For Immediate Release 8 September 2024
Contact:
Michelle Peterson, 360 878-7689, michellepeterson.RN@gmail.com
Ronda Larson Kramer, 360 259-3076, ronda@larsonlawpllc.com
Reports and background documents under Media Resources Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak
Information Links: http://linktr.ee/TumwaterOak
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1207869877018181/
Hashtags: #tumwateroak #SaveTheTree
Citizens group wins partial victory for oak tree
DATELINE— TUMWATER, WA
Members of a citizens group fighting to save a healthy 400-year-old Garry oak in Tumwater breathed a sigh of relief on Friday, September 6, as Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Egeler ruled mostly in the group's favor.
Staff for Tumwater mayor Debbie Sullivan first alerted the public on February 12 that the Davis Meeker oak would potentially be removed. Months of litigation began on May 24, 2024, when Judge Sharonda Amamilo granted the citizens group a temporary restraining order. Judge Egeler dissolved the TRO on May 31, 2024. The case is now on appeal.
At the hearing on Friday, the citizens group took advantage of a little-known rule on appeal whereby a party can stop a second party from taking action if the first party pays a bond. The first party then gets an automatic stay.
The rule says that even though the case is on appeal, the superior court judge gets to decide the bond amount initially. As a result, the citizens group filed a motion asking Judge Egeler to set the bond at $200. By contrast, the mayor wanted the judge to set the bond at over $10 million, which far exceeded what the group could afford. The judge set it at $10,000.
The mayor also filed a motion asking the judge to award the mayor over $13,000 in legal fees against the group. Judge Egeler denied that motion entirely.
“This is doable,” said the group’s spokeswoman Michelle Peterson. The group will now pay the refundable $10,000 to the court in full.
“My guess is on Friday the judge realized her original ruling dissolving the TRO in May had been based on multiple misleading statements by the mayor and by the mayor’s attorney,” said Ronda Larson Kramer, one of the attorneys representing Save the Davis-Meeker Garry Oak. "We worked pretty hard over the past two weeks to call those out to the court.”
Larson Kramer said the mayor’s attorney also made misleading statements in his latest briefing. For example, he wrote that the citizens group knew well in advance that the mayor was planning to have the tree cut down but waited until the last minute to file for a temporary restraining order.
“Luckily, I had great evidence to pull out of my back pocket,” said Larson Kramer. “It was an email I happened to receive when Councilwoman Leatta Dahlhoff had emailed the mayor on Thursday afternoon, May 23rd, and had copied me. She was asking whether the mayor needed the council’s approval for a budget amendment before the tree was cut down," she said.
Larson Kramer said the fact the councilwoman was asking the mayor this question proved that neither the citizens group nor the council knew if the mayor could act independently or not. "Five hours later, I learned at 9 pm that somebody had tipped off one of our group's members about the mayor's plans to cut down the tree that weekend. I filed for a temporary restraining order the next morning,” said Larson Kramer.
She also mentioned that Friday’s favorable ruling by the judge was probably due in large part to the group's new attorney, Bryan Telegin. “His willingness to take on this case was significant for us,” said Larson Kramer, who has been the attorney on the case since the start. “Not only is it like getting a fresh horse on the Pony Express, but he has the needed experience in environmental law that I don’t have,” she said.
To raise money for legal expenses, the citizens group is holding a fundraiser on Sunday and another one on September 26 and is accepting tax deductible donations on its website.
Photo credit: Timothy Duncan, Tumwater.
One of the yard signs the group had made. Photo credit: Ronda Larson Kramer, Olympia.
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