The Truth About Brian Gaspar and His Attacks
I want the community to hear directly from me about allegations being made about me by Brian Gaspar, my former opponent in the race for Mercer Island school board, who has said he is no longer seeking the position but who remains on the ballot and has submitted a statement asking for your vote. In short, he is not being truthful with the community and you deserve to know the truth.
Mr. Gaspar has accused me and my supporters of bullying and harassment following his participation in a news story regarding a teacher abuser. I want to be clear that I have no tolerance for bullying of any kind. People who know me and have worked for me in my many years of service to our community will confirm that I will stand up to a bully every time.
What I did do—and what Mr. Gaspar objected to—was to inform the community at a school board meeting of Mr. Gaspar’s own history of multiple domestic violence restraining orders obtained by two different women over a number of years. I have since learned (through Mr. Gaspar’s own admission) that he was criminally charged and convicted in one of those cases. I did not relish sharing this information, but I felt voters deserved to know.
In retaliation, Mr. Gaspar sought a civil protection order against me in court. He did so without notice to me, and he made significant misrepresentations in his application, including claiming that I had revealed sealed court records, which was demonstrably false. Based on this untruthful application, the court entered a preliminary order that left me unable to go to my own child’s school and unable to engage in campaign activity for a period of time.
At a hearing where the court was able to consider my response, I was completely vindicated. The court ruled in my favor, finding no evidence of a threat to Mr. Gaspar or his family. In fact, Mr. Gaspar’s attorney did not even present argument regarding a threat, but argued only that my initial public statement had been untrue because I used the term “gender based abuse” to describe Mr. Gaspar’s history of domestic violence restraining orders. The court rejected Mr. Gaspar’s arguments outright, finding my statements had been truthful and not threatening. I am particularly grateful for the support of my family and many wonderful supporters in our Mercer Island community, who stood behind me as I persevered through a very difficult time to stand up for the truth.
The court records in this case are publicly available and posted along with this update. I invite the community to review them here:
You can see for yourself the utter absence of any evidence of bullying or harassment aimed at Mr. Gaspar or his family. What you will see instead is an egregious attempt by Mr. Gaspar to weaponize the civil protection order system—a system built to protect actual victims of abuse.
This was not Mr. Gaspar’s first effort to weaponize the legal system against those who oppose him. He is currently engaged in active litigation where he has sued a former employer who fired him. In that case, the former employer alleges in its counterclaims that “Gaspar has been dishonest from the inception of and even before beginning his employment at Turn. For instance, Gaspar misrepresented his prior work history by falsely claiming he was working at Amazon; he had, in fact, been fired from Amazon.”
Mr. Gaspar has claimed that the PTA was “under investigation” by the Washington Attorney General, when in fact Mr. Gaspar had made a complaint to the AG that the AG declined to investigate. He reported two parents on Mercer Island to the police and FBI for “threatening” violence against schools when they expressed concern over the security of the middle school. He’s said in his latest post that the police are investigating another parent when the police records show only multiple reports by Mr. Gaspar complaining about this parent after she demanded that he stop doxxing her by posting her personal information online. Authorities have not pursued any of these complaints.
With this as context, I have deep concerns over Mr. Gaspar’s attempt to center himself and portray himself as a victim in this moment when we need to remain singularly focused on doing right by our current students and anyone who may have been victimized by trusted adults in our schools. To be clear, I feel true compassion for Mr. Gaspar and his own history of childhood abuse that he recently shared online–it is heartbreaking to hear. But I also feel that as adults, we have to be held accountable for our actions and accountable to the truth.
Because he has said he is no longer seeking the position (though his name remains on the ballot), Mr. Gaspar has not participated in any voter forum, he has not responded to the questionnaires or inquiries from the many groups working to inform voters of the candidates’ positions, he has not disclosed any expenses or contributions to his campaign as required by PDC laws, and he hasn’t sat for a podcast interview or made himself available to voters in the many ways they get to know candidates over the course of the campaign. So voters haven’t had a chance to ask Mr. Gapar about his claimed qualifications for office or about how he would approach the many challenges the school board will face going forward.
I believe this community deserves leaders who will speak to them directly and truthfully. And I think this dialogue is much more meaningful and productive when it’s done face-to-face. The online dialogue, much done via anonymous posts, can lead too easily to mistrust and misunderstanding. So I won’t be engaging in back and forth online, but I would encourage anyone with questions to reach out to me to talk. You can send me an email at julian@bradleyforboard.com. I’d be pleased to speak with you directly.
Addressing Revelations Regarding a Second Teacher Abuser
Today’s revelation of another teacher abuser who was allowed to remain in his position for more than a decade and then allowed to leave quietly has shaken me to my core. We as a community are indebted to the brave former student who chose to come forward and share her story. I honor those who trust us with their most vulnerable experiences and hope it encourages others to speak out. I will work hard to do right by them.
I grew up in Chattanooga, TN and had the privilege of attending the McCallie School, where the core values were HONOR, TRUTH, and DUTY. Those words keep coming back to me during my campaign for school board.
