The dust has settled from one of the most divisive legal and political battles in Clark County in recent memory. Now, the final check for one side’s legal bills is about to be sent out. Another has already been cashed.
Clark County is preparing to write its final check to Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold for its work defending Council Chair Marc Boldt as well as Councilors Jeanne Stewart and Julie Olson from a recall petition filed last year by then-fellow Councilor Tom Mielke. The county will have paid $53,079 to the firm after its final bill is settled, according to an email from Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Chris Horne.
Neither Mielke nor Boldt responded to a request for comment, but Olson and Stewart both said they believed that money could have been better spent elsewhere in the county.
“It was a waste of staff time and taxpayer money,” said Olson.
“It was an unfortunate and disappointing circumstance,” said Stewart. “And it’s a shame to see that kind of money needing to be spent to defend a councilor who is just trying to do their job.”
In June, Mielke filed a recall petition against a majority of the council alleging that they acted improperly by hiring an investigator to look into allegations brought by county staff and then-Councilor David Madore over the county’s comprehensive plan. Mielke also criticized the decision to award a contract for legal advertising to The Columbian and the dissolution of the Environmental Services Department. The petition also alleged that Mielke and Madore were improperly denied access to legal advice.
The petition was dismissed by a visiting Cowlitz County Superior Court judge, but Mielke appealed to the state Supreme Court. In January, the court ruled unanimously that the petition didn’t meet the legal and factual requirements required by state law and could not proceed.
The court also ordered Mielke to pay the county’s court costs, which covered fees associated with things such as summonses and filings, but not attorneys’ fees. On Feb. 14, Nick Power, who has served as Madore’s attorney and represented Mielke in the recall petition, wrote a check to the county for $523.79 to cover those court costs.
Power wouldn’t comment on if he was reimbursed by Mielke or was covering the costs himself.
The only comment he offered: “It was an interesting case.”
