PORT TOWNSEND — A citizens group opposing a proposed airport noise overlay is requesting that two Jefferson County planning commissioners recuse themselves from the matter.
But the commissioners, Jenny Davis and Edel Sokol, say that state law indicates that they don’t have to step down.
Even so, Sokol said Monday that her intention has long been to not take part in decisions on the matter.
Sokol’s husband is Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Bob Sokol. The Port owns the airport.
In a letter to commission Chairman Tom McNerney, land use planner Ande K. Grahn of Olympic Peninsula Planning, which represents the citizens group, stated there are conflict of interest and appearance of fairness issues.
According to Grahn’s letter, Davis and her husband previously owned a business at Jefferson County International Airport, and her husband works for the Federal Aviation Administration.
“(My husband and I) have no business or political interest in the airport,” Davis said Tuesday, “my husband especially.”
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The rest of the story appears in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition.
