Stevens County officials condemn prosecution of previous officials

(The Center Square) – Stevens County Commissioners Greg Young and Mark Burrows have issued a letter to citizens expressing dissatisfaction with Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen’s continuation of a lawsuit against the prior board.

“To date, our county has expended over $120,000.00 for a conflict attorney to handle this case for Mr. Rasmussen,” states a letter read into the record by Young, chair of the commission.

“Given the current state of our economy, the financial impact this litigation has already had, and the anticipated additional costs to pursue this appeal, continued litigation is not in the financial best interests of Stevens County. These funds could be better spent serving the needs of the citizens of this county.”

Rasmussen told The Center Square after publicly reading the letter Friday that it was intended to be a “statement and not a directive.” He said it was a response to the request in early May by former Commissioners Steve Parker and Don Dashiell for a resolution ordering Rasmussen to “dismiss and discontinue” with an appeal of the latest ruling.

The case involves the county’s expenditure of funds to help the homeless. Rasmussen prevailed in the lower court and the appeals court ruled in favor of the commissioners in March.

The legal basis of the resolution, said Parker in May, is that Rasmussen failed to ask the current board for permission to appeal the latest ruling to the Washington Supreme Court. He said case law supports the commissioners stopping further expenditure of public funds to proceed with the case.

A resolution is not legally binding but asserts an opinion that lawmakers want to emphasize.

McCart, a defendant in the suit, recused himself from involvement in discussion of the resolution and any decision due to a conflict of interest, said Young.

He said Rasmussen also had a conflict from involvement in the case, so attorney Jim Nagle of Walla Walla County was consulted about the issue.

Young said Nagle advised that Rasmussen had the legal right to appeal a ruling he disagreed with. However, the commission also had the right to protest that action based on the financial impact to taxpayers.

“We were never provided an opportunity to review the financial impact that further litigation would have on our county,” states the letter signed by Young and Burrows.

Rasmussen questioned why the commissioners did not see it in the best financial interests of the county to get back tens of thousands given away by the former board.

“I can see why it would be better for Dashiell, Parker and McCart – but not for the county,” he said.

The three commissioners will recoup the funds they repaid into the homeless fund if the appeal court ruling stands.

Rasmussen initiated the suit in 2019 after the State Auditor’s Office determined that three transfers of money under the county’s homeless plan had been unallowable gifts of public funds.

Between 2015 and 2018, the commissioners reimbursed a couple $30,000 for moving their damaged home away from an eroding shoreline along the Kettle River. They also provided two payments totaling about $90,000 to two nonprofits that were building a home for a Kettle Falls man with spinal injuries.

Rasmussen alleged the expenditures were made on behalf of people who had other means to get their housing issues resolved. He said the state gave each county a share of recording fees to use toward getting people off the street, to help those with no other support.

“The bottom line is that the previous commissioners unlawfully gave away public money,” he wrote in Friday’s response letter. “I did my job and held them accountable under the existing law. So far, the money they gave away [$200,000 with interest] has been recovered and most of the costs of the litigation to get it. The cost of going forward is small, but the cost of not going forward is huge. “

Earlier this year, the Washington State Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision from 2020 that found Parker, Dashiell and McCart personally liable for actions they took as a board.

As a result of the ruling almost two years ago by Spokane Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno, the three elected officials were removed from office. McCart won election to a new four-year term two months later.

Parker, Dashiell and McCart were also ordered by Moreno to pay their own attorney fees instead of having them covered by public funds.

Parker did not comment in May about whether legal action would be initiated to reclaim those funds if the appeals court ruling stands.

To date, the county has paid Rasmussen’s legal team slightly over $127 000 to pursue the case, according to Auditor Lori Larsen.

Rasmussen said there is very little cost to bring the matter to the state’s highest court because the lead attorney, Pam Loginsky, is not charging for her services.

“I asked the Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision because the issues are very important,” he said in last week’s letter. “These issues affect every non-charter county in the entire state. If I withdraw the request for review, the Court of Appeals decision is the law. The decision would allow county commissioners across the state could gift money to whoever they wanted and so long as they agreed, they could not be held personally accountable. That is not the law. And if the law should be changed so that commissioners can gift money, the Supreme Court should be the court to change it.”

Parker said the resolution was brought forward at the behest of the Spokane firm of Kirkpatrick & Startzel, which represents the current and former commissioners.

He pointed out that appellate court judges unanimously disagreed with Rasmussen’s “novel approach” to resolve a disagreement about expenditure of funds to get the homeless into temporary and permanent housing.

Rasmussen expects the Washington Supreme Court to accept the appeal for review because the case is precedent-setting.

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