PORT TOWNSEND — The absence of numbered lines on the petitions submitted for the recall election of two Quilcene fire commissioners does not invalidate the petitions, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office found.
On Monday afternoon, petitions were submitted to Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge calling for a recall election that would remove Dave Ward and Mike Whittaker as commissioners for the Quilcene Fire District.
Whittaker and Ward have been under fire since 2010 over allegations of impropriety regarding the creation of a chief operating officer job for the fire district and the hiring of Ward for that position.
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Anna Laurie in October struck down three allegations brought by the plaintiffs.
She permitted one charge: that Whittaker and Ward participated in falsifying meeting minutes.
After accepting the 79 pages of petitions Monday, Eldridge discovered the signature lines on each page were not numbered, a possible violation of state law.
She contacted Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor David Alvarez, who issued his opinion Tuesday morning, saying he interpreted the law to say that the numbers are not required.
Eldridge has five days from Monday, when the petitions were submitted, to certify the petitions and verify there are enough valid signatures for the recall election to go forward.
Plaintiff Linda Saunders said signature gatherers collected 25 percent more than what was needed to compensate for any invalid or duplicated signatures.
If the same person signs a petition twice, both are invalidated, Eldridge said.
Signature-gathering began Aug. 9 with 180 days to gather them.
They were collected within one month.
Proponents of the recall action hoped to get the election on the Feb. 12 ballot, but Eldridge told the group that a special election could be held before Christmas.
The ballots, which would be mailed to all voters within the Quilcene Fire District, would provide the opportunity to individually support or oppose the recalls of Whittaker and Ward.
The ballot would include the ballot language for the recall action, which asks voters to decide if the two commissioners are guilty of “misfeasance, malfeasance and violation of oath of office” because of their alleged falsification of meeting minutes.
The ballot also would contain a 250-word response from Whittaker and Ward saying why they should not be recalled from office.
“We will be responding to the charges,” said attorney Shane Seaman, who is representing Whittaker and Ward.
“There is an accusation of a coverup for which there is no evidence and makes no sense.
“Everything they did was legal, and there is no basis for the recall action.”
The required number is based on a percentage of votes cast in the last election.
Both commissioners were unopposed, with Whittaker getting 554 votes in 2009 and Ward receiving 510 votes in 2007.
For the recall to go forward, proponents needed to gather 194 signatures to recall Whittaker and 179 to recall Ward.
They gathered 242 to recall Whittaker and 244 to recall Ward, Sanders said.
The jobs are volunteer.
Said Seaman: “They are protecting their reputations, which are very important in a small community.”
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
