New Settlement Offer in Wallin V. Boudreau OPMA Lawsuit—Classic Hits 100.7 KLOG News

The saga continues in the Wallin v. Boudreau OPMA lawsuit against four members of the Longview City Council. The Plaintiffs have put out a new settlement offer that they say will minimize the cost to the taxpayers of the City of Longview due to the defendant voting to have the city cover their legal defense. 

The Open Public Meetings Act lawsuit filed in March of 2024 accuses Longview Mayor Spencer Boudreau and councilmembers Kalei LaFave, Erik Halvorson, and Keith Young of conducting city business outside of public view between January and March 2024

Under the new proposal, the plaintiffs agree to drop the case if the defendants meet some conditions. Those include each councilmember retaking state-mandated Open Public Meetings and Public Records Act training, contributing $500 of personal funds to the Washington Coalition for Open Government, and publicly acknowledging that their actions during early 2024 harmed city operations and public trust.

The offer also requires the defendants to reaffirm commitments to transparency by conducting city business only through official channels, avoiding private deliberations, and refraining from serial or “daisy chain” communications.

Additionally, the City of Longview would reimburse the plaintiffs $52,000 in legal costs, review and update its public records policies, and adopt a transparent tracking system for record requests.

The plaintiffs say the offer is not an admission of weakness in their case but an effort to minimize costs to the city taxpayers. To be valid the settlement offer must be accepted by all defendants by 5pm on October 24th.