The state Conservation Commission has received legal advice that suggests Mike Wiley Jr. of Joyce is not eligible to take a seat on the Clallam Conservation District board of supervisors, the commission’s elections coordinator said this week.
Tom Salzer said Monday that Assistant Attorney General Sharonne O’Shea provided “fairly persuasive guidance” last week on what route the commission can take May 21, when members decide whether to seat Wiley on the board.
Wiley, a 19-year-old Peninsula College student who has described himself as a conservative Republican, defeated incumbent Don Hatler, 72, of Sequim, a self-described conservationist, 114-60 on Feb. 18.
The commission asked O’Shea to review state general election laws to determine if Wiley fulfilled the property ownership requirement for the position, Salzer said.
Wiley’s parents transferred to him 1 percent interest in their property after he was elected.
Three of five conservation district supervisors must be property owners. Wiley must be a property owner to fill Hatler’s position.
Salzer said O’Shea reviewed Revised Code of Washington 29a.021.
O’Shea would not comment on her analysis.
“A person filing a declaration of candidacy for an office shall, at the time of filing, be a registered voter and possess the qualifications specified by law for persons who may be elected to the office,” the RCW says.
“It certainly makes sense,” Hatler said of the RCW.
“I think that’s encouraging, and I hope that Wiley will join as an associate supervisor and volunteer and will have learned a lot about what’s going on in the conservation district. I look forward to that.”
Wiley said Wednesday he was too busy with school and did not have time to be interviewed.
The commission will decide on the election at its May 21 meeting in Silverdale, when the board will certify other conservation district elections that occurred statewide.
Write-in candidate
Wiley waged a quietly vigorous though unannounced, unpublicized write-in candidacy for a position he filed for three days before the election.
The seat is nonpartisan, though Wiley’s candidacy was backed by county Republican Party leaders, including Chairman Dick Pilling and lawyer Kaj Ahlburg.
Conservation district elections operate under rules separate from state general election laws, but where those rules are “silent,” as they are in this case, the commission turns to general election laws, Salzer said.
“General election laws are not controlling, but we consider it to be persuasive,” he said.
“We are looking at it as the best possible advice we can get.”
But that doesn’t mean the 10-member commission won’t seat Wiley anyway.
Board can decide
O”Shea confirmed the board can make whatever decision it wants, relying on the spirit and intent of the law if it so chooses, Salzer said.
Conservation Commission Chairwoman Lynn Bayruch did not respond to requests for interviews.
In interviews and speeches, Pilling has touted Wiley and his generation as a source of new energy for the Republican Party.
Owner-broker of Carroll Realty in Port Angeles, Pilling urged Wiley to run, recommended party Central Committee members get out the vote in the days before the election and introduced Wiley to strong applause March 28 at the party’s Lincoln Day dinner at the Dungeness Inn.
Salzer said the commission has received at least two dozen letters and e-mails about the election and that he has been receiving “a couple” of phone calls a day.
“Most of them are upset that we have not confirmed Mike Wiley Jr. as the official winner,” he said.
Many have accused the commission of not following its own procedures, contending that because Wiley is now a land owner, his election is valid, Salzer said.
“Emotions are running high. People want him to be confirmed right now and end this mess to solve this problem,” Salzer said.
“They think the answer to this question is to violate our procedures and jump forward by two months and confirm now rather than May 21. That’s ironic to me. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Conservation district elections statewide are afflicted by small turnouts that can benefit write-in candidates who don’t need many votes to win.
Republican Party leader Bob Forde garnered 47 votes in 2005 as a write-in candidate for the Clallam district board after no one filed for the position through the commonly used, more public route — by submitting nominating signatures to the district and having his name on the ballot.
He did not run for re-election.
In 2006, Hatler, who raises donkeys, defeated incumbent Steve Marble, a Sequim real estate agent, 620-127, in part using e-mail to drum up support.
Hatler said he did not know Wiley nor did he know he was running against him until Wiley defeated him, and Wiley said he did not know Hatler until he pencilled his own name on his ballot.
________
Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
