PORT ANGELES — The legal fees to defend Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd and Councilman Dan Gase against an ethics complaint related to an ongoing fluoridation controversy will be paid by taxpayers.
“We were working on behalf of the city in a council capacity,” Gase said Wednesday.
“That’s one area where we should have some coverage.”
The topic came up at the City Council meeting Tuesday.
Also discussed was a fluoridation-alternatives advisory panel that met Wednesday and the condition of the city’s fluoridation system.
Finance Director Byron Olson said Wednesday the fees charged by Issaquah attorney Michael Kenyon, who is of the municipal law firm Kenyon Disend, to represent Kidd and Gase will be drawn from the general fund.
Kenyon, who met for 90 minutes Monday with Gase and Kidd, said Wednesday his rate is $345 an hour.
Kenyon has asked a city ethics board to consider the complaint March 31.
The ethics complaint is one of three that fluoridation opponents have filed in recent months following the council members’ 4-3 Dec. 15 decision to continue fluoridating the city’s water supply until June 2026.
The complaints, which allege violations of the city’s ethics code, focus on how council members handled opposition to that decision and their behavior toward speakers at Jan. 5, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 council meetings.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Dale Wilson said during a public comment session that Gase’s and Kidd’s legal fees could not be paid without a lawsuit or criminal charges being filed against them.
City Attorney Bill Bloor, referring to Chapter 2.64.020 of the municipal code, said Wednesday that is not correct.
Bloor said the complaint is considered a “claim” against Gase and Kidd that allows the two to defend themselves with taxpayer funds.
Here’s Chapter 2.64.020:
“As a condition of service or employment with the City of Port Angeles, the City shall provide to an official or employee, subject to the conditions and requirements of this chapter, and notwithstanding the fact that such official or employee may have concluded service or employment with the City, such legal representations as may be reasonably necessary to defend a claim or lawsuit filed against such official or employee resulting from any conduct, act, or omission of such official or employee performed or omitted on behalf of the City in their capacity as a City official or employee, which act or omission is within the scope of their service or employment with the City.”
Gase, Kidd and Mayor Patrick Downie, who also has been accused of ethics code violations, recused themselves at Tuesday’s council meeting so four remaining council members could choose a three-person ethics board to hear the complaint against Downie.
Council members Brad Collins, Lee Whetham, Michael Merideth and Sissi Bruch selected Ken Williams, Diana Tschimperle and Danetta Rutten.
Kenyon was hired after Port Angeles lawyer and fluoridation opponent Peter Perron, who has filed a complaint against Bloor, agreed to represent the anti-fluoridation group Our Water, Our Choice! in its complaint against Gase and Kidd.
That complaint originally was set to be heard by a city ethics board Tuesday afternoon at a meeting that was postponed after Kenyon asked for a delay in the ethics board meeting.
At the council meeting later Tuesday, fluoridation opponent Jim Bourget and Whetham also questioned the integrity of the pipes of the public works building where fluorosilicic acid is injected into the water system. Bourget suggested repairs could cost “anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000.”
Public Works and Utilities Director Craig Fulton said Wednesday the pipes don’t need repairs and that with regular maintenance, the piping “should be good for 10 to 15 years.”
Fulton said annual costs for the system are $16,500 for the fluorosilicic acid, $2,000 for maintenance and repairs, and $1,700 for labor.
Collins, a fluoridation proponent, also said an ad hoc fluoridation committee he’s working on with Bruch, a fluoridation opponent, would refine alternatives when it met Wednesday.
“We’re trying to reach a consensus on one or two alternatives that don’t involve alternatives of fluoridation [of city water] or not fluoridating water,” Collins said Wednesday before the meeting, which was not open to the public.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
