PORT ANGELES — A recall hearing for four Port Angeles City Council members is set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Council members Kate Dexter, Navarra Carr, Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin and LaTrisha Suggs are facing a recall petition filed by John Worthington of Sequim.
The petition alleges that the council members are not eligible for office because they are members of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and have not posted an international bond, according to previous reports.
Judge Lauren Erickson will preside over the hearing.
The matter originally was assigned to Judge Simon Barnhart, but Worthington filed a motion to disqualify Barnhart on June 12.
“I believe that I cannot have a fair and impartial trial before Judge Barnhart, because he has served as counsel for the Port of Port Angeles and the North Olympic Land Trust,” Worthington stated in court documents.
Both of these organizations, Worthington wrote, “are participants in the external political subdivision, the North Olympic Development Council, where the ICLEI charter members at issue in this case integrate international and tribal policy.”
The case was reassigned to Erickson on June 18.
At the hearing, the Superior Court will determine two things. First, whether the charges alleged by Worthington are sufficient for a recall petition.
Court documents state that “a recall charge must be based on acts of malfeasance, misfeasance or violation of their oath of office.”
The court documents also state that the Superior Court will consider the sufficiency, rather than the truth, of the charges.
“The voters, rather than the Court, consider the truth of the charges if the recall proceeds to the ballot,” the documents stated.
After the hearing but before the issue proceeds to the ballot, the petition must be signed by 35 percent of electors computed from the total number of votes cast for that office in the preceding election, according to city Communications Coordinator Jessica Straits.
The second thing the Superior Court will determine is whether the ballot synopsis is sufficient.
The synopsis was prepared by Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols. The Superior Court will correct the synopsis if it is inadequate.
Pacifica Law Group lawyers Matthew Segal and Noe Merfeld are representing the council members. City funds are being expensed to pay for their defense.
The city of Port Angeles has no other role in this process, as “a recall petition is inherently personal to the person named in the petition and is not considered a City matter,” Straits wrote in an email.
Worthington is representing himself.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
