The Longview Theatre in downtown Longview, Wash., on March 3, 2026. The city's taxpayers are footing a $250,000 bill in a legal dispute over government transparency.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
A two-year legal fight involving the City of Longview, Washington, has finally come to a close with an $80,000 settlement agreement.
The settlement, which the city council unanimously approved during a Tuesday meeting, will go toward attorney fees for three plaintiffs, who sued the city after its elected officials abruptly fired their top administrator in April 2024.
The case raised questions about whether local government officials worked together behind closed doors in violation of state transparency laws. It ratcheted up city legal bills and sparked personal attacks on city councilors, they said at the meeting. Now, the city is moving on by paying legal fees — without committing to concrete policy changes or admitting any wrongdoing.
The plaintiffs include residents Thomas Samuels, John Melink and former councilor Mike Wallin. Melink declined to comment on the details of the settlement until it’s finalized.
Their lawsuit alleged three current councilors — Erik Halvorson, Kalei LaFave and Keith Young, as well as former Mayor Spencer Boudreau — violated Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act by planning former City Manager Kris Swanson’s firing out of public view.
The councilors have consistently denied violating the law. The case had been slated to go to trial in September.
“Even if we went to trial and we won, the cost to the city would be far, far more than this,” Young said during Tuesday’s meeting.
The agreement brings the total bill in the case, footed by Longview taxpayers, to more than $250,000, according to a city spokesperson. Most of that comes from Longview’s legal defense costs. In May 2024, a Pacific County Superior Court judge ordered the city to cover the legal fees for the three councilors and the now-former mayor, who lost his reelection bid in 2025.
As part of the settlement, the city will “consider reviewing its public records act policy” and “develop a cell phone issuance policy for elected officials” for council consideration, according to a summary of the settlement in the meeting agenda.
LaFave and Halvorson both said at the meeting that the case impacted them professionally and personally, leading to insults from constituents and causing sleepless nights in the two years since the lawsuit was initially filed.
Ruth Kendall, one of the councilors who voted against firing former City Manager Swanson, said the whole saga has been a good reminder of the importance of the open meetings law.
“When it appears that decisions have been made outside of council meeting, it isn’t a good feeling,” Kendall said in an interview. “You do not feel empowered as a member of that council.”
She said it’s nice to see the council moving forward, and that the settlement is an opportunity to put this case in the past.
“Other cities — what we’ve gone through — should be a lesson to everybody,” she said.
The settlement agreement is pending final signatures from all parties and a judge.
