Commissioner Breaks The Law, Taxpayers Pay $113,000 To “Bail” Her Out.
The first words out of my law school professor’s mouth on the first day of our Criminal Law class were: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Apparently, the professor had never met Pacific County Commissioner Lisa Olsen. As a Deep Stater, she IS above the law, and the Washington State Supreme Court just proved it. They found her guilty of violating the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) but, oops, she didn’t know she was breaking it. Indeed, based upon their ruling, from now on, all elected officials and bureaucrats are above the law. Supreme Court No 104087-3 – In re the Matter of the Recall Charges Against Lisa Olsen, Pacific County Commissioner.
On December 26, 2024, I attended the county commissioners meeting along with at least 80 other residents of Pacific County, Washington. We got wind of the commissioners’ scheme to remove jail management from our overwhelmingly elected, constitutional sheriff, Daniel Garcia. They had removed the 911 Dispatch Center from his control just weeks after he was sworn in, now they were hoping to remove the jail. Due to the fact that the county seat is situated a difficult 90-minute drive from where the majority (over two-thirds) reside in this large-land mass but small-population (23,800) coastal county in the southwest corner of this dirty blue state AND it was the day after Christmas, this turnout was remarkable. AND it was storming that day. I drove a SUV full of Peninsula Patriots members through flood waters to support Sheriff Garcia.
NOTE: Linked below are four articles that not only explain why Pacific County Commissioners don’t like Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia, but also detail some of the schemes afoot in Washington State to chip, chip, chip away at voters rights vis a vis electing the sheriff of their choice and taking duties away from him.
WE GOT A CLOSE LOOK AT HOW THE COUNTY DEEP STATE OPERATES
My group learned that the decision had already been made, in violation of OPMA, and that this meeting was only held so they could gaslight We The People who very much appreciated our new constitutional sheriff.
This writer, who spoke at the meeting, counted over 80 in-person attendees among the standing room only crowd. In addition, 150 residents attended via Zoom. I learned later that this meeting was live-streamed on Facebook on two different pages and at least 1,500 around the State of Washington were watching. Many Washingtonians knew that a movement was afoot by Washington’s Deep Staters to reduce the authority of ELECTED sheriffs. Democrats HATE ELECTED sheriffs because they can’t control them.* In 2019 the sheriff in the biggest county, King County (Seattle), came under the complete authority of the governor (the state’s last GOP governor left office in 1985). The 2.3 million residents of King County can no longer choose their own sheriff. The governor now appoints him/her to insure there is no constitutional sheriff to protect the people from government overreach & tyranny like what happened from April 2020 to March 2022. During that period, only Black Lives Matter thugs and Antifa terrorists were allowed to exercise their constitutional rights.
Of the 50 or so attendees who made public comments that day, ONLY ONE (via Zoom) approved of taking jail management away from Sheriff Garcia. With a middle finger to Pacific County residents, all three commissioners voted to take yet another slice of authority away from our constitutional sheriff, following the orders of the highest paid county employee.
The County Administrative Officer, Paul Plakinger (we call him Pukey P.), wanted to take the jail away from the sheriff’s office, so all three commissioners complied. The main excuse they used to set up a new agency for jail functions was, GET THIS, Sheriff Garcia did not handle the aftermath of a previous hanging “properly.” The death occurred during the tenure of Garcia’s predecessor.
NOTE: just weeks before this meeting, the jail manager, Mike Parker SEE PHOTO BELOW, had saved an inmate from hanging himself. Yet, BEFORE this meeting, they had already given him his termination notice. Obviously, the fix was in. Don’t expect logic when Deep Staters want more power & control.
The unelected county overlord who recommended defunding the sheriff and who is now be in charge of the jail, from his safe and overpaid perch at the county administrative office, is the highest paid county employee, making over $117,000, not counting benefits. This, in a county where the average HOUSEHOLD income is $58,889 AND a county that has long been one of the poorest county in the state. It is unknown if his new duties will bring with it an increase in salary. We do know that the cost of running the jail increased.
