Recall sought against Yakima County clerk

Backed by local publisher Bruce Smith, two attorneys have launched an effort to recall Yakima County Clerk Janelle Riddle, accusing her of mismanaging her office.

Bruce Smith, publisher of the Yakima Valley Business Times, and attorneys Rick Kimbrough of Grandview and Robert Young of Yakima filed a statement of findings — the initial step in seeking a recall — with the Yakima County Auditor’s Office Thursday afternoon.

The recall effort comes a year after an independent panel found several problems with the way Riddle was running her office.

Delays in processing no-contact orders and forwarding child support orders to the state for enforcement were among the issues outlined by the panel, appointed by county commissioners. As a result, the county had lost more than $200,000 in reimbursements from the state.

"The clerk’s office is barely functional. The basic day-to-day tasks are not being done properly. Janelle Riddle’s poor management has cost Yakima County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and things are not getting better. She is unresponsive to other elected officials, to the media and to the public,” Smith said.

A Superior Court judge has to find validity in a statement of charges before allowing to move forward with a petition drive to place the recall on the ballot.

Riddle claims that the problems in her office that drew ire from Superior Court judges, court staff and county commissioners have been fixed.

“I have no idea what this is about,” she said Thursday. “I have no comment until I see it.”

Smith said he’s not convinced the problems are fixed and fears that mistakes in Riddle’s office will continue to dig the county into a financial hole.

Smith echoed complaints of commissioners, court staff and judges about Riddle’s difficulty in working with other departments and failure to attend committee meetings involving other departments and elected officials.

“She doesn’t go to any meetings,” Smith said. “I was talking to commissioners today; she’s bottled herself up there (in her office) and it’s just a mess.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Recall sought against Yakima County clerk."