Attorney Randy Gordon suffered a major setback last week in his fight against electronic voting: On April 18, three judges of the Washington State Appeals Court wasted no time telling Gordon there was no reason to order Snohomish County to reveal the software code of touch-screen machines made by Sequoia Voting Systems.

In 2005, Gordon and his client, voting-rights activist Paul Lehto, sued the county to force the release of the code, arguing that a trade-secret clause in the county’s contract with Sequoia is illegal because it puts the constitutional right to veriable elections in a “black box.”

One judge told the county’s lawyer, however, that if Gordon had brought the case under public disclosure law, the county and Sequoia would have been “in a world of hurt.” Gordon is now working with Real Change on a public disclosure request that will likely lead to a new lawsuit.

CDF director out

Here’s what happens to people who do a good job in Seattle: They get fired.

Earlier this month, the board of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund began a search to replace executive director Jaime Garcia, who will remain at CDF through the transition. The move comes as the organization, which was created to make grants and loans to businesses affected by light-rail construction, gears up for its next phase as a community investor in real estate deals.

In a statement, CDF Board President Rob Mohn credited Garcia for overcoming major challenges to start the program, which has distributed $9.3 million in mitigation funds to 157 small businesses over the past three years. But Mohn says that a strategic plan the board adopted in February called for new leadership to handle its community development lending.

Police watch

Score one for Nick Licata: In the wake of the NAACP calling attention to racially motivated arrests, the City Council president has gotten Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to agree add a sergeant in its Office of Professional Accountability, the SPD unit that investigates reports of police misconduct.

Last year, after the OPA’s independent auditor pointed out that delays were hampering the unit’s work, the council added funding for the new position. But, for some reason, SPD had failed to fill it — something Kerlikowske will now do, subject to the final approval of the OPA’s new director, who is awaiting council confirmation.

For “the complainant and officer alike,” Licata says, “getting the case settled as soon as possible is a very big deal.”