FORKS — Two candidates vying to be elected mayor of Forks told about 45 people at a forum Wednesday that, if elected, they hoped to avoid incurring any more city legal fees, which have cost the city more than $300,000 in the last two years.
Audience members quizzed City Council member Bryon Monohon, 46, and bar owner and construction worker Joe Soha, 26 — who are running for the mayoral position vacated by Nedra Reed in the November general election — at the Forks Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Only mayoral candidates spoke at the forum.
Forks has a “strong-mayor” form of government, which means that the mayor acts as the city manager, and has hiring and firing power. The position is an unpaid, volunteer post and technically is considered part-time.
Both candidates said they were not pleased with the amount of money the city of Forks has spent on legal fees, most relating to personnel actions in the Forks Police Department.
So far, the city has spent more than $300,000, Reed, who is not running for re-election to a third four-year term, said at the luncheon.
Investigations
She has said that the money was spent on investigations into allegations of misconduct on the part of Forks Police Chief Mike Powell — in which he was cleared — the process of terminating three Forks Police Department employees in February 2008, an unsuccessful attempt to bring a proposed recall of Reed to a vote and a sexual harassment claim filed by one of the employees who was terminated.
Deanna Dematteis, JoElle Munger and Tom Scott were terminated in February 2008 after bringing allegations of alleged misconduct against Powell in early 2007.
Scott now is running for a City Council position in the November election. He faces John Hillcar for the position vacated by Mayor Pro Tem Patricia Mansfield, who is not running for re-election.
Scott attended Wednesday’s mayoral candidate forum as a member of the audience, but asked no questions.
Scott and Dematteis were among those who signed a recall petition against Reed. The petition was found insufficient by a Clallam County Superior Court judge in April 2008.
Sexual harassment charges brought by Munger against Powell in 2007 were not sufficient to prompt state charges, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided in June 2008.
Seattle arbiter John Hayduke determined in August that the city of Forks had sufficient cause to fire the three police department employees, saying that the officers “proved to be utterly determined to continue an active campaign to disparage and undermine the chief of police.”
In addition, the city faces a pending lawsuit from former police officer James Dixon, who says the city owes him unpaid overtime.
The city expects to spend another $30,000 next year, Monohon said.
“This absolutely bothers me,” Monohon said of the costs of litigation.
“These have been a couple of difficult years, and I hope we don’t get into this situation again.
“As mayor, I will do my best to put the pieces back together and help us to go on because you can’t really dwell in the past.”
Monohon also said that the litigation is not covered by the city’s insurance, so it must be paid out of the operating budget.
“This is something we should avoid at all costs, and it shouldn’t happen in the future,” Soha said.
Neither candidate would address whether they would make personnel changes if they were elected.
Time on the job
Another audience member quizzed the candidates how they planned to balance their “day jobs” with the mayor’s responsibilities.
Reed was retired when she first ran for mayor in 2001.
Monohon works as a mental health case manager at West End Outreach, and Soha owns the Mill Creek Bar in Forks and also works in construction.
“The construction work that I do is on my time, and it isn’t really a 9-to-5-type job, so I will be able to dedicate as much time as it takes to run the city,” Soha said.
He added that he had been working for about a year to prepare the bar to run without him, including hiring a manager for the establishment.
Monohon said his schedule is flexible and, in addition to longer periods of time throughout the week, he planned to be at city offices for a portion of the day in the mornings and afternoons.
“I know that politics is generally an older person’s game, but I have a very flexible schedule that allows me to schedule around the things I would have to do as mayor,” Monohon said.
He cited examples such as representing the council on the Clallam Transit Board and other duties that he already has made time for in his current position.
Twilight
The role of the Twilight phenomenon in Forks’ future also took center stage.
More than 60,000 people have visited Forks this year to see the real-life locations of the town where Arizona author Stephenie Meyer’s four-novel saga takes place. The novels tell the story of teen Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen.
Soha said he hoped to promote aspects of Forks that would entice Twilight fans to return.
“If we give them things like the outdoor recreation, you can keep these people coming back after it is all over,” Soha said.
He also said he would seek to improve the town’s economy by looking for investors to create family-wage jobs.
Monohon said he hoped that as mayor he could encourage businesses to take advantage of the Twilight phenomenon now to prepare them for later.
“What I really love are things like are happening at Sully’s” Drive-In, Monohon said.
“They are taking the income and investing in good facilities, on a new roof and other important things.
“It is a great time to encourage new business to open up, because right now there is a lot of sidewalk traffic they might not have otherwise, and they can build that safety net when they are new and vulnerable,” he said.
“But we also need to encourage locals to get out there in small businesses and continue to partner with other business organizations.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
