Murray Accuser's Attorneys Allege Cover-Up; Businesses Want Someone Else

1. A new subpoena filed Monday by attorneys of Murray's accuser, Delvonn Heckard, alleged a cover-up of a police incident at Murray's home last summer, The Stranger reported. The subpoena purported to show screenshots of computer-aided dispatch reports of Murray calling Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole about a disturbance at his home on June 24, 2016. The reports said Maggie Thompson—Murray's former campaign manager who now works at his office—was there.
A note attached to the subpoena alleged officers arrived to find a shirtless man in Murray's front yard, who then retrieved his items from inside Murray's house and left. The Stranger reported no police records or 911 reports could be found on the incident. It's unclear as to who the man was or how the incident relates to the lawsuit.
Murray through his spokesman denied the allegations and the events as they were described. He and five others who claimed to have been at his house that night—including Thompson—said they were at Murray's house celebrating Pride Month when a couple knocked and asked to use their phone and bathroom. He said no and they left after they got pushy, the statement said, and he called the police out of caution.
2. Even before allegations of child rape against Murray surfaced, the business community was not rallying behind him for reelection, said Puget Sound Business Journal editor-in-chief Emily Parkhurst in an interview with KUOW on Monday.
They're hoping for someone else to come forward in the next month, Parkhurst said, and many of them would support council president Bruce Harrell.
The PSBJ poll started back to zero when Cary Moon entered the race. Before that, it showed 42 percent favored former mayor Mike McGinn and 33 percent favored Murray. Mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver received 7 percent and Casey Carlisle—a Libertarian candidate opposing any new taxes—received 6 percent.
(Disclaimer: The poll currently shows Oliver with 83 percent; after she posted it on her Facebook this morning, it went from 66 voters to 1,576 as of 1:30pm on Tuesday. Poll participants posting links have dramatically changed results in the past, Parkhurst said.)

Image: Courtesy of Emily Parkhurst
"Basically they felt like there was this very big distance between what Murray was trying to do and what the business community was hoping that he would do," Parkhurst said on KUOW to Bill Radke.
Here are some of the problems Parkhurst says business owners have had with Murray's term:
-Several regulations were implemented at once that affected the restaurant industry, so it's tough to tell how effective any of them were.
-The business community felt like they were left out of the conversations on minimum wage and income inequality. Bringing the business community into the discussion doesn't have to be a "zero-sum game," she said, whereas now the two appear to be at odds with each other.
-Many thought the secure scheduling ordinance was not negotiated well, and ended up being a loss for both employees and employers.
Murray did announce more endorsements by labor unions Monday: the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46, International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union 609, and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council #5.
Updated April 25, 2017, at 1:53pm. This post contains newer poll numbers from the Puget Sound Business Journal.