Mayor Murray Needs to Step Down

The Sunday Times story revealed a report from the '80s about Mayor Murray and his role as a foster parent.
An Oregon child protective services investigator in 1984 determined that Mayor Ed Murray sexually abused his foster son, according to documents published by the Seattle Times today.
From The Stranger's reporting:
Finding the child sex abuse allegations to be credible, a child protective services investigator recommended that Murray stop fostering children all together. 

So did a foster care specialist, who wrote, "Under no circumstances should Mr. Murray be certified in the future."

A prosecutor declined to press charges against Murray due to concerns with meeting the burden of proof, not because she didn't believe Simpson.

In a separate document, a foster care specialist wrote, "Although he was not indicted, the Protective Services department feels that the allegations are true, as does the district attorney’s office.”
I tweeted to the Mayor and the City Council that he should step down this week.   My reasoning is as follows:

- It is clear the Mayor made some terrible mistakes when he was a foster parent.

- For me, it does not matter about the passage of time.  Nor does it matter that he is now in high political office.  He certainly is not the anti-Christ and has - for the most part - been a good public servant.  I applaud that service but now he is hurting the office of the mayor and our city and needs to leave.

- He is the lamest of lame ducks.

Those who are elected cannot circle the wagons around one of their own in the name of continuity.

The message cannot be that we don't believe the most vulnerable of children when they summon the courage to speak up.

And the message cannot be to people who live on the margins of our society that there is no accountability for acts committed against them.

For the good of our city, the Mayor should step down. 

Comments

Jet City mom said…
Since he hasn't done so already, I doubt he will.
He has Key Arena to push through as well as changes in zoning.

http://kuow.org/post/seattle-expect-more-condos-and-apartments-under-plan
Hence the need to pressure him.
CM Gonzalez has now sent colleagues an email about her concerns and possible steps to have the Mayor step down.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Agreed.

But please remove JS's comment.

-NW Mom
JS, you need to be less cryptic or I will have to remove your comment. What exactly are you trying to say?
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Yes, JS's comment pretty clearly implies was HP said. Please delete.

DisAPPointed
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
One more correction, it's simply not true that male pedophiles who target boys are heterosexual. How did you derive your flawed hypnosis? Are you familiar with the term IN THE CLOSET?

JS
JS, give it up. You don't know what Durkan or Murray were doing in the'80s and trying to paint a picture of what all LGBTQ people were doing with one brush in nonsense. (I lived in San Francisco in the'80s so I know a little bit about this.)

Also, Durkan does have children.

Also, the majority of pedophiles are heterosexual men. That's a fact. Pedophile does NOT equal gay.

But we are done with this particular discussion. Move on.

In other news, Durkan just said on KUOW that she had talked with the Mayor and urged him to "reflect" if he thinks he can continue to lead the city.

Harrell and Bagshaw seem to be backing the Mayor with Bagshaw, a former prosecutor, saying it was not enough evidence and 30 years ago. The latter is a shocking statement to me.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
@JS
MW has specific guidelines for contributors of this blog, since she is the owner and all....that's who she is! So give it a rest and take your spam elsewhere. You are not contributing anything to this conversation.
-long road
Anonymous said…
The "it was 30 years ago" thing really does not resonate with me and I too am shocked at Bagshaw's statement. Has she learned nothing from the Catholic Church and various private schools trying to address the past? I had no idea a liberal politician had so much to learn in this area.

As for Harrell, he wants continuity because if they ask the mayor to resign, as head of the current Council he would become mayor, for all of a few months. I think he would have to give up his Council seat in doing so, although I am not positive on this rule. Assuming he would have to do so, he'd lose his Council gig while also being a lame duck, as he is not running for mayor. Doubt he'd want to do this. That means he would have to hand the job to someone else on Council. Burgess is the only one who has announced he's retiring/not running again, right? So Burgess could end up as Mayor. Which is very ironic to me on a number of fronts.

EdVoter
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
StepJ, I heard that. Well,it certainly sounds like he's doing what is best for him, not the city.
Joe Wolf said…
To StepJ:

"Ped" Murray? Really?

For the record I know your true identity, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Melissa, the StepJ at 10:47 isn’t me. I won’t make further comments on this thread to avoid confusion. BTW, fake StepJ I don’t believe Joe Wolff still works for SPS.

@Joe Wolf, This post highlights portions of a report from a child services investigation that concludes Ed Murray was raping a foster child in his care. Are you saying I should be ashamed for too glib a reference to a child rapist? Your attack is confusing.

-StepJ
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