Mayor's Ex-Assistant: "Perception Problems That Have Gone Too Far"

Kimberly Cole, as executive assistant to Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper, says the turmoil surrounding her departure is largely one of perception.

“There are just perception problems that have gone too far,” Cole told Edmonds Patch in her first interview since resigning. “I was not let go for any disciplinary action. I was not asked to resign.”

The State Auditor’s Office is now looking at issues regarding compliance with the city of Edmonds’ payroll policy as part of its regular audit, according to Mindy Chambers of the State Auditor's Office. The office was contacted anonymously by someone who thought Cole may have been getting paid for hours she wasn’t working.

Contrary to what has been reported in other media, Cole, 32, said her resignation is a not a whistleblower case.

“The notion of someone being asked to assist the state auditor in an investigation is just wrong,” she said. “The auditor wouldn’t be doing an investigation on a whistleblower unless it was a state agency or municipality that doesn’t have a whistleblower policy. (Edmonds has) a whistleblower policy. What it says is that you have to have a gross waste of government spending.”

In her job with the city of Edmonds, Cole says she was a confidential, salaried employee who answered only to Cooper. As part of that designation, she says she was not required to keep time records.

“Nevertheless, I felt the hostility, the push back and the kind of resentment of those who had a perception that if I wasn’t keeping the same hours inside behind a desk (I was doing something wrong).”

(Cole’s resignation came on the same day that by Cooper. Cooper, in a statement, says the firing of Humann was one of lack of trust. Cole, who admitted that Humann had asked Cooper about her work habits, says the relationship between the two firings will be revealed in the near future when the dust has settled.)

According to , Cole had reached separate agreements on her resignation, agreeing to a settlement of $84,000 and agreeing not to sue the city for wrongful termination.

On Tuesday, the City Council, in a 7-0 vote, said that Cooper didn't have the authority to enter into separation agreements with his former executive assistant.

Councilmember D.J. Wilson was the mediator in the agreement reached between Cole and the mayor in September. “(It’s) interesting that he (now) voted against it,” said Spencer, who added that the city of Edmonds should stand by the original agreements between Cooper and Cole. Spencer said the council decision may mean she still works for the city.

“In spite of the city and our client reaching accord to which both parties agreed, clearly the city did not deal in good faith, and we’ll be pursuing all available remedies to make our client whole from damages suffered as a result of her employment by and departure from the city of Edmonds,” Spencer said.

“Regarding the separation agreement, it is our opinion that the city is obligated by the terms of the contract into which it entered. That one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing should not impact the livelihood of any city employee. The citizens of Edmonds employ the council, the mayor and the city attorneys that represent them, and it is up to those citizens to decide whether their leadership has failed them. At the very least, the Edmonds taxpayer probably ought to be asking what the heck is going on at Edmonds City Hall.”

Cole says she first reported “to the appropriate folks” back in June that she felt she was being harassed. “That was on the heels of, I would say, at least a complaint a week.” Eventually, she says, she made the decision to resign after constant harassment and anonymous accusations. “I didn’t feel that things would be better. There was definitely more than one issue that I had taken to city of Edmonds and indicated that I felt I was being singled out, that I was being targeted.”

One of those issues, said Spencer, is that Cole discovered that personal information relating to a protection order she had against another person in a personal matter had been shared outside of city hall.

The decision to resign was especially difficult, Cole said, in light of her former boss's election battle. Appointed mayor last year after the departure of Gary Haakenson, Cooper is in a tough fight with the other mayoral candidate, Dave Earling. Earling beat Cooper soundly in the August primary. The general election is Nov. 8.

“I’ve known the Cooper family for a long time; I don’t have local family,” Cole said. Her first job after business school was as a legislative aide to Cooper while he was on the Snohomish County Council. She was also his campaign aide when Cooper was a 21st District representative.

 “We’ve grown close over the years, and it wasn’t a small decision for me to leave, especially given the timing,” Cole said. “I know where we’re at in terms of elections, and my goal was certainly not to do anything to jeopardize anyone’s reputations. I was thinking of me and my family, and it wasn’t an abrupt decision. It had been weighing on me a long time, and the situation escalated to the point where I didn’t believe I had a choice (to resign). It wasn’t planned. It’s a hardship on my family and my son, who knows Mike very well.”

Cole, 32, is a single mother who lives in Lynnwood with her 7-year-old son, Aiden. Her education includes Edmonds Community College and University of Phoenix Business School in Mountlake Terrace. She graduated from Seattle University School of Law in December, but says she is not studying for the bar at this time, although she says her goal “is not to be a government secretary forever.”

Cole is still a member of the Lynnwood City Council, but resigned her position as commissioner for Public Hospital District 2, which serves Edmonds, Lynnwood, Woodway Mountlake Terrace and Brier, in February.

Cole, who through her attorney said she can’t comment on next steps at this point, said her goal is not to get her job back with the  city of Edmonds. But she’s confident the truth of her departure will be revealed.

“I’ve never done anything wrong,” she said.