Yakima's Tyrant | Mayor Janice Deccio

The story of Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio calling 911 on alleged "far right-wing" petitioners has circulated up to international levels, going as far as the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom.

This is our follow-up story that includes a trip to the West Valley Walmart and watching the subsequent Yakima City Council meeting. When it came to addressing the public, we think Mayor Deccio showed unveiled tyranny.

The Yakima Mayor Called 911 on an Olde Man

It began on September 3rd, 2023 when Mayor Janice Deccio called 911 on what she claimed were "far-right wing" petitioners at the West Valley Walmart.

Mayor Deccio's 911 Call (from Accurate Perspective)

0:00

/185.112

1×

The Story of a Paid Petitioner | Leonard Ruthford

First, we stopped into the West Valley Walmart to evaluate the situation – which is more than the Mayor ever did. Upon arriving, we saw the mentioned "far right-wing extremist" petitioners. One was a 70+ year old man named Leonard Ruthford.

Leonard was mostly deaf and had a malfunctioning hearing implant. Sometimes, we had to write to communicate with him. Leonard's been a paid petitioner for 20+ years. He and whoever is working with him take shifts at locations; Leonard will occasionally go nap in his car.

Leonard is currently associated with Let's Go Washington, a nonpartisan signature gathering group run by Brian Haywood.

When Leonard first arrived at the West Valley Walmart, he said a group of people came by and began yelling and swearing at him. The group proceeded into the store and then left. Shortly after that, two police officers arrived to observe the situation.

Leonard explained his right to be at the Walmart to the officers, as Let's Go Washington is a nonprofit organization. The police agreed with Leonard and told him YES, he has a right to be there and gather signatures.

Did Walmart Tell the Petitioners to Leave?

While we were at the West Valley Walmart, we decided to try and answer our previous burning question:

"Did the managers actually tell the petitioners to leave?"

We happened to notice a prominent member of Yakima's establishment media present, so we asked if they'd spoken to Walmart's management.

The media member wished to remain anonymous, but they said their media outlet had called Walmart approximately five times before sending someone in-person to find a manager. Walmart's management said they never called 911 on the petitioners and never asked them to leave.

The West Valley Walmart's own stance can be summed up by a sign we saw outside their door:

Mentors & Malice | Doug White Called Petitioners "MAGA Party Members"

According to Accurate Perspective, former congressional candidate Doug White posted about the "illegal petitioners" on Facebook within 45 minutes of Mayor Deccio's call. But a little digging showed that Doug White had far more to say.

The Doug White Facebook Post

Our article on the 911-call located Doug White's original Facebook post and observed the comments section. We found that Mayor Janice Deccio and Councilwoman Soneya Lund were making unprofessional remarks via Doug White's post before any official statements had been issued.

In one post, Soneya Lund implies that conservatives receive preferential treatment from the police. In another, Mayor Janice Deccio agrees with a constituent that conservatives are "unreasonable."

Again, there had been NO official communications made about the 911 call at that time.

Tim Eyman's Thoughts on Doug White

Shortly after we arrived at the West Valley Walmart and got Leonard's story, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Eyman also showed up. Eyman made some interesting claims about Doug White on his website:

1. Eyman states that Doug White is who prompted Mayor Deccio to call 911 on the petitioners.
2. According to an intercepted "screed," Doug White allegedly said, "I feel like I am in China again" when the police didn't remove the petitioners.
3. In the screed, Doug White labeled the petitioners as "MAGA party members." This is dangerously inflammatory language, as President Biden has declared that MAGA Republicans:
   • "Threaten the foundations of our republic."
   • "Are a threat to this country."
   • "Do not respect the Constitution."
   • "Are committed to destroying our democracy."
   • "Do not believe in the rule of law."
4. Eyman says that Doug White is Mayor Deccio's mentor and largely responsible for helping get her elected.

One Crackima may continue to investigate these claims.

Mayor Deccio's Statement | A Preamble of Lies

While at Walmart, Tim Eyman mentioned he was going to the Yakima City Council meeting that night. We were unable to attend but found full footage of the meeting on Y-PAC the next day.

