PORT TOWNSEND — A complaint filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission saying that Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley broke the law is on hold while the plaintiff, who had requested more information, awaits more than 8,000 e-mails.
Ron Gregory of Port Ludlow has accused Morley of advocating the passage of a 0.3 percent sales tax increase instead of presenting objective information about what would happen if the measure on the Nov. 2 general election ballot did or did not pass.
Voters approved Proposition 1, which raises the county sales tax 3 cents on every $10 purchase, effective April 1.
“There is a fine line between advocacy and providing information,” said Gregory, who is the chairman of the county Republican Party but who said he filed the complaint as an individual rather than in his official capacity.
“I think Philip Morley crossed that line,” Gregory added.
Gregory filed the action Oct. 30, four days before the election, and told the three county commissioners Nov. 1 about his action.
On Nov. 2, he told the state commission that he did not want his complaint investigated until he had received results from an information request he made to the county.
Gregory’s request asked for all e-mails sent or received by any county employee that made reference to Proposition 1.
8,485 e-mails
County officials have determined that 8,485 e-mails qualified and told Gregory that it would take approximately 30 business days to provide the e-mails.
The material will not be turned over to Gregory before it is vetted to determine whether any personal or legal material is contained.
The county administrator’s three-member staff will conduct the vetting, in conjunction with their other duties, administrative assistant Leslie Locke said.
Morley has said that he will not comment on the complaint.
Sixty percent of the revenue from Proposition 1, which voters approved by 56.27 percent, will go to county programs, with 40 percent to the city of Port Townsend.
Before the election, Morley made several presentations throughout the county, explaining what programs would be guaranteed if the measure passed and what programs would go away if it was not.
Morley said his intent was to steer clear of making a direct endorsement of the measure, though he contributed $150 to its support.
The campaign for the measure was mostly bankrolled by county department heads and the Jefferson County Democratic Party.
Gregory disagreed with Morley’s assessment of his own activities.
‘Scare tactics’
“He was using scare tactics,” Gregory said.
“If you say, ‘I am going to drive a truck through the front of your house if you don’t vote for this,’ that goes beyond just presenting information; that’s intimidation.”
Matt Sircely, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party — which donated $500 to the campaign — disagreed with Gregory’s conclusions about Morley.
“I am grateful that we have a county administrator who is capable of approaching our budgetary constraints with such clarity, professionalism and dedication to the services and programs that so many county residents depend on,” Sircely said of Morley.
“Though Morley and other public servants clearly never advocated Proposition 1 while on the job, I do not find it surprising that many of them supported the proposition in their personal time,” he said.
“No one understands the level of austerity that county offices are operating under more than the people who work in those offices, working long hours and dealing with the reality of short staffing due to budgetary constraints.”
Gregory characterized himself as “a political activist whose role it is to ask questions of the government.
“The day we stop asking questions of the government is the day that we are all in deep s–t,” he said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.