Seattle Administrative Law Lawyer.
There are a couple of things you'd want to know first. Are the four elected officials all members of the city council? At the public meeting they attended, did all four conduct city business (which can include discussion of city matters)? If so, there may be a violation of Washington's Open Public Meetings Act. The devil, of course, will be in the details about what, precisely, they did and said.
Ordinarily, the person or company responsible for the damage should be liable to you for not only the property damage, but also your lost business during the time that the damage kept you from working. You do have what is called a "duty to mitigate" your damages - meaning that if you could have kept working by moving your shop to another part of your home, or to another location, then the responsible person or company may not be liable for part of your lost business. In the end, it will...
In general, Washington law has a very specific set of laws by which you can attach someone else's property to satisfy a debt. Once you sue the owner, you will have to file a motion for a writ of attachment. The requirements and the steps are laid out in RCW chapter 6.25 (you can find the legal language if you google "rcw 6.25"). You can only attach property to the extent necessary to satisfy your debt, and you will most likely have to post a bond covering the value of whatever you are...