Clark County Prosecutor Tony Golik says he is considering the Clark County Republican Party’s request to investigate whether Auditor Greg Kimsey, also a Republican, used his office to urge for the passage of the home-rule charter.
“Obviously this is a very serious situation and a very serious allegation,” said Golik, a Democrat.
Golik has 45 days from receiving the letter from the local Republican party to decide whether to initiate an investigation.
“Any decision will be made after thorough and careful examination of the allegations as contained in the Nov. 4 letter, the known facts and the applicable law,” Golik said.
If Golik decides not to investigate, any citizen could initiate an investigation and would have authority similar to the county prosecutor, including subpoena power.
The investigation’s results could be used as the basis for a lawsuit. If a judge ruled a violation had occurred, it would be up to him or her to decide any potential remedy. That could range from civil penalties to overturning the charter vote, Golik said.
Clark County Republican Chairman Kenny Smith, who signed the letter, said he would wait to hear Golik’s response before deciding whether a citizen’s investigation would be a prudent next step.
“If (Golik) says, ‘There’s nothing wrong with this’ … I guess it depends on what his response is in 45 days,” Smith said. “I know there are a lot of citizens that are really concerned about this, so I’m not sure how we or they would proceed.”
The allegations
The county Republicans allege Kimsey “actively campaigned for the passage” of the charter and used “copies of pages 58-59 of the 2014 Voter’s Pamphlet as his primary campaign literature.”
“Additionally, any reasonable person who opposes the proposition would find these pages to be carefully crafted to put the proposition in the most favorable light possible, while strategically omitting the many legitimate objections voters have to the proposition,” the letter reads.
Kimsey confirmed with Golik that the county auditor has the authority under state law to provide information about a home-rule charter. Kimsey also told The Columbian that he spoke with the secretary of state’s office and found an example in another county of a similar situation before proceeding.
An elected Clark County Board of Freeholders, which wrote the charter, asked Kimsey to provide two pages of “factual, unbiased information” describing the document, which lays out a new way of organizing county government. Voters approved it 53 percent to 47 percent, according to the latest election returns.
Before the two pages were written, county Commissioner David Madore expressed concern that key information could be omitted. The Republican commissioner was a vocal opponent of the charter. Kimsey said he told Madore to submit written specifics but Kimsey said he never received the information.
Some high-profile Republicans lobbied against the charter’s passage.
The letter was hand-delivered to Golik’s office at 4 p.m. on Election Day, before the results were known. Smith said he wanted to make it clear the call for an investigation was made before the charter passed.
“We didn’t want to grandstand a few days early and look like we were trying to affect the vote or look like we were disgruntled because the vote didn’t go our way,” Smith said. “We were trying to handle it honorably with our timing.”
The charter will make a number of changes to county governance, many starting Jan. 1.
The charter calls for adding two more councilors, including a chairperson, and hiring a permanent county manager to handle day-to-day administration. Currently there are three full-time commissioners, who act as both the legislative and executive authority. Under the charter, five part-time county councilors take office in 2016. The charter also reduces the councilors’ salaries.
