Save Our Thurston CD Legal Defense Fund
Donation protected
This is a call for help from Doug Rushton and Paul Pickett, your Thurston Conservation District Supervisors! As a consequence of trying to fulfill our duties, we have been sued.
In June we were involved in a situation where several other Supervisors appeared to have violated the law by conducting business in executive session that was not what they announced. We read a letter into the record exposing this incident. We wrote the letter on the advice of their attorney, in order to "cure" the apparent violation of the Open Public Meetings Act and obey the law.
Now Joe Hanna has sued us for this letter (he’s the same person Paul defeated in the election last spring). The suit is weak, but still requires our defense. Given the legal costs and threat of discovery and depositions, this sure looks like a harassment suit from opponents who object to our attempts to save our Thurston CD.
The Thurston CD staff attorney has refused to defend us. Therefore, we hired a personal attorney, who filed for dismissal. Unfortunately, the Judge denied our motion. So we are appealing, and the suit continues.
Our legal defense has already cost us almost four thousand dollars in attorney fees, with no end in sight. One top of that, Supervisors are volunteers. So we haven't earned a dime to offset these costs.
Here are the guidelines for this fund:
1. Any funds will be shared equally between us, solely to reimburse ourselves for legal expenses.
2. We will keep records of their expenses and reimbursements, that any donor can review.
3. We will keep the account open until all legal actions are complete.
4. When the threat of legal expenses are over, if the account gets more money than needed for reimbursement, we will donate the remaining balance to one or more nonprofit groups that support Thurston CD and its mission.
Please note that we are writing as individual citizens. This fund and our request have no association with Thurston Conservation District. It is solely our private initiative.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at our home phones or emails.
Please show your support with a donation. You have stood by us with your votes and voices, and now I hope you will support us financially against this attack on our integrity.
Thank you!
Paul Pickett
Doug Rushton
In June we were involved in a situation where several other Supervisors appeared to have violated the law by conducting business in executive session that was not what they announced. We read a letter into the record exposing this incident. We wrote the letter on the advice of their attorney, in order to "cure" the apparent violation of the Open Public Meetings Act and obey the law.
Now Joe Hanna has sued us for this letter (he’s the same person Paul defeated in the election last spring). The suit is weak, but still requires our defense. Given the legal costs and threat of discovery and depositions, this sure looks like a harassment suit from opponents who object to our attempts to save our Thurston CD.
The Thurston CD staff attorney has refused to defend us. Therefore, we hired a personal attorney, who filed for dismissal. Unfortunately, the Judge denied our motion. So we are appealing, and the suit continues.
Our legal defense has already cost us almost four thousand dollars in attorney fees, with no end in sight. One top of that, Supervisors are volunteers. So we haven't earned a dime to offset these costs.
Here are the guidelines for this fund:
1. Any funds will be shared equally between us, solely to reimburse ourselves for legal expenses.
2. We will keep records of their expenses and reimbursements, that any donor can review.
3. We will keep the account open until all legal actions are complete.
4. When the threat of legal expenses are over, if the account gets more money than needed for reimbursement, we will donate the remaining balance to one or more nonprofit groups that support Thurston CD and its mission.
Please note that we are writing as individual citizens. This fund and our request have no association with Thurston Conservation District. It is solely our private initiative.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at our home phones or emails.
Please show your support with a donation. You have stood by us with your votes and voices, and now I hope you will support us financially against this attack on our integrity.
Thank you!
Paul Pickett
Doug Rushton
Organizer
Paul Pickett
Organizer
Olympia, WA
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