Seattle councilman continues to pressure mayor on police chief departure

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(The Center Square) - Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee Chairman Bob Kettle continued to press Mayor Katie Wilson about former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes's departure this week.

The councilman said in a statement that the city charter requires Wilson to give a reason for dismissing Seattle’s police chief.

“Despite our requested deadline of Aug. 28, nearly a month after the forced resignation of Police Chief Shon Barnes, the Council has not received a response – written or verbal – to my letter to the mayor asking for a written explanation on the reasoning for his removal,” Kettle said in a statement Tuesday.

“The applicable section – Article VI, section 2 – of the City Charter on the topic provides clear guidance: ‘The Mayor may remove the Chief of Police upon filing a statement of his or her reasons for doing so with the City Council.'”

Wilson's office sent a statement to The Center Square Wednesday refuting Kettle's claims.

"Shon Barnes resigned as police chief. The requirement to file reasons for dismissal does not apply to a resignation," wrote spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg.

"Mayor Wilson is moving forward with the community and an advisory group to select a permanent police chief. In the meantime, the Mayor is also working with Interim Chief Sayles to ensure continuity of police operations, keeping morale strong, transparent communications, and setting the department up for a seamless transition to the next police chief."

The resignation, however, came after Wilson requested it after the Bite of Seattle food festival shooting that left three dead on July 26. 

Barnes resigned, but only after his lawyer negotiated a payout agreement with the city of more than $700,000.

Barnes had missed the first press conference after the shooting because he was out of town at a conference in Dallas. 

The next day, he got into a verbal altercation with a reporter who had questioned him at a second press conference about his frequent absences from Seattle to attend conferences or visit his family, who remained in Chicago after Barnes became police chief in January 2025. 

Wilson has said a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement prevented her from giving details on why she asked Barnes to resign. 

She did say that, as chief executive, she had a window into the police department that Kettle and other members of the city council did not have.

Kettle and most city council members have criticized Wilson’s move to dismiss Barnes, noting that the city’s crime rate was going down under his tenure. Barnes departure was also criticized by business groups and leaders in Seattle.

Kettle said it is obvious that Barnes was forced to resign by the mayor.

“It is clear Mayor Wilson removed Shon Barnes as Chief of Police in her actions and in her words, including at the end of a press conference appointing Andre Sayles as Interim SPD Chief when Mayor Wilson quite clearly stated, ‘I asked him to resign,’” Kettle stated. “This conduct makes the strong case that this was a forced resignation. So, let’s call it what it is – Mayor Wilson removed the Chief of Police.”

Kettle said the settlement between Barnes and the city cannot be used to sidestep concerns such as legal risk or to mask her reasons for doing so, and the impacts this will have on the police department and community safety posture.