Federal Way will continue to operate its own Municipal Court after a City Council vote against contracting with King County District Court.
The council voted 5-1 Tuesday night to retain its court, which handles lower-level cases such as traffic citations and misdemeanor domestic violence and drunken driving charges. Mayor Jack Dovey was the only dissenter; Councilman Jim Ferrell recused himself from the vote.
In May, Councilman Eric Faison asked city staff to research alternatives to the Municipal Court for reasons of legal exposure and litigation involving Judge Michael Morgan. Faison said Wednesday that he ultimately voted to retain the court because he believed it could improve after the elections.
Morgan faces five challengers for his position in the Aug. 18 primary, and the top two vote-getters will continue to the Nov. 3 general election. The court’s other judge, Dave Larson, faces one challenger in the general election.
Faison, who also serves as deputy mayor, said his main concern was the working relationship between the Municipal Court and the council.
“We have had a court that has been very good on the bench,” he said. “There have been no allegations that the actual judgments being made by our judges in the court were improper or anything other than in compliance with the law.”
Dovey said Wednesday he voted to contract with King County because he dislikes having a Municipal Court judge in a managerial role.
“I like the county’s model of the judge being separate from administration,” Dovey said. “We have one judge right now who does not run the court well, and it’s costing the city a tremendous amount of money and time to put up with an individual who is not qualified to run a court, in my opinion.”
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct reprimanded Morgan in December for swearing at the police chief, making intimidating comments to court staff members, and making inappropriate jokes and comments to court employees.
The City of Federal Way paid $11,035 for a 14-page investigative report on a hostile-workplace claim filed against Morgan by a court clerk. When Morgan filed a lawsuit against the city to block it from releasing that report to The News Tribune, the city also paid $99,468.82 in attorney fees through May 21 to defend itself.
Whoever wins the election, Faison hopes for improved communication between the judge and the council.
“Most of our communications with the presiding judge (Morgan) have been by e-mail only,” Faison said. “I don’t think that’s the best way to work together.”
Joyce Chen: 253-597-8426
joyce.chen@thenewstribune.com
The Federal Way City Council Tuesday chose a Seattle-based search firm to recruit a new city manager.
The city will pay the Prothman Co. a fee of around $22,500 to research qualified candidates, and will reimburse up to $6,000 in expenses incurred during the process. If the council decides to require site visits for prospective city managers, costs could increase.
Prothman is not the same search firm the company used to select former City Manager Neal Beets, who was terminated on May 5. The city paid his benefits and bought out the remainder of his three-year contract for a total of $126,917.43.
Police Chief Brian Wilson is serving as interim city manager.
Joyce Chen, The News Tribune
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