Judge dismisses recall petition against Commissioner Clouse

An effort to remove Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse from office was stymied after a judge found a recall petition failed to satisfy the legal sufficiency requirement of the state law that addresses the issue.

But petitioner Arthur West vowed to continue the recall effort and has filed a notice of his intent to appeal to the Washington Supreme Court, which could take months to weigh in on the matter.

“The judge made a considered decision,” said West on Tuesday, Jan. 14. “I respect the court and I respect the process.”

The notice of intent was filed one day after Visiting Judge Jennifer A. Forbes of Kitsap County Superior Court issued a seven-page order dismissing the petition for recall on Monday, Jan. 13.

The order pointed out a number of shortcomings in the petition, including several of the charges were not factually sufficient.

“They fail to include any specific acts, dates, or times and cannot be reasonably corrected from the materials to correct these deficiencies,” the order states. “The failure of specificity is not merely ‘technical’ and renders the charges deficient.”

The order was issued three days after a remote hearing was broadcast from Thurston County Courthouse on Friday, Jan. 10. West represented himself at the 90-minute hearing, while Clouse was represented by attorney Blair Russ. Forbes, West and Russ all participated in the hearing via Zoom.

The charges stem from a relationship Clouse had with an employee whom she selected for employment and “worked for her as a subordinate,” the recall 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 can be traced to 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.