By Bill Sheets
For The Herald
EDMONDS — The totem pole caper is finally over.
Maybe.
The city has dropped its lawsuit over a carved pole that officials say was stolen from its trash by resident Syd Locke, who now can keep the pole.
"Many citizens have been clear in their desire to have this case ended," said Mayor Gary Haakenson, who has been inundated with e-mails and phone calls regarding the case. "It’s time to put this behind us and move on."
Locke said it’s not as simple as that.
"They haven’t offered to pay any of my attorney’s fees" of about $20,000, Locke said.
He plans to ask a judge to force the city to cover his costs.
The city’s legal fees now stand at about $24,000, city attorney Scott Snyder said.
As part of the original suit, a court date is scheduled for Jan. 11, Snyder said.
The 60-year-old totem pole originally stood in front of a motel on Aurora Avenue, then was donated to the former Edmonds Totem House Fish and Chips restaurant.
When the restaurant closed in 1987, the pole was donated to the city, where it stood outside the former city hall complex until work began on the new public safety complex in 1998.
The city’s Arts Commission "deaccessioned" the totem pole from the city’s art collection in November 1998, finding that the pole had deteriorated, was not authentically Native American and had no significant cultural or artistic value.
Because the pole was covered in lead-based paint, it was designated for disposal.
In 2000, Locke found the cut-up pole in a dumpster and loaded it into his truck with the idea of restoring it.
When city officials learned that Locke had the pole, they asked him to return it. He refused.
Haakenson said he offered to treat the paint and turn the pole into a bench, or to let Locke keep it if he were to sign a waiver of liability on the paint issue.
Locke, who ran unsuccessfully this year for city council, said he declined because "I wanted them to compensate me at least part of the money" he already had paid his attorneys.
Haakenson and city attorneys took the matter to the city council, which filed the lawsuit.
The city contended that Locke, essentially, stole from its trash.
Locke contended that the city’s agreement with the contractor allowed the company’s supervisor to make decisions about disposal, and Locke said the supervisor gave him permission to take the pole.
District Court Judge Mark Clark made a preliminary ruling in favor of the city, requiring Locke to post a $1,000 bond to keep the pole and awarded attorney’s fees and costs to the city.
But as Locke put it, the judge "felt I had enough of a case to put it on for trial" Jan. 11.
"It has become a distraction far greater than it’s worth," Haakenson said.
Locke said he has stuck to his guns to make a point about how he believes the city does business.
"Maybe this’ll teach them in the future they can’t bully the citizens," he said.
Bill Sheets is editor of the Edmonds edition of The Enterprise. He can be reached at 425-673-6525 or by email at sheets@heraldnet.com.
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