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Judge rules consultant, Seattle must turn over 'head tax' info

A King County judge ruled Seattle must turn over a cache of records relating to the city's controversial head tax.
Supporters and opponents of the head tax gather before Seattle City Council discusses repealing the tax on June 12, 2018.

A judge has ruled a political consultant must disclose unfavorable polling results on Seattle's controversial head tax, and the city must turn over a cache of council members' emails and other records that City Attorney Pete Holmes argued should be kept secret as "private political activity."

The Seattle Times reports that King County Superior Court Judge Timothy Bradshaw's latest rulings came in orders on Monday and Tuesday as part of a lawsuit contending the Seattle City Council broke Washington's Open Public Meetings Act in the lead-up to its abrupt repeal of the employee-hours tax in June.

EMC Research must disclose by Friday an online slideshow about polling results that was presented to four Council members and two of Mayor Jenny Durkan's top deputies during a conference call before the Council formally voted to kill the tax.

EMC conducted the polling for a political campaign formed to oppose the big business-backed No Tax on Jobs referendum that sought to overturn the head tax.

The Council passed, then in June repealed, a tax on large companies such as Amazon that was meant to fight a growing homelessness crisis got rolled back.

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