PORT HADLOCK — The state Public Disclosure Commission has no record of receiving a complaint about the conduct of a Jefferson County employee, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday.
Ron Gregory of Port Ludlow said he filed the complaint against County Administrator Philip Morley on Feb. 28.
The complaint alleged that Morley illegally advocated the passage of a sales tax increase that voters approved in November.
On Thursday, PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson said there was no open investigation into the matter and that receipt of the complaint had not been logged.
Anderson said the most recent correspondence recorded as received from Gregory was Nov. 2, when he temporarily withdrew the complaint until his request to Jefferson County for emails was fulfilled.
“I know I mailed this out,” Gregory said Thursday.
“I put a lot of work into this, and I’m not doing it to waste time.”
Gregory called the PDC on Thursday after being told by the Peninsula Daily News that no investigation was in progress.
He was told to contact Director of Compliance Phil Stutzman about the matter when Stutzman returns from vacation Monday.
If the complaint cannot be located at the PDC office when Gregory calls Monday, he will refile the action, he said.
“I sent them a letter summarizing what I’ve found,” he said.
“If they need any more information, I can send them the discs.”
By law, as a county staff member, Morley is allowed only to present information, not to act as an advocate.
Morley has repeatedly stated that he acted within the law and that his presentations were objective portrayals of what would happen if the measure passed or failed.
Gregory filed a disclosure request with Jefferson County on Nov. 1, asking for any messages that referred to the measure, Proposition 1.
He put the complaint to the state PDC on hold the next day, saying that he would notify the agency when the records request was complete.
Gregory said the PDC action has nothing to do with his role as Jefferson County Republican chairman.
“This is personal, not partisan,” he said.
Approximately 8,500 emails pertained, with all but 2,000 researched by county staff. Three discs of emails have been available to Gregory. A fourth is expected to be ready in about a week.
Gregory has examined two discs and said he has no immediate plans to retrieve the third disk.
He characterized the contents of the first two discs as “redundant.”
“They say the same things to each other all the time and send a separate email for every topic,” he said.
“I don’t see why they don’t just walk down the hall and have a single conversation that covers all of the issues.
“This is a real waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Raina Randall, one of the employees who is fulfilling the requests, said more than 100 hours have been spent on the records request so far, with staff time estimated at $16 an hour.
Gregory’s cost for the records fulfillment is the $1.10 cost of the disc.
Randall sent an email to Gregory informing him of the completion of the third disc, giving him one month to pick it up per state law.
Gregory missed the Wednesday deadline to pick up the disc and now must fill out another disclosure request if he wants the material.
Gregory has said that he found a “smoking gun” in a series of messages in the first two batches of emails.
At issue is an article Morley wrote for the October issue of the Port Ludlow Village Voice, which Gregory said advocates passing the measure and which Morley characterizes as informational.
Gregory said Morley acted illegally because he contacted the Voice with an offer to write the article.
Morley said he did not recall who made the initial contact but feels he acted within the law in his offering of informational articles.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
