This elected official sent a racist meme in an email. The City Council took action
Sumner City Council members voted 4 to 2 to remove a fellow council member from his committee roles as well as impose a written reprimand Monday evening.
Council member Patrick Reed works for the Secretary of State’s office. He sent a racist meme during an email exchange with another employee of the office in August. Public records show the other employee sent an email that said they did not have to attend jury duty. Reed responded with a meme that said: “If they’re in court, they’re guilty especially if they’re Black or Mexican.”
Reed posted a statement on his Facebook account Sept. 21 about the meme, apologizing for his “horribly offensive mistake.” He said he attached the wrong meme from search results in a rush “without verifying” what he sent.
His fellow council members — Barbara Bitetto, Curt Brown, Pat Cole, Cindi Hochstatter, Charla Neuman and Earle Stuard — contemplated imposing a sanction on Reed during a Sept. 26 council study session.
During the Oct. 3 City Council meeting, imposing a written reprimand was on the table for the council to vote on. Stuard proposed to remove Reed from all the council committees he sits on — the American Rescue Plan Act, Finance & Personnel and Public Safety committees — as well as the Pierce County Regional Council. Stuard’s proposal came after Neuman proposed to remove Reed from his leadership roles on council committees and the regional council.
“His credibility has taken a serious hit,” Stuard said. “I feel like we need to do some damage control.”
Those who voted in favor of the reprimand and removal are Cole, Hochstatter, Neuman and Stuard. Brown and Bitetto voted against it.
Brown approved of issuing a written reprimand but not the removal from committees. Bitetto said Reed has provided useful insight during committee meetings that the council might lose if he’s removed.
Hochstatter read a prepared statement from the council during the Oct. 3 meeting that said: “The meme was very inappropriate and hurtful ... we are disappointed and we disapprove of this councilman’s actions whether intentional or accidental.”
Neuman said during the meeting that the council may never know the Office of the Secretary of State’s findings after its human resources investigation regarding Reed. Keeping him on the city committees and the regional council may harm the city and send the wrong message if the council doesn’t take action, she said.
“I’m concerned about the signal that we send to others about such hurtful matters,” Neuman said.
A written reprimand and removal from appointed committees or chair positions are two of the five sanctions council members can impose on one another. The other three are verbal admonition, censure and expulsion from the meeting.
The Secretary of State can confirm the investigation regarding Reed but cannot discuss “ongoing personnel matters,” external affairs director Charlie Boisner wrote in an email Sept. 28.
Reed has been a council member since 2015 and an employee of the Secretary of State’s office since 2017.
