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06/24/2009: "---- Editorial ----"

When County Commissioners Alan Lichter, Kevin Ranker, and Rhea Miller gave their approval, County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord (file photo left) joined San Juan County in the controversial San Juan County v. No New Gas Tax law suit with the cities of Seattle, Kent and Auburn, there was some criticism that it was not an issue for the County to get involved in.

Turned out that was good advice. At first things went well in the suit, with a win in Superior Court in Thurston County. But when the Supreme Court got involved through the appeal process, things quickly turned against Gaylord and the County.

After the Washington Supreme Court ruled against San Juan County in an unanimous decision, the possibility of financially liability for the County became a possibility.

And sure enough, Gaylord found himself in a constitutional counterclaims civil rights lawsuit against San Juan, Seattle, Kent, and Auburn.

End result of that? San Juan County has been hit with a bill of $$27,690.00; which is SJC’s share in the cost of an out-of-court financial settlement. An expensive agreement designed to make the problem go away and forestall any additional monetary loss in a prolonged court fight.

Based on the earlier County loss at the Supreme Court, the only good thing to come out of San Juan County having been involved in the first place, may be someone having the good sense to know when to call it a day, pay up for the damage, and go home.

Gaylord’s office put out a press release in which Gaylord is quoted as stating the settlement was a "business decision" made by the risk managers for the cities and county. In other words, the decision by those who did not have their reputations involved, was that there was a high risk of additional loss in continuing to argue the case.

Gaylord’s view is that "This decision was made to bring doubtful and disputed claims to an end. The county and cities argued strenuously the lawsuit was properly filed to bring sunlight to the elections process and we had a motion pending before Judge McPhee that explained why we would prevail."

But with the cash settlement to the No New Gas Tax group, Judge McPhee will no longer have a chance to agree, or disagree; and one may speculate there was a lack of confidence on the part of the risk mangers that the motion before the judge would be found compelling.

Gaylord was additionally quoted as stating “San Juan County contributed about eleven percent of the total settlement price."

Gaylord’s concluded that “The countersuit was a drain of time and money and the County Council desired to focus our attention on other important issues.”

Like saving the County money, for example? We could not agree more with Gaylord on that one.