Councilmember Josh Binda and his travel to a National League of Cities conference was once again the center of attention when the Lynnwood City Council met April 25.

Discussions over Binda’s trip to Washington, D.C. and public comment about the situation occupied most of the three-hour meeting. The council also made parking in front of mailboxes punishable by a fine of $30 and chose a temporary board member for the Lynnwood Public Facilities Board. 

Four public commenters spoke against Binda, while six supported him. Two others requested that the council work together for a peaceful solution so that more important work could be done during council meetings. 

Binda’s supporters were two youth delegates who attended Binda’s speech at the National League of Cities (NLC) conference — Andrea Mercado and Darius Knight – plus Lynnwood residents Audrey Tanberg, Ted Heikel and a man identified only as Shola. 

“I find it pretty pathetic how this Recall Binda effort couldn’t even make their own original design when it came to their T-shirts. Clearly [they’re] ripping it off from the BLM (Black Lives Matter) logo design which, to me, is a strong indicator of what their real motivations are,” said Shola, one of several who brought up the similarity of the two designs.

Heikel and other commenters cited the council’s lack of action when a third-party investigation confirmed accusations of sexual and racial discrimination against Councilmember Jim Smith. Others said that a much-publicized Instagram photo of Binda shirtless was harmless, that the campaign against him was politically and/or racially motivated and that Binda had owned up to past mistakes, such as paying the fine assessed after he misused his campaign funds. 

Binda’s detractors included educator Christina Mitchell and other Lynnwood residents Jason Moore, Vivian Dong and Diodato “Dio” Boucsieguez. All four commenters urged the council to vote against Binda’s reimbursement and/or asked Binda to resign. 

Boucsieguez is organizing the effort to recall Binda, though at the time of the meeting he had not filed the paperwork to do so. At the end of the April 10 council business meeting, Binda accused Boucsieguez of previously working for the Lynnwood Times, a publication Binda claims is biased against him.

During his comments, Boucsieguez pointed to TikTok videos posted by Binda where he commented about age limits for elected officials, saying, “I agree we don’t need grandparents running our country.” He continued by mentioning an Instagram post that included a photo where Binda merges his face with Lewis. 

“I find it awfully rich that this councilmember [Binda] denigrates and demeans our seniors, yet when it’s politically expedient, merged his face with that of a civil rights icon, the late-great John Lewis who, I add, was a senior when he served our country as a congressman,” Boucsieguez added “You are not John Lewis.”

Two other speakers, Justin Ulofoshio  and a woman identified only as Maria R., asked the council to resolve this ongoing conflict and move on to other matters.

“Our energy should be spent on keeping our community safe and ensuring prosperity for our children,” said Ulofoshio, mentioning the recent stabbing at the nearby Edmonds Winco. 

“I feel that these sorts of things should have been discussed privately with the council, not necessarily something the public needed to know,” Maria added. “I feel like our dirty laundry is being aired not just locally but being aired nationally and I don’t like it.”

At the April 11 business meeting, Binda requested that he be reimbursed for airfare and ticketing expenses at the NLC conference. Binda was absent from the last meeting, where Sessions attested to the case against his reimbursement, detailing the following:

• Binda was told by Sessions that he could not attend. While this could have been overridden with council consent, Binda did not communicate with any of the other councilmembers about doing so. 
• Binda did not inform councilmembers during the trip itself and they learned that he was there as a result of his social media posts. 
• Binda did not attend any of the programming or meetings intended for the Lynnwood city representative.
• Binda never attended the city training for public event attendance. 
• After contacting the NLC, the city confirmed that Binda was not a “keynote speaker” as he stated and instead spoke briefly on a panel for young delegates. This was rebuffed by the youth delegates who claimed that Binda was, in fact, a keynote speaker. The discrepancy indicates that Sessions and Binda among others do not have the same definition of “keynote speaker”. Councilmember George Hurst asked Binda if he was paid for his talking engagement, which Binda denied.
• The NLC also revealed that Binda owed $225 for his ticket to a Black caucus event. 
• Binda did not present his findings as the official representative. Council Vice President Julieta Altamirano-Crosby, who was chosen to represent the city, did in a presentation during the previous business session. 