I want to acknowledge the district has taken important initial steps—investigating reports, immediately reporting all new victim reports to CPS, and forming a committee to review training and protocols. These actions are necessary, but they are not sufficient to address what we're facing.
We live in a community of excellence, from the classroom to the sports field. But it is clear that, in some ways, maintaining the outward appearance of excellence has done us a disservice. When people don't feel empowered to speak up the moment they see something wrong, everyone is at risk.
We still have hard questions to answer: What were the conditions that allowed these predators to thrive as popular and respected teachers? Where and WHY were choices made prioritizing adult interests over student safety?
The real path to student safety lies in instilling a district culture of responsibility for the well-being of others. We must elevate TRUTH and transparency over comfort and self-protection.We must honor our DUTY to protect the vulnerable and hold accountable the decision-makers responsible at the time of reporting.
Students cannot learn if they do not believe in themselves, in the teachers whose job it is to support them, and in the district whose job it is to keep them safe. If we don’t model what it means to do the right thing even when it is hard, ESPECIALLY when it is hard, we fail to provide every student a good education which enables them to move into adulthood with strength and confidence. I will do the hard work to fulfill that commitment. It is what our students deserve.
Update Regarding Legal Challenge
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I'm writing to share an important clarification about a legal challenge that arose during this campaign.
As some of you may have heard, my opponent Brian Gaspar took legal action against me after I spoke publicly about his history of domestic violence restraining orders and related criminal issues. I am pleased to share that the court heard our case and ruled completely in my favor.
Judge Lapin made extensive oral findings in support of constitutional free speech protections. Among his key determinations:
Speech about candidates for public office is constitutionally protected
My statements were factually true and drawn from public records
Even if my opponent were not a public figure, the statements were not defamatory because they were accurate and provided full context
There was no evidence whatsoever of any threat to Mr. Gaspar or his family
In this era where free speech has been under attack nationwide, it was distressing to see this issue reach my doorstep. I'm incredibly gratified to see our constitutional protections prevail.
I want to be clear that I did not relish revealing this information about my opponent. But I knew it was the kind of information some community members would find relevant, and they deserved to know. I am a person who stands behind my words, and I do not engage in rumors or anonymous online posts. This is exactly what constitutional speech protections are built for, and I'm grateful the court saw it that way as well.
Brian Gaspar has said he is no longer campaigning for office, though you'll still see his name on the ballot and in the voter guide. So I'm continuing to work hard out on the campaign trail—introducing myself and my priorities to voters across Mercer Island, with a goal of strengthening the relationship between the school board and the island community so that together we can make our schools the very best they can be.
Thank you so much for your support as we move forward with this important work.
Statement to the Mercer Island School Board
Like most of us in this room, I read Dr. Rundle’s email to the community and the Mercer Island Reporter / Investigate West article with horror. Chris Twombley’s actions are unconscionable, and I was devastated to learn the details last week. Our most sacred responsibility as parents, educators, and leaders is to keep our children safe, and we failed them.
Our community has now failed the affected student twice. First, by failing to protect them from gender-based abuse by a trusted educator. And again by publicizing this story against their explicit wishes. In any event, we owe this student a debt of gratitude for their bravery in coming forward to protect others, and our deepest apologies for failing to respect their wishes for confidentiality.
We also owe it to every student and former student to do everything in our power as a community to ensure they are protected from gender-based violence. I worry that outing this affected student against their wishes will dissuade others who were potentially impacted from coming forward. I sincerely hope that is not the case. Our incredible counselors at Mercer Island Youth and Family Services are standing by, ready to support those who have suffered from gender-based abuse, and anyone else who needs support during this difficult time. Their confidential reporting line can be reached at (206)275-7657. If there are others who have experienced abuse in our schools, I stand here tonight to say that we see you. We hear you. We believe you. And we are so very sorry that we have failed you.
I hoped it would not come to this, but I understand that School Board Candidate Brian Gaspar has been urging others to report potential abuse to him. Given that, I feel duty bound to share with the community that Mr. Gaspar has also been charged with perpetrating gender-based abuse. I discovered to my dismay that at least two women have obtained domestic violence restraining orders against Mr. Gaspar. One of the women was sufficiently fearful that the court renewed the restraining order three years later. Criminal charges were brought in at least one of those cases. All of the records in those cases have been sealed by the State of California at Mr. Gaspar’s request, but I do have copies of the court dockets for each of the matters I was able to locate for those who wish for more information.
To be clear, I do not raise this to distract in any way from the very serious reckoning that needs to occur as a district, but rather to ensure that anyone who has been the subject of gender-based abuse does not find themselves in a position to be exploited by another person with a history of domestic violence issues.
We owe it to our students and the community to take a hard look at how this matter was handled. I believe that needs to start with an independent investigation of how the matter with Chris Twombley was handled—from the first reports in 2015 through today. But it can’t end there. There are many more difficult conversations to be had. I commit to standing with and for our students through it all.
I prepared this statement for public comment at the August 14, 2026 Mercer Island School Board Meeting.