SEQUIM — The Sequim Vehicle/Vessel Licensing office will stay open — for now — and continue operating as usual.
Clallam County Superior Court Commissioner W. Brent Basden issued a temporary restraining order today after hearing arguments by attorney Craig Miller, representing the office’s agent, Karen Shewbert.
The order is in effect until this coming Wednesday (May 16).
On that date, Miller and Clallam County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols will argue in court over whether the injunction should be made permanent to keep the office open pending an appeal of the contract termination.
Nichols had argued against the temporary order, saying Patty Rosand, the county auditor, was in her rights to cancel Shewbert’s contract.
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HERE’S OUR EARLIER STORY:
By JEFF CHEW
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand, following through on a contract dispute, is expected to shut down the Sequim Vehicle/Vessel Licensing Office should subagent Karen Shewbert’s motion for a temporary restraining order be denied this afternoon by a Superior Court judge.
Shewbert’s Sequim attorney, Craig Miller, confirmed Wednesday that Shewbert has appealed Rosand’s appeal of her contract termination to shut down the office at 1001 E. Washington St., which Shewbert has operated for more than 12 years.
At issue, Shewbert said, is Rosand alleging that Shewbert did not provide Saturday service hours that Rosand requested.
Rosand said there is more at issue since 2007, when she asked for Saturday hours at the Sequim licensing office, but she would not elaborate.
Miller said he would go before a judge yet designated in Superior Court to be heard after 1 p.m. today to file a request for a temporary restraining order to block the auditor’s action for two weeks.
Should it be granted, Miller said, he would have the opportunity for additional restraint.
“In two weeks, if we get it, then we would ask that it be granted until after the appeal, if heard,” Miller said Friday.
Tuesday filing
The appeal to postpone the office’s shutdown was filed Tuesday, Miller said, and an independent panel has to hear it within 30 days and make a decision within 10 days after that.
The independent review panel includes the president of the Washington Auditors Association, the director of the state Department of Licensing and the director of the Washington Association of Vehicle Subagents.
Miller approached Rosand and county staff attorney Mark Nichols on Wednesday, asking if the office closure could be delayed until after the appeal.
But Rosand said there was nothing in the contract that states that could be done.
Auditor’s statement
In a statement issued Wednesday, Rosand said:
“My decision to terminate the contract was not undertaken lightly.
“Recognizing the inconvenience that would result to the citizens as well as employees in the county Auditor’s Office, who will be required to process additional licensing transactions in the absence of the Sequim licensing subagency, I spent significant time and energy attempting to fashion a solution that would prevent me from needing to terminate the contract.
“In the end, I was unable to obtain financial records to which I am entitled under the contract and which are necessary in order for me to meet my contractual obligations to the Department of Licensing.”
Shewbert said Wednesday that she and her two staffers were “in shock” while handling a heavier-than-normal influx of customers coming into the Sequim office.
“We never expected this,” Shewbert said.
“You would not believe how slammed my office is.
“People are constantly coming. They’re very angry.
“If they want me to stay open, I am not going to give up the fight.”
She said she would work until after the office is closed at 5 this afternoon to finish work from Port Angeles car dealers who appreciate her customer service.
27,042 transactions
Rosand said the Sequim office handled 27,042 total transactions in 2011, while the Port Angeles courthouse office completed about 80,000 car, boat and title transactions.
Rosand said she was receiving a number of calls Wednesday both for and against shutting down the Sequim office.
Rosand said she approached her Port Angeles staff and the Forks office after her election as auditor in 2007 about Saturday hours.
The problem, Rosand said, is her licensing manager in Port Angeles was unable to provide the hours, and the Forks office was located in the District Court office, which would not work out.
After Rosand approached Shewbert about Saturday hours, Shewbert asked for a third computer to do the job, but the state Department of Licensing declined the request, saying she did not have the customer load to justify a third computer.
With the Sequim licensing office shut down, the two nearest locations to Sequim are the Clallam County Auditor’s Office, 223 E. Fourth St., Suite 1, Port Angeles; and the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
Completed voter ballots can be dropped at either location after the Sequim licensing office no longer provides a ballot drop box.
10-year contract
The auditor’s action terminates Shewbert’s existing contract, which was to expire at the end of June.
Rosand said Shewbert was under a 10-year contract.
Rosand said representatives of her office and the state Department of Licensing will remove all of their office supplies at the office Friday.
Rosand said the contract termination has nothing to do with austerity, just contract noncompliance.
Signs tersely announcing, “We are being shut down by Patty Rosand, Clallam County auditor,” were posted prominently inside and outside the Sequim licensing office Tuesday.
The sign urged those opposed to Rosand’s action to phone her at 360-417-2222.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
