Effort to recall port commissioner gets go-ahead

The final wording of a community activist's petition to recall Port of Seattle commissioner Pat Davis was approved by a King County Superior Court judge Thursday.

Judge Charles Mertel authorized the petition written by Chris Clifford, which claims that Davis committed multiple "acts of malfeasance" related to her role in authorizing an extra year of pay for former Port chief executive Mic Dinsmore past his March retirement.

Davis has 15 days to decide whether to appeal the judge's ruling to the Washington Supreme Court. Her attorney, Suzanne Thomas of K&L Gates, said Friday they will make that decision early next week.

The Supreme Court would consider whether the petition states sufficient facts and meets legal standards, not whether Davis did anything wrong.

If Davis decides not to appeal, or if the Supreme Court upholds the judge's decision, then Renton resident Clifford will have 180 days to start collecting signatures for the petition. He needs 149,124 signatures from King County voters to put the recall on a ballot.

"Of course it's going to be difficult getting signatures," said Clifford, who teaches at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. "But at the same time it does seem like there are going to be a lot of people coming out of the woodwork."

If signature gathering takes the full time allotted, voters likely won't see the issue on the ballot until next year, said Bobbie Egan, spokeswoman for King County Elections.

Davis has served on the Port's commission for about 20 years, including a recent stint as its president. Her current term expires at the end of 2009.

Clifford filed his petition at the end of April, shortly after a memo surfaced showing Davis had signed off for Dinsmore to receive an extra year of pay at his $339,841 annual salary.

Clifford, who teaches classes on government, said he could not stand by and watch a public official misuse taxpayers' money.

"I always tell the kids, 'You can't be a spectator. You can't sit there and piss and moan when you don't like the way something's going.' I would be kind of a hypocrite if I didn't do something," he said.

The proposed additional pay, which Dinsmore never received, had not been approved in a public session. Three of the five commissioners — John Creighton, Lloyd Hara and Alec Fisken — claim they don't remember discussing it in two closed-door meetings in 2006, either. Commissioner Bob Edwards has said he remembers some discussions of the matter.

Notes taken by Dinsmore following the closed-door meetings — and left in his human resources file at the Port of Seattle — suggest that all five commissioners were present for at least one discussion on Dinsmore's pay.

Davis has said she did not act alone in endorsing the extra pay for Dinsmore. She has declined to speak extensively about the issue.Thomas said her client has avoided speaking out because of an ongoing ethics investigation initiated by the Port of Seattle commission.

"I think the story has put her in a false light that will certainly change as the remainder of the facts come out," Thomas said. "She intended to do only the right thing by the Port and the citizens."

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 206-464-2391 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com