2 Franklin commissioners ‘shocked’ by decision to settle their Latino discrimination lawsuit

Two Franklin County commissioners are upset they didn’t have more say before the county agreed to change commissioner districts and how they’re elected.

In a contentious meeting last week, Commissioners Clint Didier and Rocky Mullen said they were surprised by a Tri-City Herald story that the county was admitting to violating the Washington Voting Rights Act.

At one point, Didier yelled at county Prosecutor Shawn Sant, that he’d “failed Franklin County,” and demanded he remove himself from the case.

Sant said the commissioners were told in advance about the court filings, including getting a memo about the direction the county was going to take days before it was filed.

In the decision signed by Judge David Petersen on Monday, Franklin County promised to work with the attorneys of three Pasco residents who sued the county and to draw up proposed district maps.

The aim is to have a plan by Nov. 8.

Mullen said he was “shocked” when he read about the county’s response to a summary judgment motion.

Didier took it further, saying the prosecutor and the attorneys hired to represent the county failed to do what was asked of them.

“It’s important to set the record straight regarding the intent of this board to defend the current election process,” he said. “We will not be successful if our legal representation seeks to undermine our objectives.”

Didier and Mullen passed a motion to order the attorneys to follow the direction of the majority of the board.

But Sant said the motion won’t change much in the case.

With the summary judgment already entered, the county will start talking about how to redraw the maps so they comply with the law.

The attorneys hired to handle the case planned to meet with the commissioners in an executive session on Tuesday. Sant suggested having a public comment period following the closed-door session.

Information provided

While Didier and Mullen said they were caught by surprise, Sant insisted they were informed.

And the Commissioner Brad Peck agreed.

He said he sat through the same meetings and heard the same information about the lawsuit as the other two and said the decision was clearly explained.

“I will tell you that their claims would require them to merely have forgotten information given to them,” Peck said. “I don’t know any other explanation for it.”

According to an email from Sant sent to each of the three commissioners on Sept. 1, days before the response was filed, they had been updated about the plan. They were given a chance to respond by the end of the next day.

In the response, the attorneys said they couldn’t see a way to argue against the claims that there was a predominately Latino section of the county in east Pasco that votes differently than the predominately white sections of the county.

According to the analysis performed by the county’s attorneys, nearly 60 percent of Franklin County’s voting-age Latino population lives in the city east of Highway 395.

While Mullen and Didier were upset they didn’t take a public vote on the decision, Sant said normally the commissioners wouldn’t vote on legal strategy in the middle of the case.

Latino group celebrates

Despite the county’s internal legal wrangling, the League of United Latin American Citizens celebrated the victory. The league had help from the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

Gabriel Portugal, the league’s state director and one of the people who brought the case against Franklin County, said he was thrilled about the ruling.

“In the past, they left us out from many of the most important local decisions,” Portugal said. “We need to use this opportunity wisely as we plan our next moves, and we have several candidates in mind to represent us.”

There are a wide range of issues that the commissioners could have an impact on in predominately Latino neighborhoods.

The win sends a message that Latinos should get involved, he said, and that they should strive for more than just having a job, a house and a boat.

“All of this can be lost if we don’t speak up and claim what is rightfully ours,” he said.