PORT ANGELES –Clallam County Sheriff Joe Martin said he wasn’t aware of favoritism or sexual harassment allegations within his department because his top commanders didn’t tell him about it.
Martin said that when he became aware of the allegations, he took them seriously.
“When I’m made aware of a problem, I move on a problem,” Martin said.
“I waste no time.”
Ultimately, Martin said the buck stops in his office and that he is responsible for the debacle.
“I’m the top guy,” said Martin, 71, who has announced that he will seek re-election for a four-year term in 2006.
“Whatever goes wrong is my responsibility, and it’s my responsibility to fix it.”
Martin is the only member of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department’s leadership ranks to emerge relatively unscathed in three investigative reports of misconduct within the department that were released Wednesday.
The investigations dealt with allegations of sexual harassment against former Sgt. Dave Fontenot, an on-duty affair involving Deputy Dwane Hayden that began under Fontenot’s watch, and a critical evaluation of internal investigations into allegations that Fontenot took evidence for personal use and falsified legal documents.
However, some are wondering how Martin could be unaware of the problems in his department.
Martin said in an interview with the PDN that he does not think that his undersheriffs — Fred DeFrang and Steve Snover — betrayed him or kept him out of the loop about goings-on in the department.
Instead, he said there was miscommunication between himself and DeFrang, that Snover was “too personally involved” and blames Fontenot for getting out of hand and those in command for not addressing his questionable behavior.
Regarding Hayden’s behavior as a patrol deputy, who worked outside of the office, Martin has said, “You can’t sit on people eight hours a day. . . . This was a case where the right thing was not done.”
One instance of miscommunication occurred when DeFrang failed to inform Martin of sexual harassment allegations against Fontenot, an investigative report said.
Martin said that DeFrang misled him regarding a June 2005 memo from a female employee that accused Fontenot of inappropriate behavior — constantly using vulgar language — while he was supervisor of the department’s detective team, located in an outlying office.
According to the report, DeFrang told the complaining female employee to be a “team player.”
But Martin doesn’t believe he was intentionally misled by DeFrang.
