Brier's rocky political history
1965: Brier incorporates as an act of rebellion against Mountlake Terrace, which was about to annex the area.
1976: Mayor Jerrie Chandler resigns four days before a recall election based on allegations of financial mismanagement. He had survived another recall election one year earlier.
1978: Mayor Diana Johnson resigns early in her term after upsetting community members by firing popular Police Chief Ron Carlson. Carlson had supported her opponent, the city's first mayor, Dick Balser. Carlson later would get his job back.
1978: The city survives a campaign to disincorporate.
1980: Diana Johnson and her husband, David Johnson, are elected to the City Council. She is hit with several unsuccessful recall attempts during her four-year term and does not seek re-election.
1980: Mayor Ed Phillips quits days before being charged with taking nude pictures of a 13-year-old girl he had hired as a dishwasher at his Brier restaurant. Snohomish County prosecutors allege he also took nude photos of 10 other teenagers and persuaded one teenage employee to prostitute herself. He eventually pleads guilty to the original charge.
1981: Voters recall City Councilman Don Moller by a 2-1 ratio over accusations of misfeasance, malfeasance and a violation of his oath of office for his role in passing the city's 1981 budget. Nine years later, council members would appoint him to fill a vacancy on the council.
1990: City Councilman Tim Dillon, a former Seattle police officer, pleads guilty to assaulting a former girlfriend. A month later, he is charged for a traffic accident involving the woman and her ex-husband, another Seattle police officer, eventually leading to convictions for malicious mischief and reckless endangerment. The Brier council votes him out of office when he misses several meetings while undergoing psychological testing.
1990: Turnover on the City Council — four resignations plus Dillon's removal — results in five political appointments, eroding the base of support for new Mayor Mimi Opdyke.
1991: Opdyke is recalled in a campaign headed by Ed and Sharon Walker. The mayor's critics disliked her anti-growth views; the recall allegation was related to a city-funded study aimed at stopping a subdivision.
1994: Two months after taking office, Mayor Sharon Walker fires Police Chief Jim Palmer for buying himself an office computer with money that had been set aside for police computer training. He unsuccessfully sues the city. Palmer's wife, Cathy Palmer, and Walker's husband, Ed, were City Council members at the time; the two couples were political enemies.
1997: A Snohomish County district judge orders City Councilman Ed Walker to stay away from a neighbor for at least one year. The woman had accused him of spitting on her during a dispute over a political yard sign.
2003: Mayor Wayne Kaske resigns in midterm, saying he's burned out and wants to spend time traveling with his wife. He had been dismayed by a City Council decision to reject all bids for a new City Hall. Kaske had served two terms as mayor in the 1980s, had returned to office in late 1991 to finish Opdyke's term and again was elected mayor in 1997 and 2001.
2005: The City Council votes 5-0 to demand the resignation of Mayor Gary Starks because of dramatic turnovers in the city staff and allegations that he has anger problems and control issues. He refuses.
— Diane Brooks
