Dale Washam, Pierce County’s beleaguered assessor-treasurer, regained the keys to his electronic pulpit last week, but he hasn’t opened the door.
Washam, who recently survived a campaign that sought to recall him from office, was locked out of his official website last spring after County Executive Pat McCarthy decided he was politicking on public time, using the website to campaign against the recall.
At that point, McCarthy placed a filter on Washam’s postings; he could not publish them without prior approval from the executive’s office.
On Sept. 15, when it became clear the recall effort fell short, Washam sent a note to McCarthy, demanding restoration of his website privileges.
"The recall effort failed," Washam wrote. “Therefore there is no active political campaign, which was the purported justification for confiscating the independence of the Assessor-Treasurer’s website and wrongfully subjecting all postings to the censorship of your office.
"Please direct the IT department to immediately reinstate all website posting privileges back to the Assessor-Treasurer’s office, where they rightfully belong."
McCarthy mulled the request for several days, and responded Sept. 20. She restored Washam’s access, with strings attached. "Your actions – including statements you posted on Pierce County’s website – remain the subject of pending litigation,"
McCarthy’s note reads, in part.
"Therefore, I am restoring access under conditions that include but are not limited to the following:
• You will not make any references to issues that are subject to pending litigation.
• You will not make any reference to pending litigation.
• You will not criticize public records requests or the requestors.
• You will not criticize current or former public employees.
"Your access to Pierce County’s website is a privilege, not a right," she wrote. "I will not hesitate to reinstate the approval process if you resume posting statements that leave Pierce County legally vulnerable."
Washam’s past website posts are a key factor in potential litigation against the county. Four current and former employees of his office have filed claims for damages, seeking a collective total of $4.3 million.
The claims are the subject of continuing negotiation between county risk managers and Jack Connelly, attorney for the employees. The claims accuse Washam and his chief deputy, Albert Ugas, of misconduct, including retaliation and harassment of employees.
"I think it’s unfortunate that he’s gotten his privileges back," Connelly said. "Because he continues to use that website to hurt people."
Among other things, the claims cite previous website posts by Washam that criticized employees. The posts are public records, still visible on the archive section of the assessor’s website.
The website posts were also cited in multiple internal investigations of Washam’s conduct and listed as evidence of his misbehavior.
As of Monday afternoon, Washam had not posted anything new on the assessor’s website. He did not respond Monday to a voice mail message left with his assistant.
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