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Judge to hear county council recall petitions next week

Cowlitz county judge to Mielke's petitions on July 29

By Katie Gillespie, Columbian Education Reporter
Published: July 19, 2016, 10:55am

A visiting Cowlitz County judge will hear Clark County Councilor Tom Mielke’s recall petitions against a majority of the council on July 29.

Mielke, a Republican, is trying to recall Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference, and Republicans Jeanne Stewart and Julie Olson, alleging various wrongdoing by the three. Mielke and Republican Councilor David Madore have consistently found themselves on the losing end of 3-2 votes since the council was expanded from three to five members in January.

The court hearing is set for 9 a.m. before Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Warning in a Clark County Superior courtroom. The matter is being heard by Warning to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest with Clark County judges. Likewise, the Clark County council approved hiring an outside attorney to represent the three councilors, because Mielke accuses the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office of having a hand in his allegations.

Mielke filed the three recall petitions last month. He alleged that Boldt, Stewart and Olson violated the Open Public Meetings Act, illegally granted The Columbian a contract as the county’s official newspaper of record, prevented Mielke from accessing the county’s attorneys and allowed County Manager Mark McCauley to dissolve the Department of Environmental Services even though it had been budgeted for this year.

Warning will hear the recall petition and consider whether it’s valid, and whether there’s enough evidence to find that Boldt, Olson or Stewart committed misfeasance, malfeasance or a violation of the elected official’s oath of office.

Misfeasance means performing a duty in an improper manner. Malfeasance is the commission of an unlawful act. Violating the oath of office means an elected official neglected or knowingly failed to perform their duties. Any of the three or a combination could prompt Warning to find the petition valid.

If Warning finds the petition is valid, the councilors could appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. If the case is upheld, the next stage is the petition process. Petitioners would have to collect a number of signatures equal to 25 percent of the total number of votes cast in the last election for that office, according to state election laws.

That means petitioners would need to collect 20,639 signatures for a recall of Boldt, 6,097 for a recall of Olson, and 29,901 for a recall of Stewart. Olson was elected by district; the other two were elected countywide.

A validated petition would trigger a special recall election later this year.

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Columbian Education Reporter