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Mason County Fire District 12 recall, Mason County, Washington (2022-2023)
| Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
John Pais Albert Wilder |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| August 1, 2023 |
| Signature requirement |
Pais: 101 valid signatures Wilder: 85 valid signatures[1] |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022-2023 Recalls in Washington Washington recall laws Special district recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall the three commissioners of Mason County Fire District 12 in Washington began in 2022. Petitions for the recall of Commissioners Brian Jutson, John Pais, and Albert Wilder were received by the Mason County Auditor's Office on October 6. On November 3, the Mason County Superior Court found some of the charges outlined in the petitions legally and factually sufficient for recall and allowed the petitions to move forward.[2] Jutson, Pais, and Wilder challenged the ruling of the Superior Court and appealed the decision to the Washington Supreme Court on November 17. The Supreme Court upheld the recall petitions on April 10, 2023, clearing them for signature collection.[3]
A recall was scheduled for August 1, 2023, after the Mason County Auditor verified that recall supporters had collected a sufficient number of valid signatures on the recall petitions.[4] Jutson, Pais, and Wilder resigned prior to the recall election.[5] Despite the resignations, the recall election still took place on August 1, with voters approving all three recall attempts.[6]
Recall vote
Brian Jutson recall, 2023
Brian Jutson lost the Mason County Fire District 12 Commissioner Board Position 3 recall election on August 1, 2023.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
91.3
|
400 | ||
No |
8.7
|
38 | |||
Total Votes |
438 | ||||
|
|
John Pais recall, 2023
John Pais lost the Mason County Fire District 12 Commissioner Board Position 1 recall election on August 1, 2023.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
89.6
|
395 | ||
No |
10.4
|
46 | |||
Total Votes |
441 | ||||
|
|
Albert Wilder recall, 2023
Albert Wilder lost the Mason County Fire District 12 Commissioner Board Position 2 recall election on August 1, 2023.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
90.9
|
400 | ||
No |
9.1
|
40 | |||
Total Votes |
440 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
The recall petitions against Jutson, Pais, and Wilder included multiple charges against each officeholder. The charges stemmed from the results of a Washington State Auditor investigation into the district which showed a misallocation of around $200,000 in public money. In the petitions, recall supporters also criticized the fire district for its payroll processing and expenditure practices and stated that the district was not operating under the open meetings law.[1][7]
Recall opponents
The appellate brief on behalf of Jutson, Pais, and Wilder filed with the Washington Supreme Court provided the following response to the recall charges:[8]
| “ |
The Charges are overly broad, wordy, unconcise, lack specificity, and fail to cite to standards, laws, or rules that the Commissioners allegedly violated. The Charges address time periods that range outside Commissioner Jutson and Commissioner Wilder’s respective terms of office. The Recall Petitions also do not allege that the Commissioners knew of or otherwise directed the Fire Chief to engage in the alleged financial mismanagement, and the Recall Petitions do not allege nor indicate that the Commissioners’ decision to delegate management of the District’s finances to the Fire Chief was a manifest abuse of discretion. [9] |
” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Washington
To get the recalls on the ballot, recall supporters needed to collect 85 valid signatures for Jutson's petition, 101 valid signatures for Pais' petition, and 85 valid signatures for Wilder's petition.[1]
See also
- Recall campaigns in Washington
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- Special district recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Mason County Auditor's Office," May 3, 2023
- ↑ Shelton-Mason County Journal, "Fire 12 recall petitions move forward," November 10, 2022
- ↑ Shelton-Mason County Journal, "Fire 12 recall advances," April 13, 2023
- ↑ Shelton-Mason County Journal, "Fire 12 recall makes August ballot," May 25, 2023
- ↑ king5.com, "Mason County fire commissioners facing recall resign before election," July 20, 2023
- ↑ Shelton-Mason County Journal, "Landslide in Fire 12 recall," August 3, 2023
- ↑ mynorthwest.com, "County asks District 12 fire commissioners to resign amid investigation," September 28, 2022
- ↑ The Supreme Court of the State of Washington, "BRIEF OF APPELLANTS COMMISSIONERS BRIAN JUTSON, JOHN PAIS, AND ALBERT “BUCK” WILDER," January 25, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
