Montesano City Councilwoman Marisa Salzer resigned abruptly on Tuesday, citing harassment and unfair treatment, both of which the city contests.
In a letter of resignation sent to the city administration, city attorney Dan Glenn and other members of the City Council, Salzer said she could “no longer tolerate the unfair working conditions of discrimination and harassment against me for requesting accommodations from the city for my hearing disability.”
Mayor Ken Estes, in a press release sent Wedesday afternoon, said he was “sad and discouraged” by Salzer’s letter of resignation, and he disagreed with many of her claims, saying, “Her letter contained many inaccuracies and troubling untruths.”
In her letter, Salzer said she was faced with issues when she first ran for council, writing “I spent hundreds of hours defending my right to serve on the council with appropriate accommodations. (…) From the beginning I bent over backwards to educate and work with the city administration in providing me appropriate accommodations.”
Salzer stated she had communicated through multiple in-house conversations and emails, and phone conversations. Eventually, Salzer reached out to the Human Rights Commission, an outside agency established by the state Legislature in 1949 that is responsible for administering and enforcing the Washignton Law Against Discrimination.
Salzer’s Human Rights Commission complaint was settled in September 2014. However, by Salzer’s account, discrimination and harassment continued. The city changed her accommodations with no communication or consultation, she said.
Public records requests regarding her were handled differently as well, Salzer said.
One person’s requests for multiple city business communications “was turned into an aggressive demand by the city attorney to access and search my personal computer, home server and cell phone,” she wrote in her resignation. “… It became apparent the city administration and attorney were continuing to treat me differently.”
A “strongly-worded letter” from the city attorney requesting that Salzer comply with the records requests made her feel “unsafe and under duress” she wrote. “I was forced to hire a private attorney to protect me from the city’s aggressive legal threats.”
It was a matter of being treated differently, Salzer stated in the letter.
“If someone had made a similar request to the mayor or any other council member, they would not be treated like I have been,” she wrote. “This has been proven by multiple actions over the years, that the former editor of the Vidette, Steven Friederich, has documented and written about publicly.”
Salzer said she was suffering from depression, anxiety, daily nightmares, loss of sleep and physical stress-related symptoms due to the way the city was treating her and because of her efforts to “defend her basic civil right,” and she also lost an “untold amount of time” with her family.
An unexpected visit to her home by Mayor Estes had made her feel unsafe, and she has lived outside city limits since, she said.
“The city failed to allow me to do my job, thus subsequently failing the citizens who elected me into office,” she concluded. “I deserved to be treated equally and fairly as anyone else under similar circumstances.”
Salzer also noted harassment during executive sessions.
A request for comment from Salzer was referred to her attorney.
The mayor, in his press release, maintains that the city attempted to accommodate all of Salzer’s requests.
“We were notified that she needed an interpreter, we gladly agreed to provide her one,” Estes said. “In June we were informed that she needed two interpreters. We started to review ways to meet our obligation to Marisa.”
Before Salzer’s complaint against the city through the Human Rights Commission, Estes says Salzer had refused to help the city with a loop system, and she rejected an interpreter (“the same individual provides service for the governor’s press conference,” Estes added) saying she couldn’t understand the interpreter, and the council meeting had to be canceled. The city then found someone with a National Interpreter Certification.
The public records request, which was filed by a citizen, Estes said, requested records back to October 2014.
“Ms. Salzer refused to provide any records from her emails that were clearly linked with city council business,” Estes wrote. “When pressed, Ms. Salzer took the route of hiring counsel rather than providing the records. The city has been unable to fill the public records request due to Ms. Salzer’s unwillingness to provide the requested material.”
And while Estes again noted that many of the incidences Salzer’s letter of resignation referenced “never occurred,” his press release ended with an amiable note.
“We wish her well and thank her for her service to the citizens of Montesano.”
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