Everett deputy mayor resigns following investigation into romantic relationship with mayor

EVERETT, Wash. — Everett Deputy Mayor Nick Harper has resigned from his position, following reports of a romantic relationship between him and Mayor Cassie Franklin.

According to the City of Everett, Harper actually submitted his letter of resignation on Oct. 16 and officially stepped down three days later.

In early 2023, Everett City Council hired a lawyer to look into a relationship between Harper and Franklin to determine whether they had violated any city rules. A 200-plus page report from a law firm published by The Everett Herald later found that they had not misused city time or money over the course of their romantic involvement.

Harper came on as deputy mayor in 2018. Franklin filed for divorce from her husband in November of 2022. A month later, she began disclosing her romantic relationship with Harper to “key city officials,” according to the report.

Mayor Franklin has said little publicly about it in the months since, stating only that she had been told by the city’s human resources department that a “consensual relationship with a city employee” wouldn’t violate any existing policies.

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