Bothell records inconclusive whether tax dollars paid for mistress during mayor's 2012 trip

By MATT PHELPS
Bothell Reporter Regional Assistant Editor
April 26, 2013 ? 2:47 PM

It is unclear whether Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb used tax dollars to pay for his mistress to stay with him during a trip to Olympia for city business in 2012, according to city records obtained by the Reporter through a public records request.

Micaela Mae filed suit against Lamb in October for wrongful termination and invasion of privacy but the case was dropped on March 27. It is unclear if the suite was settled out of court.

But Mae stated in court documents that the two attended city business in Olympia together while in the midst of their affair. The affair, which Lamb admitted to, took place from January 2010 to the spring of 2012, according to court documents.

Records show that the city paid for one room for Lamb's stay in 2011 and 2012 for the an Association of Washington Cities Action Conference in Olympia.

The Reporter requested the documents in November of 2012 after the lawsuit was filed. Clarification of what records were requested added to the delay of the records request being fulfilled.

A letter from the Olympia Red Lion Hotel to the city was the only record stating that only one adult was registered to stay in the room during the 2011 trip to Olympia for the AWC Action Conference. But their was no specific record of how many adults stayed in Lamb's room during the 2012 conference.

A city of Bothell memo states that a city official accidentally reserved the rooms for those staying at the hotel for two nights in 2012. It is unclear if any of the rooms were used both nights but the hotel did refuse to reimburse the city for all but one of the rooms, used by Deputy City Manager Steve Anderson, for the second night.

"At the time, I asked her to make the hotel reservations for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, not knowing when people would need to travel to Olympia,"the memo from Bothell Executive Assistant Catherine Jansen states. "These reservations were never modified, even though council and staff members did not travel to Olympia until Wednesday, and the city was charged for the night not used."

Although unspecified in court documents, the 2012 conference is the most likely that Mae allegedly stayed with Lamb at the hotel that the city paid for. Court documents state that Mae stayed with Lamb while employed as an intern with his law firm. Mae was employed with the law firm in 2012. The cost of the single room with queen beds is essentially the same per night for the 2011 stay as the 2012 stay and reimbursement for Lamb's food was for just one person during both trips.

Mae and the mayor?s relationship began in 2010 when the woman was working at a restaurant in Bothell. According to court documents, Lamb and another unidentified member of the Bothell City Council ate dinner at Masala when Lamb allegedly met and obtained Mae?s phone number.

The off and on relationship lasted for two years and culminated in Mae's employment at the law firm and eventual termination.Both parties have refused to comment on the dismissal of the case or a possible out-of-court settlement.

?

Contact Bothell Reporter Regional Assistant Editor Matt Phelps at editor@bothell-reporter.com or 1-425-483-3732 (ext 5050).

Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/bknbnews/~3/rPf7z56GZfY/204922731.html

harden nor easter nor easter veep los angeles kings timothy leary jonathan frid