Overflow crowd meets to discuss recall, other options of Madore, Mielke

An overflow crowd turned up Saturday to hear options for putting pressure on Republican Clark County commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke.

The two commissioners have drawn strong protest in the aftermath of their surprise May 1 decision to appoint State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to the position of director of environmental services without vetting him through the county’s typical hiring process.

The two commissioners said they bypassed the normal process because of the critical need to have someone in the role as the building season begins. Democratic commissioner Steve Stuart was furious with the move, and stormed out of the meeting.

In response, nearly 100 people signed up to speak at the commissioners’ public hearing Tuesday. But the comment period was pushed back for nearly four hours by Madore and Mielke, causing many to leave before commenting.

Angry over the series of events, people packed into the International Association of Fire Fighters Union Hall on Saturday to see if there was recourse to challenge the commissioners. Some stood outside near open doors and windows to listen in on the discussion.

Mielke has championed sending a home-rule charter to the people for months, while Madore has expressed reservations on the process until he studies the situation further. Madore has said he doesn’t like the idea of county administrator becoming an elected position.

But Mielke might have his second vote in Stuart, who originally said little on the issue, but two weeks back appeared eager to bring it to a vote.

If the board elects to become the catalyst of a home-rule charter, it could go on the ballot in this year’s general election in November.

The recall process

As for a recall, the process would be much more litigious.

Katie Blinn, assistant director of policy for the Secretary of State’s office, told the Columbian last week that four steps would need to be undertaken for a successful recall.

o First, recall proponents must prepare a charge alleging a specific act of misfeasance, malfeasance or violation of the elected official’s oath of office.

“Misfeasance” means performing a duty in an improper manner, and state law defines “malfeasance” as the commission of an unlawful act. Violating the oath of office generally relates to official duties.

The county prosecutor has 15 days after receiving a charge to formulate a ballot synopsis.

o Then the prosecutor submits the charge and ballot synopsis to Superior Court. Within 15 days, the Superior Court judge considers whether the charges, if true, amount to misfeasance, malfeasance or a violation of the elected official’s oath of office.

Courts apply a very strict interpretation of those terms, so this is the stage when most recall efforts end, Blinn said.

Pollard has alleged Mielke and Madore must have met in violation of the open-meetings law to act as swiftly as they did in hiring Benton. But courts in the past have rejected claims of open-meetings violations as sufficient for recall, Blinn said.