PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s business committee is also endorsing sheriff’s candidate Soeren Poulsen in the Nov. 5 general election.
The business committee, the equivalent of a tribal council, comprises five members led by Chairman Dennis Sullivan.
The committee issued endorsements this week for 10 candidates in upcoming county and state elections.
The committee endorsed Poulsen over incumbent Sheriff Joe Hawe in large part because Hawe ended a cross-deputization agreement with the tribe’s police department in 1997, Tribal Executive Director John Miller said Thursday.
Hawe cut the program with the Lower Elwha and all tribes in the county after Clallam County was sued by a non-tribal member over the actions of a Makah tribal officer, Undersheriff Joe Martin said Thursday.
Cross-deputizing allowed tribal officers to respond to calls in the county’s jurisdiction — including calls for non-tribal members on tribal land — when deputies were not immediately available.
“That was really quite a blow five years ago,” Miller said.
The business committee also endorsed County Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, who is seeking re-election against Phil Kitchel, a Forks Republican.
“All the tribes in the county find Mike Doherty to be a very responsive commissioner,” Miller said.
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