HomeMy WebLinkAbout111422 FW_ Sheriff Joe Nole's blatant disrespect of the BOCC and Jefferson County residents
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From: David Tonkin
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 12:30:22 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Kate Dean; Greg Brotherton; Heidi Eisenhour
Cc: Carolyn Gallaway; Adiel F. McKnight
Subject: Sheriff Joe Nole's blatant disrespect of the BOCC and Jefferson County residents
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ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
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To the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners
Now that Joe Nole has been reelected, I’ve decided to inform the Jefferson County BOCC about my concerns. I believe Sheriff Joe Nole has failed to perform the duties of his office in
a professional manner by ignoring the safety and welfare of Jefferson County residents. His failure to get accreditation for JCSO jeopardizes the professional operation of the sheriff's
office. He has demonstrated a blatant disrespect of the BOCC by a callous disregard of and indifference to the BOCC's actions regarding the county-approved strategic plan and by his
dereliction of duty by refusing for over two months to comply with the BOCC's directives regarding wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and vaccination attestation forms. Nole's
behavior put the public's health and safety at risk, which I believe he has sworn to protect.
As a county resident, I have been concerned by Sheriff Nole's disturbing behavior and worry that this is typical of the manner in which he runs the Sheriff's Office (JCSO) and found
it necessary to support Art Frank for sheriff. Nole is the perfect example of the Peter Principle at work. I hope you are as concerned as I am. Sheriff Nole cannot be relied upon to
meet his obligations described below without the BOCC taking an active role to ensure he does so. Please give serious consideration to taking the actions I recommend, which are followed
by my reasons for suggesting them.
Recommended Actions
1. Issue a directive to Sheriff Nole to contact the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs before December 31, 2022, to begin the process of getting accreditation for JCSO
and to provide monthly progress reports to the BOCC due on the last day of each month.
2. Issue a directive to Sheriff Nole to begin in January 2023 the process of updating the strategic plan that the BOCC approved in 2018 and to provide monthly progress reports to the
BOCC due on the last day of each month.
3. Issue a directive to the Director of Human Resources or the Director of Public Health, whichever is most appropriate, to visit the JCSO at least once per month randomly beginning
in December 2022 to verify JCSO's compliance with the directive dated June 30. 2021.
My Reasons for the Above Recommendations
Accreditation
Accreditation by the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs (WASPC) certifies that a law enforcement agency (LEA) utilizes nationally accepted standards and best practices
in its operations; this process typically takes at least one year to complete.
When he ran in 2018, Nole promised to get the JCSO accredited; the accreditation process was already 80% done when he took office. At the July 11, 2022 League of Women Voters' candidate
forum, Nole claimed the COVID pandemic prevented him from getting accreditation but he had 15 months before the pandemic hit to complete the process. When Art Frank stated that 31 LEAs
got accredited during the pandemic, Nole replied that most of them just renewed their existing accreditation and that this was much easier. Mike Painter is the Director of Professional
Services with WASPC. Mr. Painter told me that during the pandemic ten Washington LEAs got new accreditation and 39 got their accreditation renewed. He also explained that renewing accreditation
was actually much more difficult not easier because to be newly accredited an LEA must follow best practices for a year and to renew accreditation requires following best practices
for four years. I believe Nole not only lied about why he did not get JCSO accredited but demonstrated a lack of knowledge and understanding about the accreditation process.
Strategic Plan
I believe it was in 2016 or 2017 that the BOCC allocated $23,500 to the JCSO for the preparation of a strategic plan. Work on the strategic plan was completed before Joe Nole became
sheriff. It was prepared with input obtained from JCSO staff, county officials, and community members — including me. As a former strategic planner, I offered to critique the plan's
draft, which Sheriff Stanko accepted and we met a couple of times to discuss my suggestions, most of which he incorporated in the final plan. It is my understanding the BOCC approved
the completed plan unanimously in 2018. It is my understanding that by approving the strategic plan, the BOCC intended that the JCSO perform the activities dictated in the plan and
update the plan on a regular basis. Strategic plans are often updated annually but some organizations choose to update their plan every two or three years.
When I approached newly elected Sheriff Nole to offer my assistance in updating the plan, he said he was “not interested” and walked away. The approved strategic plan had been on the
JCSO website prior to Nole's 2018 election, I think on the Forms & Documents page but I have been unable to find the plan anywhere. From what I can determine Sheriff Nole scrapped the
entire strategic plan, wasting over $20,000 of the county taxpayer's money and leaving the JCSO without its guidance. You may have a copy of the plan but if not, I have attached the
draft plan effective as of July 2018 and my critique dated August 25, 2018.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (Strategic Planning for Law Enforcement | Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov) <https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/strategic-planning-law-
enforcement> ), "Strategic planning is necessary to structure and move an organization toward specified goals while taking into account changes impacting the organization over time."
The International Association of Police Chiefs (IAPC) agrees that strategic planning is important for law enforcement agencies of all sizes.
Two excellent examples of why a small law enforcement agency should have a strategic plan are an article written by Chief Jonathan B. Flores of the Alton, Texas Police Department (Why
small police departments need a strategic plan (police1.com) <https://www.police1.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/strategic-planning-for-small-law-enforcement-agencies-ry7CCXw1eZQe9jY4/#:~:text=Strateg
ic%20planning%20for%20small%20law%20enforcement%20agencies%201.,so%20everyone%20knows%20the...%202.%20Forecast%20your%20budget> ) and the IAPC Best Practices Guide prepared by Chief
David L. Kurz of the Durham, New Hampshire Police Department (BP-StrategicPlanning.pdf (theiacp.org) <https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/BP-StrategicPlanning.pdf> ).
Dereliction of Duty
On June 30, 2021, the Jefferson County BOCC approved a Resolution titled “In the Matter of Adopting a Seventh Temporary County Policy Based on Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
This resolution was authorized under RCW 38.52.70 (2) (RCW 38.52.070: Local organizations and joint local organizations authorized—Establishment, operation—Emergency powers, procedures—Communication
plans. (wa.gov) <https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=38.52.070> ). Based on that resolution, then Human Resources Director Andy Rowlson issued two (2) directives (i.e., “new
County Temporary Policy regarding COVID-19 and Mask Usage” and “COVID attestation forms”) that he sent to Sheriff Nole and other senior county officials on June 30 of 2021.
These directives specified that every county employee who was not vaccinated against COVID-19 must wear a mask and maintain social distancing when working indoors, but vaccinated employees
were only required to sign an affidavit stating they were vaccinated, which would be kept on record with the county. As I understand it, within a month every department head except
for Sheriff Nole had complied with the directives.
When four deputies who did not wear masks became infected with COVID other deputies had to work overtime to cover their assignments while they were out for home isolation. There is no
way to know how many members of the public or their families were infected by these deputies.
Though Sheriff Nole finally complied with the directive on September 12, 2021, it is likely that for at least two months he was in violation of two statutes of the Revised Code of Washington
(i.e., RCW 42.20.100: Failure of duty by public officer a misdemeanor. (wa.gov) <https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=42.20.100> and RCW 9A.80.010: Official misconduct. (wa.gov)
<https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.80.010> ). Whether or not a violation of these statutes occurred depends on how the word “law” as used in them can be interpreted and
if the resolution and directives referred to herein have the force of law. Also, any legal action the BOCC can authorize against Joe Nole probably depends on the statute of limitations
for these two statutes.
Respectfully,
David Tonkin
32 S. Stromberg Ave., Port Townsend, WA 98368
Home Phone: 360-385-2468