During the meeting, Mayor Deccio showed a repeated pattern of deception, tyranny, and open contempt towards the Yakima public.

Mayor Deccio Lies About Petitioner Harassment

To open the meeting, Mayor Deccio made a prepared statement addressing her emergency call. She claimed she called 911 because she was responding to allegations from a constituent (Tim Eyman believes this was Doug White):

"...He told me [the petitioners] were harassing shoppers and that the manager had called the police numerous times during the week after she had asked petitioners to move from the entrance of the store. He said other people had called the police about the behavior as well."
-Mayor Janice Deccio

However, per the recording, we can see this is questionable: the 911 dispatcher said they had received "a call about that earlier." A call, not numerous calls.

Mayor Deccio Claims Harassment, Yet Harasses Journalists

Mayor Deccio also said that because her phone number had not been redacted from the 911 recording, she and her husband had received phone calls containing threats and sexual harassment. She played one of the alleged messages for those present:

"Yes, I was just wondering how a beautiful face can be such a liberal c**t that would like to stop democracy?"

Presumably, this is the worst message Mayor Deccio could find to make her point. Though the message contains a single expletive, it portrays no direct threat against her.

Once she finished playing the recording, Mayor Deccio took an opportunity to throw some hate at local news:

"This [situation] has been conflated to new heights, as they often do when inaccurate perspectives are reported."

The Mayor's phrasing is no accident; a grassroots media outlet called Accurate Perspective was first to break the story about her 911 call. Her fellow councilman, Matt Brown, is a key contributor to Accurate Perspective – though he didn't write the original article we're discussing.

Mayor Deccio's insinuations against Accurate Perspective are pure venom and utterly hypocritical in the face of her earlier claim:

"I have a degree in journalism, and I am the last person who would infringe on anyone’s freedom of speech."

Yakima's Tyrant | Mayor Deccio Silences the People

To show some semblance of goodwill or moral accountability, one would think Mayor Deccio would take questions from the public after her opening statement. However, she refused to answer any further inquiries on the matter of her 911 call, concluding with:

"This is my statement, and this is all I'm going to say about this so we an get on with the rest of the meeting."

The Vote to Censure Mayor Deccio Fails

At the end of the Mayor's opening speech, Councilwomen Patricia Byers and Holly Cousens also spoke. Their statements culminated in a motion to censure Mayor Deccio.

A censure is the equivalent of a public reprimand.

The vote failed at 4-3. Council members Matt Brown, Holly Cousens, and Patricia Byers voted for the censure. Council members Danny Herrera, Soneya Lund, Eliana Macias, and Mayor Deccio voted against the censure.

It is very telling that Mayor Deccio did not abstain from voting, a formality that would normally be taken when regarding a motion about oneself.

The Public is Forced to Wait

After the vote to censure Mayor Deccio, another motion was made. Both Patrica Byers and Holly Cousens observed there was a large number of constituents in the audience that evening, and they didn't want to waste the public's time with the remaining regular council matters.

Initially, Cousens made a personal suggestion to move public comment up in the agenda, to which Mayor Deccio replied:

"Well, we do have other people who have things they want to get to, too. So we're just going to leave the agenda the way that it is."

While Cousens posited her idea weakly, Mayor Deccio displayed a gross lack of regard for the public by making no effort to pose the question to the rest of the council as a formal motion. It was only when councilman Matt Brown stepped in that a formal motion was made.

The motion to move public comment sooner in the agenda also failed 4-3 along the same lines as the censure. Those supporting Mayor Deccio chose to needlessly inconvenience the public by wasting their time.

**Note: The amount of time spent on public comment is fixed. It's a rule. Only 35 minutes is EVER allotted for public comment. There was absolutely no need to keep everyone there for the full meeting.

The Yakima Public Speaks

After the council went through a few mundane proclamations, resolutions, staff recognitions, a fundraiser, and a tax report...

THEN, public comment was allowed.

The first few people who spoke were clear supporters of Mayor Deccio; the order almost seemed arranged that way.

One of most notable supporters was a former Mayor of Yakima, Mary Place. Place strongly criticized requesting any 911 call (which is lawfully permitted under FOIA). She also expressed that she hoped the 911 dispatcher had been fired for releasing the call saying, "I want to know if this person still has a job!"

