BAINBRIDGE ISLAND A public records lawsuit accusing the city of Bainbridge Island of mishandling text messages from a City Council members personal phone has been dismissed.

The lawsuit, filed last June in Kitsap County Superior Court, centered on the destruction of council member Rasham Nassars personal iPhone in June 2018 and text messages islanders David Dunn and Brian Wilkinson had sought as part of records requests with the city.

Both sides agreed to dismiss the claim in June, according to court documents. In an interview with the Kitsap Sun, Dunn and Wilkinson said their move to end the lawsuit was a financial decision.

They just outspent us, Dunn said.

According to city filings in the case, the phone was accidentally destroyed when Nassars young son soaked the device in the contents of a can of olives on a road trip. Nassar said that attempts to revive the device were unsuccessful and the ruined phone was turned in at an Apple Store after she was told by a technician that no data was recoverable from the device.

The city couldnt produce the messages because, it said in a filing, Council member Nassars iPhone was accidentally destroyed nearly three months before the requests that are the subject of this lawsuit were made. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Council member Nassar, she had not backed up her iPhone for more than six months before it was accidentally destroyed. Thus, notwithstanding her and her familys valiant efforts to retrieve the text messages from her iPhone through Apple and Verizon, any messages on the iPhone were ultimately unrecoverable.

I feel empowered by the verdict, Nassar said in an interview with the Kitsap Sun. Everything I did was consistent with the law, and the verdict affirms that.

Nassar said she felt she was targeted because of a vote she cast in favor of controversial updates to environmental codes that protect critical areas, what she described as a minor land use violation at her home and because of her background.

Do I believe I was repeatedly targeted? Yes. Primarily because of who I am. I openly campaigned as the Palestinian daughter of immigrants. But also because of my commitment to stopping the island from being overdeveloped.

Said Dunn: (Nassars) insinuation that this had anything to do with who she is highly defamatory and completely untrue, he said. This is all about transparency in government.

My hope is moving forward, and I think something came of this, is that it made them very aware that some citizens are paying attention, some citizens are watching, some citizens are concerned, Wilkinson said. I think thats a good thing, because that is basically the only kind of checks and balances in government. That and the media covering these things. Other than that, its the fox minding the henhouse, and that is kind of terrifying.

Nathan Pilling is a reporter coveringBainbridge Island, North Kitsap and Washington State Ferriesfor the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-5242, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @KSNatePilling.

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Public records lawsuit against city of Bainbridge Island dismissed - Kitsap Sun