Recall petition for Kennewick mayor alleges theft. He says that’s not what investigators found

A recall petition filed Wednesday against Kennewick Mayor Don Britain accuses him of violating not only the city’s code of ethics but the law.

The petition was filed by Kennewick resident Richard Bilskis with the Benton County Auditor’s Office and then forwarded to the Benton County prosecutor to start the legal process required before gathering signatures.

Britain also faces an ethics complaint filed this week after it was signed by three of the seven-member city council. The details of that ethics complaint have yet to be made public.

The allegations outlined in the recall petition are related to Britain’s former job for the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services.

Britain was fired by the state in October after an administrative investigation by the Washington State Patrol into a complaint of an “inappropriate relationship” with a female client.

Britain had signed a joint apartment lease with the client in 2019 and neighbors told investigators he lived there with a woman and two children.

The city council recall petition goes beyond the findings of the WSP investigation, alleging that benefits he approved for the client amounted to second-degree felony theft.

After the client said her electronics benefits transfer card had been stolen, Britain requested that she be issued a replacement card to be used for food for her children, said the petition. Bilskis put the value at $511.

Theft of $2,506 alleged

The WSP report also said he had approved her to receive a $35 gas card two days early after she lost the previous one.

He also created support services vouchers for her Columbia Basin College welding program she enrolled in, which Bilskis said totaled $1,960. Britain says they were reviewed and approved by managers before being given to the client.

The WSP report quoted people questioning some of the materials DSHS paid for, such as 12 sets of welding gloves in different sizes and 15 wire brushes, and some supplies that were not required for the course but that many other students purchased.

Together, the DSHS benefits came to $2,506 over about a year, according to Bilskis, and Bilskis alleged it to be an apparent theft from the government.

Bilskis also accused Britain of perjury, saying he made false or incomplete statements to WSP investigators.

However, in the recall documents it is not clear what statements he believes were false.

Bilskis was not available for an interview Thursday.

‘Untruths for political reasons’

Britain had not seen the recall petition submitted to the county by Thursday, but had seen another documents that purported to sum up Bilskis’ reasoning.

“What I can say without having seen the recall document is a certain group of people put out untruths for political reasons,” he said. “When people file public documents . . . they should be prepared to back it up with facts.”

Bilskis has come to conclusions not supported by fact, Britain said. He plans to fully defend himself against untrue allegations.

Britain said the WSP conducted a three-week investigation and would have detailed any criminal activity in its final report, but there was none.

He has maintained that his termination should have been handled as a policy violation.

He said he did not report his relationship with the client to his supervisor because it was not a romantic relationship. But he was sympathetic to her situation, he said.

“I wasn’t ashamed of helping this particular person,” he said.

He said he regularly provided food, clothing, school supplies, baby clothes and other items to the needy families he encountered as a case manager administering the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program at the Kennewick Community Office.

He also pointed out that from the information he has about the recall effort, none of the allegations made are related to his work as a Kennewick councilman and mayor.

Recall petition process

The prosecutor’s office will use the recall petition it has received to prepare a neutral ballot synopsis of 200 words or less based on alleged charges, as required by state law.

A Benton County Superior Court hearing will be scheduled with Bilskis and Britain allowed to address the proposed ballot synopsis.

The judge then can order the recall petition to proceed, allow only some of the charges to proceed or toss all charges.

If the petition proceeds after a possible appeals period, signatures must then be collected to place it on the ballot.

State law requires signatures equal to 35 percent of the votes cast for candidates in Britain’s contested race for council in 2017, which would amount to just under 4,500 signatures.

If the signatures are approved as valid, the recall would be put on an upcoming ballot for a public vote.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:19 PM.