The remainder of the public was not in favor of the 911 call, though most expressed sympathy that Mayor Deccio had allegedly received harassment. Many of the public felt that labeling the petitioners "far right-wing extremists" was inflammatory and uncalled for; they believed all 6 initiatives fell along the lines of commonsense.

City Attorney Sara Watkins Prohibits Informational Pamphlets

During public comment, a woman named Benine McDonnell also spoke; she works with the same nonpartisan group of signature gatherers as Leonard called Let's Go Washington.

At the City Council meeting, McDonnell had a few informational pamphlets to give council members, as it appeared many didn't know the basic tenets or titles of the initiatives.

After McDonnell's comment, City Attorney Sara Watkins announced:

"No one can use public facilities for supporting or opposing any sort of initiative, so we need to be careful about what we're handing out to the Council. If people want to hand out things to the Council, they should come to the City Attorney first for review."

Once public comment ended, Watkins announced that the initiative pamphlets McDonnell had circulated were inappropriate to pass out. Watkins did not cite any RCW's to back the pamphlet's alleged "inappropriateness."

"I've had a chance to review [the pamphlets], and I don't think it's an appropriate publication to be handing out at a City Council meeting, so I would ask that we return them to Ms. McDonnell."

When McDonnell asked for her remaining time to comment, as she hadn't used her full time, she was interrupted by Mayor Deccio who said, "Public comment is over ma'am."

** Note: City Attorney is a position appointed by the City Manager, and thus the City Council. Sara Watkins's actions strongly suggest that the City has selected someone who will not hold them accountable.

Mayor Deccio Prohibits Applause

Towards the end of public comment, Tim Eyman and another member of Let's Go Washington spoke. The man's name was Benjamin Hatfield, and we found his story rather inspiring:

"I took a 60% loss in my 6-figure income get into petitioning because socialism is taking over this entire country. And you are complicit in it; each and every one of you who voted to keep the public's comments later shows you don't really care about the people that elected you.

For the young lady here who worried about FOIA [referring to Mary Place], it's an inherent right. We're supposed to know what our government is doing, what our police are doing, what our politicians are doing...

I stand outside stores all day long. Yes, I understand they are privately owned by a corporation, but those are not living, breathing people. When something is accessible to a thousand people an hour walking in and out of its front doors, it's not exactly private property. If I don't have publicly accessible, private places to do my job, what you are effectively doing is stripping me of my First Amendment right to petition government for redress of grievances and to address the politicians that are out of control and ignoring their constituents.

I would encourage you to stand according to your oath, and I question whether you know the definition of that word."

Applause began after Hatfield's speech. To our amazement, Mayor Deccio had the audacity to cut it short, saying:

"There's no applause during this."

One Crackima's Conclusion

To see such unbridled tyranny come from our Mayor was astonishing. We witnessed over half our City Council decide to ignore constituents by postponing public comment. It was chilling to hear a former mayor criticize the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a rule that's critical for holding our government accountable.

What was even more bizarre was that Yakima Police Chief Matthew Murray, a key witness to this entire fiasco, was present at the meeting! He made no statement about the Mayor's 911 call, Walmart's stance, or the legalities surrounding the petitioners. His inactions should be called into question.

If there's one upside to this mess, it's that the Mayor's true colors towards the public have been revealed, along with those of her fellow sycophants on the council.

You can find the full Yakima City Council meeting on Y-PAC. We've listed a few notable timestamps for your convenience.

0:00 - 5:14 – Mayor Deccio's opening statement
5:15 - 9:52 – Statements regarding the Mayor's potential censure
9:52 - 10:30 – City Council's vote on whether to censure Mayor Deccio
11:25 - 12:01 – Cousens & Byers motion to move up public comment
32:40 – Public Comment begins
47:45 – City Attorney Sara Watkins cautions pamphlet
58:48 – Mayor Deccio shuts down applause after Hatfield's speech
59:01 – City Attorney Sara Watkins determines the pamphlet is "inappropriate"
59:50 – Public Comment ends, 7 minutes short of the full 35 minutes allotted