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Three members of the Baker City Council have filed a civil lawsuit against the former city firefighter who is spearheading a campaign to try to recall six of the seven councilors from office.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, Oct. 7, names as defendants Casey Husk, the former firefighter, and Debbie Henshaw of Baker City.

The plaintiffs are Mayor Kerry McQuisten and fellow city councilors Joanna Dixon and Johnny Waggoner Sr., all of whom are among the six councilors Husk wants to give voters a chance to recall.

The three plaintiffs allege that the recall petitions Husk filed each contains “a false statement of material fact,” a violation of Oregon elections law.

The plaintiffs also contend that Henshaw, in supporting the recall effort, has made false statements about them.

Each of the three plaintiffs is seeking $2,500 from each of the two defendants — a total of $5,000 for each plaintiff — along with attorney’s fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Vance Day.

According to the lawsuit, the false statement in the recall petition is the same in the petitions for McQuisten, Dixon and Waggoner.

The petitions each state that the councilor in question “has directly sanctioned the dissolution of the professional fire department in Baker City, destroying the network of public safety that has been in place for more than 100 years.”

Husk said in a phone interview on Monday, Oct. 10 that he had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

He said he stands by the statement in the petitions about the councilors.

“Fundamentally I think that’s true,” Husk said.

He said he considers the lawsuit “bogus” and a case of the plaintiffs’ trying to “intimidate and bully” him.

“To me it’s another example of why they’re unfit for the office they hold,” Husk said.

He said he believes he will prevail in the lawsuit.

Husk said the campaign to collect signatures to force a recall election has been going well.

“The response from the public has been positive so far,” he said.

Each of the plaintiffs also alleges that Henshaw made a statement to a person who asked for information about the recall. The statement attributed to Henshaw: “Thank you for the curiosity. In a tiny nutshell, our city council and mayor allowed our city manager to dissovle our city ran gold-standard fire department and ambulance service. We no longer have enough firefighters on shift to enter a burning bulding, and instead of the excellently dually trained EMT/Firefighters, we now have an ambulance service who’s (sic) staff rotates out. …”

Henshaw, like Husk, said her statement is, in her view, true.

“There are no lies in that I can see,” Henshaw said.

She said the statement is one she posted on a Facebook page in response to a question about what had prompted the recall campaign.

Henshaw said the lawsuit is “immature and childish,” and she vowed to continue to help Husk gather signatures.

“I will continue to stand up for what’s right for the citizens of this city,” she said.

Henshaw said she’s concerned that the lawsuit could discourage people from signing the petitions.

Henshaw said she considers this a First Amendment issue.

“The people have the right to petition their government for a redress of their grievances,” she said.

Husk started the recall effort this summer, not long after he resigned as a city firefighter and took a job as a firefighter in Umatilla County.

To force a recall election, he would need to collect at least 680 signatures from registered voters who live in the city. There is a separate petition for each councilor, but voters can sign multiple petitions.

None of the three councilors who filed the complaint against Husk and Henshaw will definitely be in office beyond Dec. 31, 2022, regardless of a recall.

Dixon and Waggoner are serving terms that end that day. Waggoner is seeking reelection in the Nov. 8 election; Dixon is not.

McQuisten is leaving her position in late November because she is moving outside the city limits and as a result will no longer be eligible, per the city charter, to serve on the council.

Husk was motivated, both in changing jobs and in pursuing the recall, by the city council’s decision to have the fire department cease operating ambulances after Sept. 30 of this year.

City Manager Jonathan Cannon told councilors in late March that he believes the city can’t afford to continue to operate ambulances because the cost to do so is exceeding the revenue the city receives from ambulance billing.

Baker County commissioners, who by state law are responsible for ensuring ambulance coverage, including in Baker City, in early June hired Metro West, a private ambulance provider.

The company has been responding to ambulance calls since early June.