HomeMy WebLinkAbout111725 email - Re_ Conflict of interest_ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for your email and my apologies for the delay in responding; I needed to speak with the City Manager to get clarity on your questions. Here is the City Manager's response:
"EDC is not a City or County organization so therefore those individuals mentioned are not bound to our personnel policies (and one has not begun employment with Jefferson County yet).
Also, even if they were bound, our policies do not prohibit outside work (but do require outside work and potential conflicts of interest to be cleared with the city manager). I’ve
also checked in with the County Administrator who also doesn’t see any major issues here.
I’m not sure if BOCC has responded yet."
Thank you again.
Best,
David J. Faber
Mayor, City of Port Townsend
(360) 821-9374
________________________________
From: Richard Lindgren <rancherlindgren@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, November 7, 2025 11:22 AM
To: CityCouncil <citycouncil@cityofpt.us>; jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us <jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us>
Subject: Conflict of interest?
CAUTION: External Email
I'd like to express my concern about what could be a violation of County and City policy about conflicts of interest. I found out that the EDC director and the person who will be the
new county permit department director are partners in a business called Cascadia Foreign Policy. David Ballif is listed on the company webpage as its CEO and Founder and Jeremy Williammee
is listed as its Chief Strategy Officer. It looks like they worked at the same federal job so I'm not surprised that one of them helped the other land a job here.
That's not what bothers me. What does is that I thought that the City and County had a policy that employees could'nt have a second job. This seems like more than just a side gig. Are
they doing the work they were hired to do and being paid for by taxpayers or are they doing work that benefits their company? Does this violate policy? If there's no policy against
this then why not?
A guy I knew years ago on the road crew was told he couldn't even run a dozer on the weekends as a side hustle. Is it ok for directors that are paid a lot of tax dollars to have some
foreign policy company? What the heck does foreign policy have to do with running the city and county anyway. Are they representing some foreign policy position in our name?
I want smart people running this place and don't mind too much that they get paid a lot. I know smart people arent cheap. But I want them doing the one thing we're paying them for if
they are going to be on our payroll. The one that my tax dollars supports.
Please look into this.
Dick Lindgren