MOUNT VERNON, Wash. The Washington State Supreme Court unanimously ruled Oct. 15 that attempts to recall several Skagit County elected officials were "frivolous," according to goSkagit.
The recall petitions, and the appeals filed after they were ruled insufficient to warrant recall votes, were pursued by Cody Hart, Derrill Fussell, Timothy Garrison, Larry Jensen, Kathy LaFreniere and Kevin Ewing. Their targets were Prosecuting Attorney Richard Weyrich, county commissioners Peter Browning and Ron Wesen, and retired Commissioner Lisa Janicki.
The court's opinion stated the charges were "part of a coordinated effort to harass, and do not sufficiently charge that any alleged oath filing defect vacated an office, invalidated official acts or caused a loss of public funds."
Six of the seven petitioners were sanctioned $5,348.22, and the Supreme Court awarded attorney fees to the officials on appeal. Garrison was not sanctioned, as Judge Richard Okrent said he made "an interesting argument at the hearing."
The filings rested on essentially the same five theories, including contentions that officials had a duty to act against others who allegedly failed to file their oaths on time and that paying public servants with late-filed oaths amounted to a loss of public funds. Over the course of about two weeks, Hart delivered seven recall petitions to the Skagit County Auditor's Office one at a time, beginning with his own, and Fussell accompanied him on several of the trips.
In an Oct. 19 email to the Skagit Valley Herald, Hart said the six can file follow-up motions with the Supreme Court, writing that "it is premature and would be false to state as fact this matter is concluded." He added that he will continue to pursue legal action. Hart, Fussell and Garrison are each running for elected office in the Nov. 3 election, for sheriff, coroner and treasurer respectively, after receiving enough write-in votes in the primary. Garrison and Fussell did not respond to requests for comment.