SOUTH BEND — Some residents are in the process of initiating formal recall efforts against Pacific County Commissioners Lisa Olsen, Jerry Doyle and David Tobin. The effort began following the commissioners’ unanimous decision on Dec. 26 to sever the Pacific County Jail from the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office.

Two Facebook groups formed to lead recall efforts. One is private, with 510 members that interested citizens must ask to join. The other is open to the public and has 456 members — all statistics as of Jan. 9. It is unclear whether the two formed separately and have merged, or if they are in effect the same group.

Olsen declined to comment on the matter.

‘Backdoored’

The common theme amongst the groups is displeasure with the jail decision and a feeling of being ‘backdoored’ in what they argue should have been a more public process. The decision to separate the jail came with five days left in the calendar year following a meeting in which dozens of citizens voiced their rejection of the plan.

“I am very disappointed that the commissioners were unwilling to table this vote until a later date,” group member Ben Woodby stated in a public post. “Voting without giving people of this county an opportunity to be well informed.”

“Dave Tobin said they had been working on this for months. This feels like an intentional action taken by commissioners and general administration to keep or hide this information from the people,” he added.

Discussions about a potential jail separation first arose after an inmate died inside the jail on Dec. 13, 2022, and have resurfaced over the past two years. It was brought up again during collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2023 between the jail corrections officers and the county.

The separation picked up substantial steam following another inmate’s death inside the jail on Oct. 7, 2024, and was stated as early as mid-October as “a major possibility.” Information about the proposal was scarce, but it was common knowledge.

Recall hurdles

It is unclear how far along the recall efforts are, and it could be weeks to a month before anything concrete is decided.

Washington state law has an outlined recall process that begins with a synopsis of the complaint that must be heard by a judge who determines if the complaint has enough merit. If allowed to continue, it then goes to a petition to gather enough signatures to put a recall on a formal ballot.

Under RCW 29A.56.110, the complaint has to prove by some merit the commissioner “…has committed an act or acts of malfeasance, or an act or acts of misfeasance while in office, or has violated the oath of office, or has been guilty of any two or more of the acts specified in the Constitution as grounds for recall…”

Recall efforts in Washington state are a tedious process and are often tossed out because they are determined to be frivolous.

“Our state law allows recalls of virtually any public officer, but only if that elected official engages in substantial wrongful conduct that affects or interferes with the performance of public duty,” said University of Washington Law School Professor Hugh Spitzer in a 2020 interview with Three-Minute Legal Tips at the law school.

“The recall statute says that the petitioners have to file a detailed description of wrongful conduct or wrongful acts, and they have to have some facts to back them up. And so recall petitions are routinely thrown out in Washington by our courts because they just have nebulous complaints about a public official or they complain about policy or management choices,” Spitzer added.

If the effort makes it past a judge, it would then require signatures totaling 35% of the total votes cast for each position in their last general election. Depending on the commissioner, the effort would need 3,469 to 4,735 signatures. Even if a recall effort is approved and won via a ballot, it could still be tied up in an appeals court for a year or more.

Port effort

The commissioners’ recall efforts are the second ongoing in Pacific County at the moment. A group is working to recall two commissioners at the Port of Peninsula in Nahcotta over alleged corruption and financial disarray at the port.

“Interesting point, if the group working on a recall of the county commissioners continues forward and receives approval, we may be able to share the cost of a special election for the purpose of multiple recalls in our county and special district,” Bonnie Lou Cozby, a former Port of Peninsula commissioner who has been leading the recall efforts against that body’s elected officials, said.

“Kind of odd but all possibilities need to be looked at. Pacific County is getting a shake-up from the public, that’s for sure,” she added.

Cozby, along with Ocean Park businessman Tom Downer and right-wing activist Diane Gruber of Oysterville, lodged a formal letter with the Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 8 demanding that the jail decision be rescinded. The letter cites state laws the authors believe were violated in making the year-end change in jail organization. (A pdf of the this letter may be viewed with the online version of this story.)

Commissioners were expected to take up the matter on Jan 14.