Council rejects fellow member's proposal

Councilmember Crystal Baker brought an item to the agenda during the Monday, July 21 session of Cathlamet Town Council. Having spoken with board members from the Wahkiakum County Historical Society, Crystal, the newest member of Town Council, inquired about the communication between council members and the Historical Society - specifically the museum - from early August to mid November. According to Crystal, a letter was sent on Aug. 5 requesting that Council "not touch" the tree at Strong Park. Much to the surprise of the Historical Society, the Strong Park tree was apparently scheduled to be cut down Nov. 2 or 3, and the tree feller forgot to show up. According to Crystal, the tree feller "was shocked to learn that the Town had not discussed it with the museum prior." Three more letters were sent by the Historical Society to Council on Nov. 6, 8, and 18 and, eventually, the group entered into litigation regarding the tree. During Monday's session, Crystal asked both Town Council and Town Attorney Fred Johnson when the litigation started since the Historical Society has now accrued $14,000 in litigation fees and even offered up the question over whether or not the Town itself should pay the $14,000.

"My concern with it is we have currently put the museum into litigation that has cost them almost $14,000," said Crystal. "It's not a litigation that they would have sought. This is something that has put undue stress on the museum and, if the museum spends all of their resources in litigation, it puts us at risk of losing our museum, and if we lose our museum, from what I understand, the state archivist comes and takes everything we have in the museum, and if they do lose it, I've been informed by several people...if the museum goes under, the Town of Cathlamet ends up with possession of the property."

Acknowledging Council promised "not to cut the tree," Johnson also pointed out he had discussed matters with the Historical Society's original counsel, Joel Penoyar. In response, Crystal said, "I know some of you are walking with board members or are good friends and go out to dinner with them. You couldn't have had this conversation and not put it through litigation? Because it is their tree. Who's legally responsible for that tree?"

Responding, Johnson said, "I didn't change their attorneys. They changed their attorneys. I think it's really silly to say, 'We should then pay their Seattle attorneys all this money' when we didn't make a decision. As far as I know, attorney Joel Penoyar...was doing it pro bono, and they changed attorneys. That's the way the world is."

Stating her case for "protecting the assets of our town," Crystal said, "My biggest concern is because of this dispute over the tree, I don't want to lose an asset to our community, and I don't want our Council or our town to look like we were the cause of losing our Historical Society or that we did undue stress to another nonprofit in our community...If we did any wrong, then I would like us to right that wrong."

Councilmember Joe Baker, in response to Crystal, said, "I don't see where the Town has done anything wrong. They're trying to get a park built on budget or under budget. The town can't afford an extra $14,000 for somebody else's attorney. You make those decisions, you live with them. It's part of life. I would vote not only no but hell no. It's not fair for the Town at all to bear that kind of burden. All we're trying to do is get a park built at budget and if people want to stand up and do something and other people want to hire lawyers, where does it stop? I really believe that the historical society is a huge asset to this town and I want them to keep going, but we should not be carrying their bills. We can't afford it right now. We're under a lot of financial stress and it's going to get a little bit worse and $14,000 here and $14,000 there is real money, so this has to stop somewhere until we know where the town sits financially in a year....This is wrong in so many different ways."

Concurring with Joe, Councilmember Robert Stowe said, "We were told by our attorney that because there were different issues that they were trying to work out between attorneys that the Council should not discuss this in any manner, way, or form...Quite frankly, I'm pleased to know we didn't....I'm sorry [about] their $14,000 bill for their attorney, but I truly do not see how the Town is responsible for their actions....They have an attorney. They're paying him. Why didn't they ask him for better communications? We cannot be held responsible for somebody else's actions."

As the overall consensus of the other four council members suggested they would not be pursuing the reimbursement of $14,000 to the Historical society, Crystal described the overall theme as "bothersome." Noting "a lot of questions are not answered," Crystal said, "It's part of our community and our history, so I would hate to see that go away because of a conflict that happened and we were the bigger entity in it."

For more info, visit townofcathlamet.com.