<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Camden: No clear road map for where auditor story is headed

By
Published:

The chorus for Troy Kelley to resign as state auditor after he was indicted on federal charges Thursday grew louder as last week drew to a close, but any effort to force him out faces significant problems.

The biggest seems to be that there’s no clear road map on how to push a state elected official out of office. The state constitution has a section for impeachment, which can be started with a majority vote in the House but only culminates with removal if two-thirds of the Senate agrees.

It requires a high bar of high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance. The first two would require a conviction on the federal charges; the last applies only to actions while in office, and the indictment is basically pre-election.

A statewide elected official in Washington has never been impeached.

A recall petition has been filed with the secretary of state, although the signature-gathering threshold to put that on the November ballot is steep, and by then it may all be moot.

Not surprisingly, high-ranking Democrats would prefer Kelley just step down and go away to fight his battle with federal prosecutors away from the state spotlight. Gov. Jay Inslee called for his immediate resignation within minutes of the federal prosecutor’s release of the charging papers. An Inslee spokesman said Kelley called the governor before the indictment was announced to say it was coming. Inslee reportedly told Kelley at that point he should resign; the auditor said he was taking a leave of absence instead.

Within a couple hours, state Treasurer Jim McIntire, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, Senate Democratic Leader Sharon Nelson all had said “Go.” Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the lone Republican in statewide elected office, waited a day before joining the chorus.

On Friday, Inslee reiterated his point in writing — not some tweet or text, but an honest-to-God printed-on-paper letter, hand-delivered to Kelley’s unoccupied office. With Inslee’s office in the Capitol Building being across the street from Kelley’s office in the Insurance Building, this was accomplished much faster than putting a stamp on it and dropping it in the mail.

Considering the circumstances, some of the formal wording of the letter seems perfectly aligned with Emily Post or Miss Manners, but could have average folks scratching their heads. It’s addressed to “The Honorable Troy Kelley,” although Inslee is suggesting the auditor needs to resign because he is anything but. And it ends with “Very Truly Yours.”

What happens next?

If Kelley steps down, Inslee would choose a replacement, but the timing is important. If the position becomes open before May 11, the first day that candidates can file for office in this year’s general elections, Inslee would appoint someone, but the office would be on the August primary ballot and the November general. If he steps down on or after May 11, the appointee would serve until 2016, when that office, like all other state executive positions, are up.

The appointee need not be a Democrat, although Inslee said he was sure there is an ample supply of Democrats who could do the job. Former Auditor Brian Sonntag told a Seattle radio host he’d be willing to take the position in a caretaker role. An appointment from Inslee seems iffy; Sonntag was the most prominent Democrat supporting Inslee’s 2012 Republican opponent Rob McKenna.

A possible candidate for the election in 2015 or 2016 could be state Sen. Mark Miloscia, who is now a Republican but ran for the office as a Democrat in 2012 and didn’t get through the primary.

The possibilities may not be endless, but they are plentiful.

If Kelley doesn’t step down, Inslee’s office isn’t sure what happens when a state elected official takes an extended leave of absence under these conditions. Does pay — about $117,000 a year for this position — continue? And what about benefits like health coverage? An Inslee spokesman told the Associated Press it should not, but there’s apparently no law or rule to cover it.

Loading...