Greg Brotherton

A complaint that Jefferson County Commissioner Greg Brotherton has a conflict of interest for his dual role as a commissioner and also a board member of Olympic Community Action Programs was quickly rejected as meritless by a top county attorney Monday.

Rosemary Schurman, a Port Ludlow attorney, sent a letter to the Washington State Auditor’s Office on Aug. 17 alleging that Brotherton has a conflict of interest for being both a county commissioner and the chair of the board for OlyCAP, as Brotherton has participated in the approval of contracts and agreements worth more than $2.7 million between the county and nonprofit between 2019 and 2022.

In Schurman’s letter, she noted the county’s sale of the property at Seventh and Hendrick streets in Port Townsend, and the purchase of land on Mill Road for a homeless shelter. Schurman claimed Brotherton violated state law and should not have voted to award grant agreements between the county and OlyCAP while he was a member of the nonprofit’s board.

County commissioners had been poised Monday morning to OK a grant for $440,00 with OlyCAP for the nonprofit to use on the homeless shelter on Mill Road, called Caswell-Brown Village, but Brotherton asked for it to be pulled from the consent agenda because of the complaint.

During a briefing Monday afternoon, Philip Hunsucker, the county’s chief deputy civil deputy prosecuting attorney, said a conflict of interest clearly did not exist.

Before Hunsucker’s overview, Brotherton noted that he was acting on behalf of the county when he votes on contracts involving OlyCAP.

“I am not signing contracts on both sides of the deal,” he said.

Brotherton also said he was happy to abstain from any vote if a recommendation was wanted from the Washington State Auditor’s Office.

“I don’t want to complicate any of these contracts,” he told his fellow commissioners. “I don’t think we need to go backwards, as all of the votes were 3-0 in favor of it.”

A CAUTIOUS APPROACH

Brotherton also said he wanted to make sure there weren’t any future complications with county contracts with OlyCAP or other entities where commissioners also serve as board members.

But Hunsucker quickly noted that it’s commonplace that commissioners are assigned to serve on the boards of nonprofits and other governmental entities while they serve as commissioners.

Commissioners receive no compensation for such work, he said.

“You’re getting nothing for these contracts. So I think the answer is pretty clear that there’s no conflict,” Hunsucker said.

The commissioners’ assignments to such groups are made during open public meetings, Hunsucker told commissioners, and a two-page list of the various boards and advisory groups where commissioners have appointed positions is available on the county website. The list includes commissioner appointments to 57 positions on internal and external committees, advisory boards and other entities, such as the Board of Health, Jefferson Transit Authority Board, JeffCom 911 Administrative Board, Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council, and Chimacum Drainage District.

“It’s an extensive list and it includes agencies like the Fort Worden Advisory Committee, the Hood Canal Coordinating Committee ... and so forth. And it also includes nonprofits like OlyCAP,” Hunsucker said.

The key to whether a conflict of interest exists is based on whether a commissioner is “beneficially interested, directly or indirectly,” Hunsucker explained.

A court case called Barry v. Johns in 1996 set out what stands as “beneficial interest,” Hunsucker said, and that applies only to municipal contracts involving business transactions, employment matters, and other financial interests.

Since commissioners serve on boards of nonprofits or other agencies and don’t receive any financial benefit, “there is no conflict of interest,” he said.

QUICK LEGAL RESPONSE

Hunsucker added that resolving the question didn’t need much legal research.

“I found this case, Barry v. Johns, in about 10 minutes,” he told commissioners.

“This conclusion is a bit of a weight off my shoulders, of course,” Brotherton said.

Commissioner Kate Dean noted that public-private partnerships have existed for more than a generation, with boards for public or community action programs all over the country set up to have one third of the board positions filled by elected officials. 

“If this was an issue ... There would be a lot of case law around this,” Dean said.

“This is a very common structure. So I’m relieved to hear that it’s not an issue, and I’m not surprised because many, many services are offered through community action programs across the country with elected officials taking in additional public funds,” she said.

Commissioners approved the OlyCAP grant on a 3-0 vote.

The conflict complaint arose after the certification of the 2022 Primary Election last week.

ELECTION TIMING

Brotherton is a first-term commissioner who is running for re-election.

In the August Primary Election, Brotherton, a Democrat, led the three-way race with 54.99 percent of the vote.

Republican challenger Marcia Kelbon, a Republican, will also advance to November’s General Election, with 32.06 percent of the vote. 

Jon Cooke, the second Republican in the race, got 12.87 percent of the vote.

CAMPAIGN SUPPORTER

Schurman’s seven-page complaint, which also included 13 pages of detailed county payments to OlyCAP, was dated 15 days after the Primary Election.

Schurman is a supporter of Kelbon’s campaign.

Financial records on file with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, the state agency that serves as a watchdog on campaign financing, show Schurman has made two donations this year to Kelbon’s campaign.

Schurman made a donation of $50 that was reported to the state on Feb. 14, and a second donation of $100 that was reported on June 18.

Kelbon’s campaign noted the complaint against Brotherton in a press release Friday, Aug. 19.

In the release, Kelbon said: “I have been concerned by what appears to be a conflict of interest on the part of Commissioner Brotherton. It now appears that his actions actually may violate Washington state law. Jefferson County residents deserve independent decision-making in the spending of county funds and oversite of how those funds are used. And sadly, his carrying on business in this way may jeopardize the tremendous work done by OlyCAP.”