Update 2 for Sept. 30. - Aileen Fisher responds
We received an email from Aileen Fisher Thursday night reacting to our interview earlier in the day with Mia Gregerson. It said, in part:

Mr. Mathison,
I was greatly disturbed to read your updated article containing incorrect information. I am hoping you will extend the same courtesy to me, giving me an opportunity to provide clarification on the emails.

All of the emails that I received were in PDF format, there was NO cutting and pasting or any other type of tampering, nothing was taken out of context, and all emails were run through the legal department before loaded on CD's and given to the requestor....

Oh, and by the way, Mrs. Sitterley requested these emails long before she thought about running for Council . However, according to Mrs. Sitterley, reading these emails was a deciding factor in her decision to run for Council (against Gregerson.)

If you have any questions regarding the process of how emails are reviewed and prepared for release to the requestor, please contact the Legal Department at SeaTac City Hall.

Aileen Fisher

P.S. .... Please note this email is not coming from a city computer or city software.

Update - Mia Gregerson responds
The Times/News talked to SeaTac Councilwoman Mia Gregerson on Thursday afternoon. Here's a report on that interview:

Gregerson said she was expecting the year-old emails would be read at the council meeting.

Gregerson said people had tried to bully her into not running for re-election by saying the emails would be revealed if she filed again.

She said the email excerpts had been cut and pasted together to make her look especially bad.

"I've apologized to all of them (council members)," Gregerson declared. (The emails) were a mistake. I am very regretful."

Gregerson said she still considers Gene Fisher a friend, even though his wife revealed the emails.

She said she would not resign from the council.

"There is a lot of bullying that's happening," Gregerson said. "I've done a lot of good work on the council."

Asked why Heibe would make public accusations against Fisher when he knew there were embarrassing emails by his assumed ally, Gregerson, that could be revealed, she replied, "I don't have any control over Othman. There is less connection between us than people think."

Original post
Tensions between the two factions of SeaTac council members and their supporters have been testy for quite some time.

But during the last two council meetings, the gloves have really come off.

At the Sept. 13 council meeting, ex-council candidate Othman Heibe, defeated in the August primary, accused Deputy Mayor Gene Fisher of violating the state code of ethics by using public resources to support a candidate or proposition.

Heibe said an anonymous email was sent to SeaTac City Councilwoman Mia Gregerson and King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson, a former SeaTac councilwoman, accusing them of using Heibe as a "pawn." Heibe added that an analysis of an attachment that apparently contained Heibe campaign material revealed it came from Fisher using a city computer or software.

In a startling development at the Tuesday, Sept. 27 council meeting, Aileen Fisher, Deputy Mayor Fisher's wife, said she wrote the email to Gregerson and Patterson on the Fishers' computer.

The city did not buy the computer or software, Aileen Fisher said. She said the couple has told the city to remove any city-licensed software that might inadvertently be on their computer.

Then, for about 15 minutes, Aileen Fisher read aloud highly embarrassing emails sent and received by Gregerson belittling Gene Fisher and fellow council members Rick Forschler and Pam Fernald as well as their supporters. The emails also talked about strategies for various campaigns.

The emails became public after a public records request was filed last year asking for Gregerson's emails from a city-owned computer. Approximately 12,00 emails were made public. The request followed an incident where Gregerson had replied "lunatic" to an email from resident Leonard Luna. Gregerson later apologized.

Many of the emails read by Fisher's wife were exchanges between Gregerson and SeaTac Human Services director Colleen Brandt-Schulter.

City Manager Todd Cutts, in a Times/News interview, said he became aware of the emails in March 2010 when the city's legal department reviewed the public records request.

Cutts said the city hired an outside consultant to conduct an investigation.

As a result of the investigation, Brandt-Schulter was given a written reprimand, Cutts said.

A few of the email exchanges read by Aileen Fisher were between Gregerson and SeaTac facilities director Pat Patterson, county Councilwoman Julia Patterson's husband.

Cutts said Patterson did not receive disciplinary action.

Brandt-Schulter and Pat Patterson remain with the city in their same positions.

"The city took this very seriously in April to June of 2010," Cutts said. "We are now moving forward with the business at hand, which is operating the city."

Cutts said any action against Gregerson must come from the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Gregerson is up for re-election in November.

The email from Aileen Fisher began, "Julia and Mia, The two of you have hit a new low! How do you sleep at night? Lying and praying on the fears of our elderly citizens! Signing up illegal voters for your personal gain, using them as pawns to promote your self-serving liberal agendas."

Later it says, "No doubt you have included Councilmember Tony Anderson as part of this conspiracy. The Three Stooges come to mind."

The email indicated that a copy had been sent to state Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur. However, Wilbur told the Times/News he does not recall receiving the email. After receiving a copy from the Times/News, Wilbur said he guessed it had been written by someone who had learned English through an English Language Learners course. He pointed to the section where he is referred to as "Mr. Wilbur Kirby," instead of Kirby Wilbur.

Gregerson did not refer to the controversy during her council comments at the end of the meeting. She also did not immediately return a later phone call from the Times/News seeking comment.

In his council comments, Gene Fisher said he wanted to offer some "fatherly advice" to Heibe, who had left the meeting by the time Fisher spoke.

He said Heibe is "well-spoken" but his approach to politics is "a losing proposition.

"After a while people will ignore you or sue you," Fisher declared.

Despite rumors, he is not leaving SeaTac, the deputy mayor reported.

Fisher added he wants to "sit down man-to-man (with Heibe) and discuss how to make the city better."

Heibe has filed a public records request for Fisher's official emails.

Tony Anderson noted, "I am a little disgusted and sick and tired of public disclosure requests. They are a waste of the citizens' money.

"It is legal but is it right to dig up mud? In the end, you have a bunch of dirty candidates."

In official business, the council unanimously approved the continuation of a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries and collective gardens.

The action came despite pleas from a man who said medical marijuana had helped him recover from a motorcycle accident that had left him wheelchair-bound. Another man testified that his friend would have died from bone cancer without the aid of medical marijuana.

The lawmakers were told that a site has been found in SeaTac for a business where members of a collective club could purchase medical marijuana. The business wants to obtain a license.

Council members indicated they were sympathetic to the health concerns but conflicts between federal and state laws would leave city staff members vulnerable to prosecution if the marijuana facilities were allowed.

The state Legislature is expected to take up the issue again in the coming session.