Overview
- Two Seattle residents filed the petition on Aug. 11 accusing Mayor Katie Wilson of dereliction for her handling of the July Bite of Seattle shooting, the forced departure of Police Chief Shon Barnes, the pausing or deactivation of city CCTV cameras, and rising crime in several neighborhoods.
- The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office completed a technical review and forwarded the case to King County Superior Court for a sufficiency hearing set for Aug. 31 before Judge Patrick Oishi.
- Mayor Wilson will not attend the Aug. 31 hearing in person and will be represented by legal counsel, according to statements from her office.
- If the judge finds the petition legally sufficient, petitioners would have 180 days to collect roughly 69,000 verified signatures equal to 25% of votes cast in the last mayoral race to qualify a recall election.
- Recent mid‑August polls show a steep drop in Wilson’s public standing, which increases political pressure on her administration even as city officials say the prosecutor’s review is a routine legal step and continue a separate audit of CCTV privacy and data practices.