By Ken Stern 

Censure on Lundsten kept by county planning commission

 


At its Feb. 9 meeting the Skagit County Planning Commission voted to uphold their September censure of fellow Commission Mark Lundsten. Lundsten stated his case for removing the censure, saying “you have done me an injustice. The clear intention is to suppress free speech. The intent of your censure is to punish me for expressing dissent and that is not allowed.”

Lundsten’s long opening statement was followed by considerable discussion before the commissioners voted 6-3 to uphold a censure they voted after Lundsten sent a letter to the county commissioners stating his view and evidence against the Planning Commission’s decision on regulations protecting great blue heron nesting colonies.

Lundsten called this a “minority report” and said he had a right to dissent. He said his communication only became an issue after he won the August primary against incumbent Ron Wesen for county commissioner. He noted that Commissioners Tim Raschko and Mark Knutzen donated to Wesen’s campaign. He accused commissioners of creating an appearance “that I was doing politics on government time.”

Lundsten presented County Prosecuting Attorney Rick Weyrich’s letter with the recommendation that the “Planning Commission should retract the censure letter since it has no legal effect.” Weyrich noted that dissension is central to that Commissions function and the “main problem with the censure lies with the appearance it creates.”

Commissioners defended their censure vote at length. Knutzen noted that during discussion in the September meeting Lundsten’s “stance turned decidedly defiant. He was combative. There was really no signs of repentance.”

Knutzen said Lundsten was responsible for the publicity ahead of the election with his sending the letter Aug. 28 while the county commissioners did not decide the issue until December. “He didn’t need to send it then,” he said.

Commissioner Amy Hughes criticized the use of minority reports, saying that is a judicial approach. “We are not that. We are not capable of being that. Our planning commission does not serve in that capacity,” she said.

Raschko responded to his political support for Wesen as an “attack on my personal integrity and I don’t like it. You made a judgment about me.” Lundsten disagreed.

Commissioner Martha Rose defended the process Lundsten used in communicating with the planning commissioners and called “for us to admit that we might have overstepped with the censure and just say, Let’s move on. Let’s remove the censure.”

She called the question and with Lundsten and Commissioner Joseph Shea voted yes. Voting to uphold were Commissioners Kathy Mitchell Joe Woodmansee, Tammy Candler, Hughes, Knutzen and Raschko.

The Planning Commission members are volunteers who review land-use issues and offer recommendations to the county commissioners. The majority maintained their September position that their responsibility is to provide one decision and that members providing alternative views is against the purpose of their commission.

 

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