AUBURN, Wash. — Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus has signed a sworn declaration stating that no records exist in her personal email or text messages with a man later convicted of a sexual felony involving a minor — despite earlier correspondence showing (a) his request to move communication off city email and

(b) her providing her personal email address.

The declaration, signed Dec. 12, was submitted in response to a public records request seeking any communications that may have occurred outside official City of Auburn systems. In it, Backus states that she “reasonably and diligently” searched her personal email and personal text messages for records related and found zero responsive records.

She further states that any other records on those devices were personal in nature and “not prepared, owned, used or retained in furtherance of City of Auburn business.”

The timeline raises questions

Previously released city emails showed that Joshua Obadiah Headley — the individual later convicted — asked Backus to move communication from her city email account to a personal one. Later, Mayor Backus submitted a letter of support to the court in advocacy of Joshua Headley.

In the support letter, Backus did not write solely as a private citizen. She referenced her role as Auburn’s mayor and her responsibility for public safety, invoking her public office while urging leniency.

This prompted follow-up public records requests seeking any related communication on personal devices.

What the declaration says — and doesn’t say

Backus’s declaration does not allege that records were deleted, withheld, or improperly concealed. Instead, it asserts that (option one) no personal-device communications related to city business ever occurred.

That assertion leaves a gap in the public record: if no communication took place on personal devices, and no further communication appears in city email records, it is unclear how the mayor’s support letter was coordinated.

Alternatively, (option two) the declaration could be saying records exist but frames the matter as “personal.” This, however, is in contradiction with her letter of support- where she frames her role as Mayor making it “official.”

Public accountability questions remain

By signing the declaration, Backus has stated under oath that no responsive records exist on her personal devices. From a procedural standpoint, the city’s public records response may now be considered complete. Under Washington’s Public Records Act, communications related to official business are public records regardless of where they are stored. In other words, in one’s role as a public official- moving conversations to personal email does not make them “personal” conversations. It just makes it harder for the public to find record and transparency.

An affidavit stating that no records exist effectively ends that inquiry unless contradictory evidence emerges.

For some residents, however, the declaration does not fully resolve concerns about transparency. The sworn statement does not explain the apparent continuity between the request to move communication off city systems and a later official intervention in a criminal sentencing matter.

It should be noted the City Clerk’s Office of Auburn that manage records requests was extremely responsive and helpful. They can only provide to the public the records that are provided to them.