During his response at the April 26 meeting, Binda defended his decision to go on the trip:

• Referencing the policy for elected officials – not employees – in Lynnwood, Binda said he wasn’t required to get authorization from Sessions or the council and that Sessions was spreading misinformation about the process to discredit him. City Attorney Lisa Marshall confirmed that Binda’s statement regarding city permission was correct. Vice President Julieta Altamirano-Crosby did not have to get council permission for her trip as the city representative for the same event, though she did go through the city for arrangements. 
• Binda stated that he asked Marshall to help him sign up for the event officially and that she agreed to do so. A few hours after this, he said that Sessions told him he could not go and detailed an argument he had with her about the matter. Following that argument, he said someone he described as a “City Assistant” sent an email that he would not be allocated funding unless he received council approval. 
• Binda said further that he attended the conference on his own merit as he did not have time to contact Marshall about the legality of doing so. He did not check with her before his trip. 

Sessions responded to Binda and others’ allegations that she overreached her authority when she told Binda he could not attend the conference due to his previous behavior. She referenced an ongoing ethics investigation. Binda has been accused of using city resources for personal gain when he arranged a speaking tour through his city email address and filmed a video about the tour using the council chambers. 

“I was clear when I told him and we have it in writing that he would need to get permission from the whole council because of his past misuses that have been on notice of resources,” Sessions said. The council president added that Binda’s comparison to Altamirano-Crosby was not valid as she had gone through the proper channels and brought back information from her trip.

Hurst then asked Marshall if the council was even able to decide whether Binda would be reimbursed.

“It seems the one thing this council can vote on, as far as expenses, is if a councilmember does not make reservations for transportation, or hotel through city offices,” Hurst said. “So we would need to know the difference of his airfare [or event attendance fees] as to, say, councilmember Altamirano-Crosby.” 

Eventually the council approved by a 5-2 vote Sessions’ request that the city’s finance director, “in her review of Councilmember Binda’s ask for city-funded reimbursement of travel to the National League of Cities…evaluate Binda’s request with scrutiny and judicious attention and it is the opinion of the city council that Councilmember Binda’s request be rejected.” Hurst joined Binda in voting against the measure, stating he did not approve the section stating “and it is the opinion of the city council that Councilmember Binda’s request be rejected”. 

In other business, the council also approved a proposal to make parking in front of mailboxes illegal with a fine of $30. Lynnwood’s Public Works Department requested this as it was receiving complaints from community members that their mail was late because of delays caused by the parked cars. It also improves USPS worker safety.

The month-long search for a temporary Public Facilities District Board member ended when Vivian Dong was approved for the position in a 4-3 vote over Annie Armstrong.

Smith started the conversation by motioning that the council make Dong the PFD board member. At the previous meeting. Sessions spoke about her plan to have a vote where councilmembers said their chosen applicant by name. Sessions said the purpose of the name-vote was to make things fair to both candidates. Sessions alleged that by choosing to vote on Dong exclusively, it assumed she would be the winner. 

The council spent over 20 minutes debating a resolution to address Smith’s motion as he would not recall his statement. Councilmembers voted to amend Smith’s motion to fit Sessions’ plan. 

Smith abstained from the amendment vote while Councilmembers Patrick Decker and Shirley Sutton voted no. The remaining four councilmembers voted to support the amendment and it passed. 

In the end, Hurst, Sessions and Binda voted for Armstrong while Smith, Decker, Altamirano-Crosby and Sutton voted for Dong.

During Mayor Christine Frizzell’s comments, she acknowledged recent Washington legislation that provided the city with $2.75 million for its Community Recovery Center. The center is scheduled to open in spring 2024.

Finally, the council made proclamations acknowledging Cinco de Mayo and National Day of Prayer. 

–By Jasmine Contreras-Lewis