Benton County leaders need to knock off their personal attacks to regain public trust | Editorial

Benton County residents deserve better behavior from their elected leaders.

The public blowup Tuesday between Commissioner Jerome Delvin and Sheriff Jerry Hatcher was a troubling low point in an ugly power struggle between the two.

While we don’t expect elected leaders to always enjoy working with one another, we do expect them to treat each other respectfully and follow a sense of decorum at public meetings.

Tensions between Delvin and Hatcher erupted during their discussion of the commission’s decision to take control of the county jail from Hatcher. The heated exchange ended with Delvin calling Hatcher a “disgrace” and saying he’s “done with him.”

At a special meeting Friday, the commissioners were trying to recover but it’s a shame they couldn’t have handled the issue more professionally from the start.

County relationships have been disintegrating for some time. And recent weeks, in particular, have shown the public a picture of turmoil:

▪ In September, criminal charges against Hatcher were filed and later dismissed in connection with allegations of domestic violence and witness tampering involving his estranged wife. The case was dropped without prejudice, which means it could be refiled later.

Hatcher’s wife, Monica, had previously filed for divorce and later approached Delvin, a friend and former police officer, about the alleged attack.

Hatcher has vehemently denied the allegations, and has called the claims “politically motivated” by Delvin and Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller.

▪ Shortly after the charges were filed — but before they were dismissed — four unions representing Benton County Sheriff’s Office employees called for Hatcher’s resignation.

▪ A few days later it was publicly revealed that several female county employees had filed formal complaints against Hatcher’s treatment of them, and that he had been under investigation for those complaints for nearly six months.

▪ During the commission’s Oct. 8 meeting, Delvin brought up removing the jail from Hatcher’s command. The issue was not listed on the published agenda, but Delvin said at the time, “I think we need to look now and ask our staff to take the jail off the sheriff’s plate. He’s got a lot of distractions now in his personal life.”

Two weeks later the commission voted 2-1 to take over the jail. Delvin and Commissioner Jim Beaver supported the move and Commissioner Shon Small opposed it. Hatcher defended his management of the jail, and said Delvin was taking advantage of his legal situation to get control.

Since then, the transition has been bumpy.

▪ After the commission decision, Hatcher ordered jail workers to remove items from their uniforms that identified them as sheriff’s office employees.

Those revoked badges and commissions of about 85 corrections officers meant they could no longer arrest people trying to turn themselves in. The Kennewick Police Department had to take over that role, and it wasn’t a task the city anticipated or was warned about.

An average of two to three people turn themselves in at the jail on a typical day. Hatcher initially said he won’t commission jail officers who don’t work for him because he no longer has control of hiring or background checks.

▪ He later agreed to temporarily re-commission corrections officers because the county raised concerns about courtroom safety, including the safety and security of judges, court employees and the public.

Those commissions are due to expire at the end of the month, and time is running out.

▪ Adding to the confusion and tension, Commissioners Small and Beaver recently voted to place the deputy county administrator who was in charge of the jail transition on paid leave. Delvin was absent that day.

The vote was public, but the discussion was behind closed doors. The commissioners then appointed the county’s planning manager to oversee the transition.

Hatcher expressed concern that someone with no law enforcement experience would be overseeing the jail transition, and also told the Herald the jail should not be a pawn because of his personal issues.

We are not weighing in on whether the commissioners should have taken over the jail. Frankly, we don’t know enough.

It doesn’t help that Small, the chairman, often refuses to take calls or questions from the Herald.

And that’s the problem.

A properly explained proposal would have gone a long way to giving the public a better understanding of the problems. Now here we are.

At a recent regularly scheduled Benton County Commission meeting, Delvin and Hatcher traded ugly shots.

For those of you so inclined, we suggest you listen to the audio of the Nov. 12 commissioner meeting, starting at 24 minutes. The Herald also has a shortened version of the exchange online.

Connect the dots over the last two months and it draws an ugly picture.

If Benton County leaders want to regain the public’s trust, then they need to keep the personal barbs in check.

This story was originally published November 17, 2019 at 7:00 AM.