Backers of an effort to recall Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Dale Washam came close, but not close enough.
County elections workers have all but finished a count and review of signatures submitted by Puyallup resident Robin Farris in support of Washam’s recall.
The count, still unofficial as of Monday afternoon, yielded the following tally:
Verified signatures: 64,098.
Challenged: 20,321.
That’s not enough verified signatures. Recall backers need 65,495. The latest count leaves them 1,397 signatures short.
Farris released a statement praising the volunteers and backers who helped her since she filed the initial recall petition last October.
“Obviously I am disappointed, but we have accomplished a lot in the past nine months,” Farris wrote. “We have raised public awareness about an elected official who is violating his oath of office and openly retaliating against his employees.
“The hundreds of volunteer hours show that citizens care how employees in the Assessor-Treasurer’s Office are treated. Through our legal challenges, my superstar attorneys have made it easier for citizen activists to exercise their constitutional right to recall corrupt and inept elected officials.”
Washam did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
To bring a recall to the ballot, Farris needed to gather signatures equivalent to 25 percent of the voters in the 2008 election that brought Washam to office. Her unofficial total was equivalent to 24.5 percent of the registered voters.
Elections workers finished their initial count Friday.
The process included a second review of challenged signatures to determine whether they met standards of validity. The second review was conducted over the past three weeks, according to Mike Rooney, county elections manager.
Farris made small gains over the past week; the total of challenged signatures fell slightly, adding more than 1,200 signatures to her final total.
Certification would have opened the door to the state’s largest recall campaign in at least 30 years. Farris raised $94,983 for the effort and spent $77,849, according to state campaign records.
The recall charges, approved in form by Superior Court Judge Thomas Felnagle and the Washington State Supreme Court, accused Washam of retaliating against his employees, wasting government resources, abusing his power, hindering the investigation and violating his oath of office.
They cited the conclusions of multiple county investigations of Washam’s conduct in office. Costs of those investigations and other legal matters tied to Washam’s office now exceed $150,000.
Claims for damages filed by current and former Washam employees seek a collective total of $4.3 million. County risk managers and attorneys for the employees are conducting negotiations regarding the claims.
Washam also faces an active county ethics complaint that has been set for a hearing no later than Oct. 13.
“I hope that the Pierce County Ethics Committee sends a strong message,” Farris said in her statement.
Former Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma was a prominent backer of the recall effort. Along with his wife, Carol, he contributed cash, connections and hours of personal time to the campaign.
“Very disappointing to come so close,” Baarsma said Monday. “Robin worked her heart out on this thing. It was a daunting task to collect 65,500 signatures. It’s really beyond the pale. Nothing’s been attempted like this, certainly in my memory. To manage to collect 64,000 signatures is remarkable.”
Farris cleared several legal hurdles in her effort.
In federal court, she sought and obtained a temporary injunction that nullified a state law banning the use of paid signature-gatherers in recall campaigns.
A separate federal court decision, still set for later argument, temporarily nullified recall campaign contribution limits, allowing Farris to collect more money.
Baarsma said the statistical threshold set by a presidential election created a high bar. He also found during signature-gathering efforts that few people knew Washam’s name, or anything about him.
“The biggest surprise during this whole six-month effort was the number of people who had no idea who this man was,” Baarsma said. “I just kind of shook my head.”
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486 sean.robinson@thenewstribune.com
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