Commissioners on recall hot seat

Whitman County commissioners Pat O’Neill and Greg Partch were served by Sheriff Brett Myers with papers demanding their recall from office Tuesday morning.

The action was initiated Friday when Roger Whitten of Oakesdale submitted recall orders to Auditor Eunice Coker.

“Over the past few months, they have shown a willful disregard for state law and public safety,” Whitten told the Gazette last Thursday.

He brought the order because he said the two have flaunted the state’s Open Public Meetings Act by acting on business outside of scheduled meeting times.

Whitten charged both O’Neill and Partch with four violations of the open public meetings act.

Those charges were backed up with statements commissioners have made in prior Gazette articles.

Whitten considered a recall of Commissioner Michael Largent, but could not do so because his office is on the ballot this fall.

Partch dismissed Whitten’s recall effort as sour grapes over passage of the county’s wind turbine ordinance.

“Roger Whitten is Roger Whitten,” said Partch. “He’s in the past used every possible means to get his point across – to make his voice heard.”

O’Neill, too, thought Whitten’s charges were overstated.

“I think he’s stretching it a bit, to tell you the truth,” said O’Neill. “But that’s up to the – I believe the Superior Court Judge – to determine if laws have been broken.”

Whitten also alleged commissioners have not fulfilled the duties required of them when they took the oath of office.

“I took the oath of office,” said O’Neill. “I do not believe I have broken that oath in the 18 months I’ve been in office.”

The State Environmental Policy Act requires officials “use all practicable means” to protect public health, safety and aesthetic and culturally pleasing surroundings.

Whitten claims the commissioners violated that clause when they voted to pass the county’s industrial wind turbine ordinance.

“They know there is a threat to the public health, but they are saying ‘don’t worry about it. It’s not a problem,’” Whitten told the Gazette Friday. “If it’s not a problem, then there should not be a problem with limiting the noise they say is not there.”

Whitten said he presented commissioners numerous studies that shows ill health effects brought on by emissions of low frequency noise from wind turbines.

“By ignoring that, they knowingly failed to perform a duty imposed by law,” he said.

Under state law, Prosecutor Denis Tracy has until July 17 to prepare a summary of the charges. Judge David Frazier then has 15 days to determine if the charges show sufficient malfeasance or misfeasance to start the petition process.

If Frazier rules the charges are valid, Whitten will have six months to collect enough signatures to put the recall before the county for a vote. He would need to collect at least 25 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots for the respective commissioner seats in the 2008 election. For Partch, that would be 2,846 signatures. For O’Neill, Whitten would need 3,876.

Whitten was an outspoken critic of the wind farm ordinance during its crafting. He contended throughout the noise standards did not take into account low frequency noise emitted by turbines.

“When making these kinds of decisions, you have to go with… the true facts,” said O’Neill. “It’s not just reading articles off the internet from all over the world.”

Whitten appealed the ordinance after its passage to Whitman County Superior Court. That appeal was dismissed by Judge David Frazier, who ruled Whitten did not have the right to appeal because he had not been directly aggrieved by the ordinance.

Whitten’s recall charges were submitted Friday, July 2, but were dated July 4. He said he chose the date as a political statement.

He stressed the recall action was of his own doing, and he was not encouraged to do so by anyone else.