PORT TOWNSEND – Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell is giving Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Alvarez a written warning for swearing at and flipping obscene gestures at a political activist earlier this week.
Following an investigation by and recommendation from county Treasurer Judi Morris, Dalzell also ordered Alvarez to personally apologize to the activist and oft-opponent to Alvarez, Mats Mats resident Mike Belenski.
Dalzell asked Morris to conduct the investigation because she was disassociated from Monday’s incident during a break in the county commissioners’ meeting.
Alvarez, who represents the county in civil litigation – some of it involving Belenski’s open-government challenges – must also take a training seminar, “Managing Difficult Situations,” said Dalzell.
“Hopefully, that will be the end of it,” Dalzell said Thursday after meeting with Alvarez and apprising him of her decision.
According to the county’s personnel administration manual, the employee must sign a written warning, which is placed in his personnel file.
During a break in a county commissioners meeting Monday, a Peninsula Daily News reporter witnessed Alvarez twice say to Belenski, “[Bleep] you, Mike,” followed both times by an obscene gesture.
