Public outrage at the Clark County Council for ousting Councilor Michelle Belkot from C-Tran’s board of directors has made its way to the courts. Ridgefield resident Rob Anderson filed a motion Tuesday in Skamania County Superior Court seeking an injunction to reverse the council’s decision.
Anderson is suing the council as a whole, as well as councilors Sue Marshall, Glen Yung, Wil Fuentes and Matt Little individually. His suit alleges the council “intentionally and willfully” removed Belkot from the C-Tran board despite not providing the required public notice.
The council voted to remove Belkot from the board March 12 after Marshall, who is also on the C-Tran board, raised the issue during the council reports section of the meeting. Marshall said Belkot voted against the council’s majority opinion to support light rail funding during a C-Tran board meeting the day before. In February, the council voted 4-1 in support of the funding, with Belkot the lone dissenting vote.
“I don’t feel like the direction that was given by the council was actually followed by both of us,” Marshall said during the March 12 meeting.
Marshall also claimed Belkot misinterpreted the purpose of the C-Tran vote.
“The vote was on whether or not to have permissive language related to (operations and maintenance). It was not to provide (operations and maintenance) funding. It was to allow C-Tran to be in a better negotiating position,” Marshall said.
Belkot said she was under no obligation to vote in line with the rest of the council and voted to support the residents of her district.
“I think it’s pretty dangerous if you’re not able to represent your constituents in your districts,” Belkot said during the March 12 meeting, adding that previous council members have voted contrary to the majority opinion, and it has never been an issue before.
County attorney Chris Cook, from the prosecuting attorney’s office, said the council bylaws do not require councilors to vote in line with the full council.
Belkot said most residents in her district are clearly opposed to light rail.
“My particular district is not interested in footing the bill for an Oregon transportation system that’s having extreme financial difficulties,” she said.
Anderson’s suit claims the council’s decision to replace Belkot with Fuentes also violated the state’s open meetings act.
“Both votes and final actions taken therefore violated (state law) and should be rendered null and void,” the suit states.
By removing Belkot from the C-Tran board without first providing public notice or allowing public comment, the county council not only violated the state’s open meetings laws but also undermined public oversight of C-Tran’s governance, Anderson’s suit alleges.
Anderson also filed a complaint with the county’s Ethics Review Commission on Wednesday. In the complaint, Anderson said the council’s actions violated the county’s ethical and legal standards.
“These premeditated and retaliatory acts, coupled with evidence of conspiracy and disregard for the county prosecuting attorney’s pre-vote clarification that Belkot’s C-Tran vote was not mandated by rules and procedures, breaches Clark County’s ethical framework,” the complaint said.
Hearing dates for Anderson’s ethics complaint and motion for an injunction have not been scheduled yet.
