A council-vs-mayor kerfuffle broke out in 1973 over “promotional hosting” – that is, City lobbyists wining and dining state legislators as they argued for the City’s interests. Hal Meyer, supervisor of legislative research for the City Council, ran up over $6000 in credit card charges, mainly at Seattle (not Olympia) restaurants. When Council President Liem Tuai asked him to justify these charges, he refused to do so and resigned instead.
In the aftermath of Meyer’s departure, City Council passed a resolution declaring an end to promotional hosting and asking police and prosecutors to investigate any related wrongdoing. The two “no” votes felt the measure was meaningless as these measures were already being taken. Councilmember Phyllis Lamphere said that “Council is ‘resolution happy’ and must pass a resolution every time it turns around.”
The fact that this was a mayoral election year soon colored the proceedings when Mayor Uhlman returned the resolution unsigned along with a sharply worded letter to Tuai. Uhlman flagged what he called factual errors in the measure and said that the councilmembers who now had “screams of anguish” about lobbying practices had known about them all along (or should have). He also wrote that he had called for a police investigation himself “after it became apparent that the Council was reluctant to do so” and said that the real issue was “why a Council employee could have been permitted to act in this irresponsible manner for so long without the slightest hint of any control.”
Tuai, who was also running for mayor, disputed Uhlman’s account to the Seattle Times, saying the delay in requesting police assistance was because he had waited for Meyer to get back from vacation to ask him about the charges before acting. He accused Uhlman of using the police for political gain and blamed the mayor’s office for the issuance of the credit cards in the first place.
The county prosecutor ultimately did not file charges against Meyer but left open the possibility of civil action. Meanwhile Meyer gave an interview to the Post-Intelligencer in which he defended his conduct while also claiming he wanted to repay the city. However, the following January, the Times noted that “Meyer now is reported to be in Honolulu and hasn’t been heard from.”
