Clouse recall hearing held at Thurston County Courthouse

A hearing to determine the status of a recall effort against Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse ended shortly before noon on Friday, Jan. 10, with the presiding judge taking the matter under consideration. 

The 90-minute remote hearing, which was broadcast at Thurston County Superior Court in Courtroom 201, was presided over by visiting Judge Jennifer A. Forbes of Kitsap County.

Thurston County resident Arthur West, who filed a recall petition with the county on Dec. 12, 2024, represented himself at the hearing while attorney Blair Russ represented Clouse. West, Russ and Forbes all participated via Zoom.

The hearing centered largely on the sufficiency of charges levied against Clouse in the recall petition, and whether the charges were enough to warrant the recall effort moving forward via the approval of a ballot synopsis.

The charges revolve around a relationship Clouse had with an employee whom she selected for employment and “worked for her as a subordinate,” the petition states. 

The now former employee later sued the county alleging sexual harassment and other actions against him by Clouse. The lawsuit was subsequently settled for $300,000.

The charges in the recall petition stem from a heavily redacted Nov. 26, 2024, report and an executive report with respect to an independent investigation by Robin L. Nielsen, a Seattle workplace investigator hired by the county to look into Clouse’s conduct with respect to her former aide.

While the report dismissed claims of harassment and retaliation, it found Clouse’s actions violated ethics policies, disrupted county operations and breached public trust. She was subsequently censured by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners.

West expounded on Clouse’s actions at the hearing and said that there was “no shadow of question” that the charges are legally sufficient to proceed with the recall effort.

Russ disagreed. He said there was no evidence of harassment and refuted the charges spelled out in the recall. In other words, the charges don’t meet the standard for legal sufficiency.

“We don’t have that here,” he said.

While Forbes did not give a timeline for issuing what she said would be a written order, she did suggest that her decision would likely be appealed before concluding the hearing.

West said after the hearing that he expects a decision to be rendered within the next week.