Lewis County Fire District 1 board recalls, Washington (2018)

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Lewis County Fire District recall
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Officeholders
Rich Bainbridge
Bill Kassel
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2018
Recalls in Washington
Washington recall laws
Special district recalls
Recall reports

An effort to recall Rich Bainbridge and Bill Kassel from their positions on the Lewis County Fire District 1 board in Onalaska, Washington, was launched in January 2018. The request for a recall petition was filed by former fire chief Andrew Martin and former captain Randy Tobler and listed 11 allegations against Bainbridge and Kassel for violating the state Open Public Meetings Act.[1] The recall effort ended after a superior court judge dismissed the charges listed in the recall petition.[2]

After Bainbridge and Kassel voted to fire Chief Martin in November 2017, the third member of the commission, Jeff Lee, resigned. About one-third of the volunteer firefighters also resigned.[3] Lee said that during the November 21 meeting when Bainbridge and Kassel voted to fire Martin, there was no discussion about the matter. "I think they made their minds up before," he said.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Washington

The petition to request a recall was filed on January 10, 2018. The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office had 15 days to prepare the request to go before a judge.[1] On February 2, 2018, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke dismissed all 11 changes in the recall petition, ruling that the charges were not supported by facts or documentation.[2]

See also

External links

Footnotes