Judge Questions Timing of Sub-District Suit

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A Thurston County Judge will next week consider an argument that the way the Lewis County Commission determined freeholders would be elected is unconstitutional — and that same judge made it clear that it may be too late for ballots to be changed before they’re sent out.

A resolution, passed in April, divides current commissioner districts into 15 sub-districts, and states a freeholder — a person tasked with drafting the county charter as part of a home rule charter process also up for consideration on the November ballot — will be elected from each. The political action committee One Lewis County, however, argued dividing the commissioner districts in that way for a freeholder vote isn’t in line with the Washington Constitution.

Friday afternoon in Thurston County Superior Court, Judge Carol Murphy questioned the timing of the complaint and wondered whether there was enough time to change Lewis County ballots before they’re distributed.

Cullen Gatten, civil deputy prosecutor for Lewis County, said to the judge that it likely was too late, saying final ballots have a Sept. 22 deadline to be created. The process of changing a ballot could take weeks, he said. Voters in November, under the current resolution, will vote simultaneously in favor of or against beginning the home rule charter process and for their sub-district freeholder.

Trevor Zandell, attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients are  are seeking only one change to the ballot — to remove the freeholder candidates from the ballot for this election cycle. He said it’s possible to request an extension of ballot finalization, and it must be approved by the federal government. Murphy tasked Gatten with researching this further.

Murphy asked Zandell why the complaint against Lewis County and a bevy of its officials, came so close to the wire. Zandell provided a list of reasons.

It was an intense research process, he said, as he and his clients researched other counties in the state who have gone through the home charter process. They sought whether others counties have run into the same contention. One Lewis County members have said that none have.

Additionally, Zandell said, his clients had to raise money for their defense — another hurdle before the matter could be taken to court.

He also said they requested public records from Lewis County regarding their freeholder policy on July 1. By the first week of September, he said, they obtained part of the records requested, and a notice saying the rest of the documents would be coming down the road.

Zandell highlighted that last point, saying that Lewis County could share the blame for the complaint coming so late. Murphy still raised questions, though, asking why all that research was needed when the plaintiffs’ argument lies in the resolution. Zandell said the unprecedented nature of the contention required a lot of due diligence.

Murphy gave both parties deadlines next week to file the rest of their need arguments, and set a merit hearing for 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

The complaint was filed in Thurston County Superior Court Tuesday, listing Fred Rider and Kelly Smith-Johnston as plaintiffs. It outlines the basis of One Lewis County’s argument against county officials, saying the creation of sub-districts in this context isn’t included in the Washington Constitution.

The complaint quotes the state constitution as saying freeholders tasked with drafting a state charter are “to be elected in accordance with either the legislative districts or the county commissioner districts, if any, within said county, the number of said freeholders to be elected from each of said districts to be in proportion to the population of said districts as nearly as may be.”

The complaint goes on to demand the resolution passed by the Lewis County Board of Commissioners creating the sub-districts be rescinded, and a new one be adopted that’s in line with state law, and an election for freeholder positions “to be held at the next general election after November 6, 2018, by a date certain.”

Commissioner Edna Fund said previously that the sub-districts were formed to bring more diversity to the collection of 15 freeholders. A constituent was concerned, Fund said, that living in a commission district with larger Lewis County citys would put lesser known, qualified residents in small towns at a disadvantage at winning an election.

One Lewis County, the committee that, through petition, brought the home charter to the ballot, also then raised concern with how the freeholders tasked with drafting the charter would be selected.

“It has to be done right and fair,” Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce Director Alicia Bull said earlier this month. The Chamber formed One Lewis County in 2017, and its board took a majority vote to sue the county after its demands to rework the freeholder districts were not met.