PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend City Council has decided to delay selecting a temporary ethics officer to handle a complaint, opting instead to schedule a public hearing for today and consider selecting a committee that would publicly pick an ethics officer.
City Attorney Steve Gross had suggested hiring Seattle attorney Peter Eglick to handle an ethics complaint accusing city staff of a conflict of interest with the complicity of the City Council.
Mark Cole, former owner and manager of the Upstage Restaurant, filed the complaint with the city June 24, alleging that city government violated its own code of ethics and did not follow procedures during an eviction process.
The council will again address the matter at a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in chambers at historic City Hall, 540 Water St.
In his complaint, Cole alleges that David Peterson — who in 2008 took ownership of the Terry Building, which housed Upstage — used his official position as city engineer for his own benefit, with the complicity of city staff and the City Council.
No ethics examiner
Because several members of the City Council and staff are named in the complaint and the city has no full-time ethics examiner, Gross recommended that Eglick hear the case and administer a judgment.
After public comments and discussion among council at a meeting Tuesday, the board decided to postpone the appointment of an ethics officer until the process and the candidate were properly vetted.
In his address to council, Cole said he learned about the Tuesday meeting from an article in that day’s Peninsula Daily News, despite the fact that Gross had written Cole an email June 27 promising to “keep you informed.”
Gross apologized to Cole for not communicating about the meeting, saying, “I will do better in the future.”
Gross had issued three choices for responding to the ethics complaint: doing nothing, appointing an ethics officer or using the committee option wherein the council selects a committee that then picks the ethics officer.
Cole said he favored the committee option.
“A committee approach is the only way to achieve transparency and make it as efficient as possible,” he said.
Public opposition
The policy that keeps the ethics hearings closed unless a respondent requests otherwise drew strong opposition during the public comment period.
Upstage patron Mike Hinojos said, “It is important that we don’t have a hint of conflict of interest,” a sentiment that was echoed by former Jefferson County Commissioner John Austin, who said, “If only one side chooses the ethics officer, it will be like the dogs guarding the chicken coop.”
Thuy Langsea, the Upstage’s general manager at the time of its closure, also supported the committee process.
“I know you are all trying to do a good job, but a lot of people don’t trust you guys,” she said. “There should be a committee. We need to have a glass house here.”
Jack Reid, who performed frequently at the Upstage, said the council’s ethics have been called into question and there is “nothing worse.”
“You need to do this as publicly as possible,” he said.
Unanimous vote
Mayor Deborah Stinson, Deputy Mayor Catharine Robinson and council members Robert Gray and Michelle Sandoval, all named in the complaint, all voted in favor of postponing action along with council members Amy Smith and Pamela Adams, who are not named.
Council member David Faber, who was not named, was not present.
Current city employees named in the complaint are Peterson, City Manager David Timmons, Director of Public Works Kenneth Clow and Building Inspector Michael Hoskins.
Past employees named are City Attorney John Watts and Director of Community Services Rick Sepler.
Gross said there was no proscribed timeline on the complaint, although the council is required to take action on a complaint within 10 days, which Gross said “is already blown, but assumes that we already have a hearings officer.”
More info
Both Gray and Sandoval said they would like to have more information about Eglick before hiring him.
Sandoval said any council decision “will make some people mad.”
“We will be in trouble no matter which way we go,” she said.
“If we delay, we could have more potential complaints. The irony is that we’ll need to break our own codes to prove that we were adhering to them to begin with.”
After the meeting, Cole did not say whether he would file another complaint in answer to the timing of the city’s response, stating, “I’m going to wait to see how it all plays out.”
To view the ethics complaint as filed, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Cole.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.