By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – The Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office has filed a complaint in civil court requesting that Director of Community Development, Mary Ellen Winborn, be removed from office, retroactive to July 1 of this year, all wages since that time be returned to the County, and a restraining order be granted immediately preventing her from accessing official computers, phones and email related her job.

The complaint stems from the fact that on July 1, Winborn cancelled her voter registration in Clallam County. That’s after she moved to Mississippi in the Spring with the intention of working from her new home through the end of the year to fulfill her tenure as DCD Director. The Prosecutor cites an RCW that reads, “an elective office shall become vacant when an elected officer ceases to be a legally registered voter of the county from which she has been elected.”

Why would Winborn cancel her voter registration, and did she know that doing so would disqualify her from holding office?

“No, I didn’t realize it. I realized, knowing the people as I do, that they would make a stink about it, but I didn’t realize it would disqualify me. And I really don’t think that it does, because I knew that I had other criteria that made me a resident of Clallam County. I’m still a licensed architect in the state of Washington, I have residency there, and I have a driver’s license in the state of Washington.”

Winborn says she cancelled her voter registration only temporarily because she and her husband sold their home in Port Angeles and she rented a new place to maintain a residence in Clallam County, as required. That meant she had to change the address on her voter registration, but she wanted to keep her new address confidential because she says she is being harassed by a former County Commissioner.

Winborn was told that if she wanted to do that, she would have to request an exemption from the Address Confidentiality Program in Olympia.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to cancel my registration, I’m going to get my new address”. They give you a PO Box number, and then they send it to your physical address. So that takes a few days to do that. So, I plan on re-registering. I’m going to get my new address from the confidentiality program either today or tomorrow, at the latest Monday, and I will re-sign up to vote. I mean, that is not unreasonable.”

ACP exemptions are only given to certain victims of crime or stalking, or to criminal justice and elections officials who are the target of threats or harassment.

“I call the ACP and I told them the situation, and they said, “We’re putting you down as being stalked”. And, being an elected official, you can, that’s something new, you can get your address to be confidential. But they didn’t even…they said, “No, we’re just putting you down as being stalked.” That’s what they said. That was their words, not mine.”

Winborn says she has been fulfilling her duties as DCD Director virtually from her new home and coming back to Port Angeles on a bi-monthly basis.

She has 20 days to respond to the summons by stating her defense in writing as to why she should not be removed from office.