emails and Kemp-Sonsteng. He refused to speak to me and yelled at me that I was causing the City of Sammamish embarrassment and humiliation and he would not stand for it. He advised me that he knew that Kemp-Sonsteng was trying to do me harm, but he had to think of Sammamish and the damage that I was bringing to them because of my position as Mayor and "the people from Gold Bar" (Dorothy Croshaw and Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng) who were trying to do me harm by hurting Sammamish in the process. He advised me that he was being forced into a position where he would have to take "action" against me. He advised me to get my own attorney.

On the afternoon of May 14, Gold Bar’s Insurance Attorney filed a Notice of Counter-Claim in King County Superior Court on behalf of myself and my husband, indicating that Kemp-Sonsteng was attempting to interfere with my employment at City of Sammamish.

On May 18, I was notified by Sammamish City Clerk Melonie Anderson that Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng had contacted her the day before (May 17) by phone, asking if I had been fired yet. Anderson replied "no." Kemp-Sonsteng then inquired as to whether or not I was going to be punished for the emails. Clerk Anderson told her that the inquiry was not within her jurisdiction to respond to and advised her to contact the City Manager.

Later that afternoon, Gold Bar City Attorney Phil Olbrechts came to Sammamish City Hall to review the October and November 2003 emails of mine that were set to be released to Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng. Kemp-Sonsteng demanded that her attorney be allowed to review them along side Olbrechts. When she was told that her attorney would not be allowed to do so, Kemp-Sonsteng demanded that a "witness" be posted over City Attorney Olbrechts to make sure that he did not remove any of my emails illegally.

On May 18, Council Member Robert Amenn inquired about getting access to all of my Sammamish emails in an effort to do "damage control." I advised Mr. Amenn that a request of that nature at this point would effectively cost me my job.

On May 20, a day and a half later, Council Member Amenn’s wife, Joan, came to Sammamish to request every email of mine from the time my employment began with Sammamish (in 2001) to the present. Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng also came to the City of Sammamish to pick up her records request. Kemp-Sonsteng demanded that the Sammamish City Clerk assure her that "Colleen won’t cause any trouble for me when I come to pick up my records."

Later that same evening, at approximately 6:00 PM, as I was returning to Gold Bar from work at Sammamish, I was followed into the Shell Station by Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng. She remained in the store, simply staring at me, and stayed in the store until I left. Then she got in her vehicle and left the parking lot as I was leaving the lot at the same time.

On May 21, I was advised by Sultan Mayor Ben Tolson that Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng had paid his City a visit and met in a closed-door session with Sultan City Clerk Laura Koenig over a "Gold Bar" matter. (Prior to working for the City of Sammamish, I was employed by the City of Sultan). I have not checked with the other two Cities I have worked for (Ephrata and Bothell), but I am sure I will find that contact has been made with them as well, attempting to gain information on me from those employers.

At approximately 5:30 PM on that same day (May 21), Dorothy Croshaw came into Gold Bar City Hall with the emails in hand that Allyson Kemp-Sonsteng had picked up from Sammamish the day before. Croshaw demanded that Hester read the emails and see "the horrible things that Colleen has had to say about you". Hester noticed the emails were from October 2003 and told Croshaw that she was not interested in reading the emails. Hester informed Croshaw that "Colleen and I have put the past in the past and I’m only concerned about what she has to say about me now." Croshaw persisted, demanding Hester read the emails and see what a "two-faced" employer she was working for. Again Hester refused. Croshaw then leaned across the counter and said "Well, then, I will just have to take you both down!" (Referring to me and Hester). She then exited the building. Fortunately this was witnessed by one of Gold Bar’s Maintenance Employees.

On May 24, Kemp-Sonsteng emailed Sammamish City Clerk Melonie Anderson requesting all of my personal emails from July, August and September 2003. This email was followed by several phone calls on May 24 and May 25 from Kemp-Sonsteng demanding to know when the records would be released.

Also on May 24, Kemp-Sonsteng went to Monroe’s District Court Office and inquired of the Court Clerk whether anyone had taken out an order against her yet.

On May 27, Joan Amenn contacted the City of Sammamish by email and by phone, pressing them for a date on when all of my emails from the past three years would be ready for her to pick up. She was advised that it would take us at least two months to go through all of the records and then each would have to be printed out. Sammamish would not be able to give an accurate estimate of time for the records release until that was done. Gold Bar’s attorney will then have to come to Sammamish and read through each of the 3-plus years’ worth of emails to determine what records may be protected.

Later that same day of the 27^th, Dorothy Croshaw placed a phone call to Public Works Director John Light and tried to convince him that the Mayor he was working for was going to fire him and that she had emails to prove it. She demanded that John agree to read them, but John declined, stating that he was not interested in anything other than moving forward. The phone call ended shortly thereafter.

On Friday, May 28^th, Hester admitted to me that Dorothy Croshaw had been calling her regularly in the evenings and on weekends from the time I took office until recently and that Dorothy never failed to mention that she was going to "take...[me]…down."

Throughout all of this, from December of last year until the present, I have been inundated by emails from Council Member Robert Amenn, several a day at least, demanding that I explain every decision I make, demanding that I show proof by law of authority granted me to make the decisions I am making, demanding that I explain and explain and explain and explain. Here is just one folder of three that I have, representing SOME of the emails I have received from Council Member Amenn. At first I responded to him. He said that my explanations were unacceptable and demanded that I explain further and again. I no longer respond to Council Amenn, and most particularly now that his wife has joined forces with two others to attack me personally and attempt to drive me from this office.

You may draw whatever conclusions you wish from this information I have shared with you tonight. But I am sharing this with you tonight for one important reason: these kinds of bullying tactics, these kinds of sniper attacks from behind a tree, have been going on in Gold Bar for a very long time and I believe the people who voted for me did so because they are tired of the bullies running this town. I have learned from former Mayors Bertha Gilmore and Mark Price that Dorothy Croshaw went after them as well, employing similar tactics against them in an attempt to drive them out of office. In the end, both of those Mayors did end up leaving their office before their terms were up. The common denominator between me and Mark Price and Bertha Gilmore is that we would not allow the bullies to run our office and dictate our actions. And that made the three of us targets more than anything. In the end, good people end up deciding that it’s an awful lot of harassment and personal loss to have to endure for a job that pays $300 a month or less. In the end, good people have walked away from these elected positions without saying a word about what has gone on, just to make the madness stop. And that’s why it has continued—because none of this is ever talked about.

I think it’s time to talk about this stuff. I think it’s time to shed a light on the bullies, the terrorists, the hand-full of people who decide to over-ride your vote and run your officials out of office simply because those officials do not agree with them. Simply because a hand-full of people decide they do not like the person you voted into office.

A very wise man continues to remind me that Gold Bar will ultimately get the government it deserves—that the citizens will ultimately decide what they will tolerate and what they will not. I believe you cannot make that decision about your government without this information.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share this information with you tonight.

Colleen Hawkins

Mayor’s Report

Regular Gold Bar City Council Meeting

June 1, 2004