No decision Friday in Bryan Kuder’s attempt to get the Mayor’s job back in Centralia.
Judge Kimbara Harrell heard nearly 2 and a half hours of argument on if the Centralia City Council improperly stripped Kuder of the Mayor’s job after he won the April 2019 election in a question over where he lived.
In arguments for a directed verdict in Kuder’s favor, his attorney Lane Harvey claimed Kuder had always maintained his legal residence in Centralia after selling his home on Circle Drive and moving into an apartment on West Broadway in Centralia. Harvey said Kuder only stayed at a home he bought in Washington County until repairs to a broken water line in the apartment were made. Harvey characterized the Washington County home as a weekend or vacation home since it was near a lake.
Lane also maintained the city council made their decision not to seat Kuder as Mayor before hearing his side of the story, denying Kuder due process. He added the city had even sent Kuder mail at his new legal residence on West Broadway at the same time they were claiming he didn’t live there.
The attorney for the City of Centralia Luke Behme questioned why Kuder obtained an attorney and had them speak for him at the city council hearing if he didn’t realize the council was going to make a decision about his residency. He added the city delayed the hearing for a day so Kuder could attend.
Behme noted this wasn’t a case of residency but a question of residence. He maintained when Kuder abandoned his home on Circle Drive the West Broadway apartment was in a different county and election district he was still in violation of the minimum time residency rules.
Lane countered that didn’t matter since Kuder never moved out of the Centralia City Limits.
Earlier in the hearing, Judge Harrell found the city was not in default on a filing deadline in the case because the court system was in limited operation at the time due to COVID-19.
The judge ended the hearing without any comment. She later indicated she would make an entry in the case on Monday on how it would proceed.
After the city council refused to seat Kuder as Mayor, Herb Williams was appointed to replace him. The two are now facing off in the April 6th election for the final two years of the Mayor’s term initially won by Kuder. With the residency issue undecided, no one contested Kuder’s petitions to run again in this election.