RECALL RANGERS IS CREATED
Without complying with the statutory requirement of posting public notices in the two small newspapers within the county and by holding secret, illegal meetings in preparation for this proforma 12/26/2025 meeting, the three Pacific County Commissioners voted to remove jail services from the sheriff and create a new, more expensive, agency named “jail services,” unaccountable to the voters. The previous year, the same commissioners had removed the 911 dispatch department from the sheriff and turned it into a separate agency, also unaccountable to the voters and more expensive. Unfortunately, the county commission controls the tax dollars which fund the sheriff’s office.
Residents were mad. There was a huge turnout at a community meeting I arranged on January 5th at the Ocean Park Library. About 60 attended, which was twice the number allowed under the fire regulations. OOPS! Sheriff Garcia^ spoke about the process that cost him the jail and how removal of those funds forced him to terminate the evidence tech who had helped solve five cold murder cases during Garcia’s first two years. He also explained that he was forced to reassign his deputies away from patrol duties to drive prisoners from the jail to the courthouse for their hearings and wait until the hearing is over so they can drive them back. Jail employees are not trained to handle those duties. NOTE: The new jail functions now cost the taxpayers more than when it was under the sheriff’s authority.
To add insult to injury, shortly after the recall petition was filed, the Pacific County Superior Court ruled that taxpayers would be paying for Olsen’s attorney fees. The amount was $113,000 several months ago, and counting. Let me get this straight: Olsen broke the law and the court forces taxpayers to pay for her defense attorneys. Something smells.
SUPREME COURT SIDED WITH LAWBREAKING DEEP STATE COMMISSIONER
County residents came together in protest against the disrespect and defunding of our elected and very popular sheriff, forming Recall Rangers which filed a petition against the chair of the county commission, Lisa Olsen. All three commissioners had broken several laws pertaining to openness and transparency yet, for strategic reasons, the leaders of Recall Rangers decided to file the petition against Olsen first.
After gathering 3,500 or so signatures, the recall issue should have been presented to the voters at the regular election last month. It was expected to be successful. In the meantime, the Pacific County Superior Court judge delayed the process so Olsen could appeal. She did and the Washington State Supreme Court ruling was supposed to be issued September 4th. On December 4th the Deep State’s protectors dismissed the recall petition.
Although Commissioner Olsen calls herself a Republican, she is a long time member of Pacific County’s Deep State. She was born and raised in the county and has never held a job in the private sector. Now age 62, Ms. Olsen had been employed by the Tax Assessor’s Office since she was a teenager, rising to the level of elected assessor. In 2016 she ran for and won a seat on the county commission.
The right to recall elected officials is contained in article one of the Washington State constitution, alongside all the other enumerated rights that the drafters wanted to make sure the government doesn’t ignore. These are an individual’s rights, not the “rights” of those in black robes. Apparently, these black robes disagree with the state constitution.
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Without complying with the statutory requirement of posting public notices in the two small newspapers within the county and by holding secret, illegal meetings in preparation for this proforma meeting, on December 26, 2024, the three Pacific …
*A more subtle way of defunding ELECTED sheriffs, whom county Deep Staters don’t like, is to defund them. There are many ways this can be done: 1) Don’t provide him with funds to hire needed deputies; 2) Prohibit him from buying new equipment, such as vehicles & communication devices; 3) Take responsibilities away from him, such as making the 911 Dispatch Center and the Jail separate county into separate agencies; 4) Terminate deputies without his approval; and 5) Likely many more ways of which I am not savvy.
^Daniel Garcia was elected as a write-in candidate in November, 2022, with over 61% of the vote, and took office January 1, 2023. Sheriff Garcia is extremely popular with county residents for many reasons. He is transparent and seeks out our opinions and listens to us. [The man can be seen all over this geographically large county, at all kinds of community events.] Another reason is because he reinstated patrols in certain areas of the county where they have not existed for years. His entire staff supports him because he has made so many improvements, including long, long needed repairs to the jail building, and because he respects them & their ideas. He has increased training, including firearms training. Sheriff Garcia started a cold case unit which has been very successful in solving cases long ignored by the previous two sheriffs.
The author, Diane L. Gruber, is a First Amendment advocate who writes for Substack. She calls her Substack newsletter America First Re-Ignited. Follow me on X @DianeLGruber.
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Wow! I would say it’s hard to believe, but sadly, I know it isn’t. Reminds one of Animal Farm where all the animals are equal, except of course, the pig. Hmmm….