HomeMy WebLinkAbout083122 FW_ Request for input_ vacancy appointments
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From: Paul Jewell
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 9:55:49 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: WSAC_All Members
Cc: WSAC County Lobbyists; Mike Hoover
Subject: Request for input: vacancy appointments
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Good morning WSAC Members,
I hope you are doing well!
Please see the email below from Mike Hooover, WSAC contract lobbyist. Mike is working with the Secretary of State’s Office on the appointment process for vacated elected county officials
for partisan offices when the previous official was not affiliated with either party.
I know Mike will appreciate hearing from you. Please respond directly to him.
Thanks for everything you do for your counties and for WSAC.
Sincerely,
--
Paul Jewell | Policy Director – Water, Land Use, Environment & Solid Waste
Washington State Association of Counties | wsac.org <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwsac.org&c=E,1,p5fRxonKKUpd8QwFRfIR2PY7PGkNOkmuaeMAqqmJh98yWO7m_fryXnO_f2TzzBun2vyIfV7VATzNrDd
kPWnqLCkfLEg1R_GiAsPziY4OeDOrng,,&typo=1&ancr_add=1>
pjewell@wsac.org <mailto:pjewell@wsac.org> | 360.489.3024
Disclaimer: Documents and correspondence are available under state law. This email may be disclosable to a third-party requestor.
From: Mike Hoover <mike@hooverpa.com <mailto:mike@hooverpa.com> >
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2022 10:29 AM
To: Paul Jewell <pjewell@wsac.org <mailto:pjewell@wsac.org> >
Subject: Request for input: vacancy appointments
Good morning! One problem that has been discussed at various WSAC meetings arises from counties having to make appointments to fill a partisan vacancy where the current office holder
has not declared a party, declared themselves to be independent, or picked a designation that does not line up with official partisan affiliations. This makes the usual process—accepting
nominees from the local party—problematic, as there is no official party from whom to solicit nominations. There are processes for appointing to explicitly non-partisan offices, and
there are processes for appointing to explicitly partisan offices, but current law does not address what to do when an undeclared officeholder leaves and creates a vacancy in what is
designated (by law) a partisan office. We are exploring solutions that could fix this gap in the law, and I am looking for real life examples.
Please send my situations where this has occurred (or almost occurred) in your county. I do not need tremendous detail; a few sentences describing the situation generally would be great.
As we work through this, it’s good to have a baseline so that we can see how often this is occurring and whether it’s occurring more frequently, and I need your input to get a sense
of the scope of this problem.
Thanks for your help, hope you’re enjoying the last days of summer!
In appreciation,
Mike Hoover
360-561-6853