Effort to recall Washam picks up

Backers of an effort to recall Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Dale Washam turned in 65,500 signatures to Pierce County elections officials Thursday.

Volunteers assembled at the Pierce County Elections Center on South 35th Street, wearing “Recall Washam” T-shirts and hats, carrying boxes of signed petitions.

Elections workers started the task of counting the individual sheets (20 signatures per page).

It was a milestone in a process that could bring a recall election to the ballot on Nov. 8. Puyallup resident Robin Farris, leader of the recall campaign, must collect at least 65,495 signatures to meet the requirements of state law.

Thursday’s turn-in exceeded that number, but didn’t account for inevitable errors that turn up in certification. Farris will continue collecting signatures until Aug. 30, when her six-month legal clock runs out. She intends to gather a total of 80,000 signatures, providing a cushion against the error rate.

“We are really excited,” Farris said Thursday.

Her memory drifted to a public meeting Washam held in October. Farris had just mounted her recall effort. She decided to attend the meeting, wanting a glimpse of the man in action.

Washam told her recalls were hard.

“He was right,” Farris said.

He knew better than anyone. Five times between 1994 and 2005, Washam, a self-employed activist and perennial candidate for public office, tried and failed to recall opponents who defeated him in elections.

The right to recall public officials is enshrined in the state constitution, but requirements are stiff: an obstacle course that starts in court and ends with names signed to thousands of sheets of paper. Farris must collect signatures equivalent to 25 percent of the voters in the 2008 general election (the year Washam was elected).

The proportional threshold more than doubles the requirements for state and local initiatives. If certified, the Washam recall election could rank as the state’s largest since state recall laws were revised in the 1980s.

For elections workers, the turn-in starts a painstaking process of verification, ensuring that all signatures come from registered Pierce County voters.

“We’re going to be looking at every signature,” said Mike Rooney, elections manager. “It’s going to be a big job for us.”

County auditor Julie Anderson said the recall presented “the largest signature-gathering process Pierce County has gone through.” The auditor’s office will host an “interested-party briefing” next week to explain the details of the certification process, she said.

RECALL CHARGES

The recall charges accuse Washam of retaliating against his employees, wasting government resources, defying legal requirements to cooperate with internal investigations and violating his oath of office.

The charges cite three independent investigations of Washam’s conduct, which found he had committed the violations. A more recent federal investigation, finished after the recall petition was filed, reached similar conclusions regarding Washam’s conduct in office.

In response, Washam denied any wrongdoing.

Since late last year, five current and former Washam employees have filed claims for damages against the county, citing retaliation and mistreatment by Washam and his chief deputy, Albert Ugas. The claims cite the same circumstances outlined in the internal investigations.

County leaders settled one of those claims in March with a payment of $79,000. The remaining four claims seek a total of $4.3 million in damages. The county and the claimants are still in the midst of negotiations.

The recall petition was approved in December in Pierce County Superior Court. Washam appealed the decision to the Washington State Supreme Court. On March 4, the high court upheld the lower court’s decision, rejecting Washam’s arguments and clearing the path for the signature drive.

LEGAL VICTORIES

In the first three months, Farris faced hard going. She gathered about 26,000 signatures, relying on volunteers and a paid advertisement in The News Tribune.

A pair of federal court rulings gave her a boost this summer.

The first nullified a state law that prohibited paid signature-gatherers in recall campaigns. The second, a preliminary injunction still facing a court challenge, temporarily nullified caps on individual contributions to recall campaigns.

Buoyed by the legal victories, additional cash and the aid of paid signature-gatherers, Farris more than doubled her signature totals over the next two months.

Her campaign has raised $81,646, according to the latest filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

A counter-campaign, recently registered with the PDC, has raised $220 to date, records show.

BIG-NAMED BACKERS

Farris’s supporters include a cross-section of local political leaders.

Former Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma has contributed cash ($655), connections and hours of personal time. He attended Thursday’s turn-in ceremony.

Former Mayor Harold Moss, former county Executive John Ladenburg and former County Councilwoman Jan Shabro are some of the other big names.

Another is former Assessor-Treasurer Ken Madsen, who has contributed $1,800 to the recall campaign. To date, he has declined requests for comment.

Madsen’s history with Washam is long and personal. Washam ran against him twice, lost twice, then tried and failed to recall Madsen in 2005.

For years, Madsen used statistical methods to revalue certain county properties instead of physical inspections required by state law. Washam cited that practice in his 2005 recall effort. Madsen admitted it at the time in open court.

A judge ruled Madsen had a “legally cognizable justification” for his methods, rejecting the recall petition. Washam didn’t appeal the decision.

After taking office in 2009, Washam again assailed Madsen, and repeatedly sought a criminal investigation of the former assessor’s administration. The crusade boomeranged, leading to multiple complaints against Washam, internal investigations and findings of misconduct.

State and county officials, including two county prosecutors and the state attorney general, told Washam investigation was unnecessary and wasteful; the only remedy was slow correction of statistically generated property values.

Washam didn’t like the answer. He continued to press, using the assessor’s website to publicly accuse employees of criminal acts, demoting or shunning employees he viewed with suspicion, and feuding with other county officials. He called the prosecutors who disagreed with him “incompetent.”

Farris decided in October to file the recall petition against Washam after reading news stories about his actions.

“We’re not being vindictive,” she said Thursday. “We just think he needs to go, so we can limit the liability he’s causing.”

During the turn-in, Farris singled out Doug Wilson, a retiree she calls her MVV – most valuable volunteer. Since March 4, Wilson has collected 6,000 signatures at a table outside the Pierce County Annex, the building that houses Washam’s office and other county agencies.

Wilson has been watched and occasionally harangued by a few Washam supporters. They’ve argued he can’t collect signatures in that spot (legally, he can). It doesn’t faze him. After Thursday’s turn-in, Wilson bee-lined back to his table.

“I’ll be here until the end,” he said. “I’m not in this for my health.”

Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486

sean.robinson@ thenewstribune.com