Update 3:36 p.m. Friday: Marc Brenman executive director of the Washington State Human Rights Commission confirmed that his organization was contacted by Warren Collver, who has had discussions with staff members. They sent Collver a claim questionnaire, Brenman said, but he has not acted on the concerns he voiced as yet.

Update, 12:26 p.m. Friday: SK Parks: Dissolution is Finalized

After 28 years as the governing entity for South Kitsap Community Park, the South Kitsap Parks & Recreation District Board of Commissioners is no more.
Judge Anna Laurie today granted the board’s petition to dissolve, which was filed in Kitsap County Superior Court last month, along with a quit claim deed to the park, which the board has turned over to Kitsap County.
The board had struggled for years to maintain the 200-acre park, which was not supported by taxes, and in April, it reached an agreement with the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners. The county last year pressured the parks board to release the park by bringing suit against it for past election debt.
During prolonged negotiations with the county, board member Margie Rees actively resisted the transfer, while other board members appeared to move toward resignation and eventually acceptance of the arrangement, under which the county has promised to put $2.19 million into the park over the next six years. Rees signed all documents relating to the transfer, however, and said at a celebration of the park’s history June 30 she was ready to work cooperatively with county staff.
Parks board chairman Larry Walker, and board members Rees, Ron Flerx and Mary Colborn were present at the hearing. Not present was board member Warren Collver, whose threat last week to file a discrimination complaint against his own board with the Washington State Human Rights Commission threatened to delay the dissolution. Since four people had filed to run for positions on the board, any delay could have incurred on the board the cost of the November election, an estimated $25,000 to $30,000.
During the hearing, Otto asked Laurie to bar any future claims against the parks board. Laurie refused, but granted the dissolution after no one came forward to file a claim against the board.
Otto said he is not concerned about Collver’s threat. As of Thursday afternoon, no complaint by Collver had been filed with the commission (although he last week said it was “in the mail”), said Otto. Otto on Thursday received an e-mail from Collver, who said he believes he has six months to make a filing. Even if that were true, Otto said, Collver’s claim of discrimination lacks merit.
Collver has complained about a meeting held in a location that, he says, was not adequately publicized and not accessible to people with disabilities. Collver uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis. Otto has e-mails showing how the meeting was publicized, and he said he can prove that his office is fully wheelchair accessible.
Walker said he is relieved that the dissolution is final.
“I am currently unemployed as a politician,” he quipped after the hearing, adding on a more serious note, “I’m glad this is over with. We’ve finally turned the corner. The stagnation’s over, and we’re moving forward.”

10:53 a.m., Friday: As I’m on vacation, I didn’t attend the parks board dissolution hearing today, but I thought you’d all be interested to know Kathryn Simpson just called me to say she was at the hearing, and the parks board is dissolved.

Warren Collver, who had said last week he was planning to file a discrimination complaint against the board, did not attend the hearing, which was presided over by Judge Anna Laurie. Kathryn said she understood that as of 3 p.m. yesterday, there was no claim against the parks board on file with the Washington State Human Rights Commission.

The board’s lawyer, Tony Otto, asked the judge for a ban on any future claim against the board, Kathryn said. The judge did not grant that, but did grant the dissolution and said it would be next to impossible for anyone to successfully bring a claim against a non-existent entity.

Also see a blog comment Kathryn made yesterday:
“As for my post about withdrawing, I need to update the situation. After going to the Auditor’s office Monday afternoon and being told that if we withdrew there would be no “special election filing period” and there would be no elections for SKPRD, I received a call with an about-face from the Auditor’s office Tuesday morning. Their position changed back to what they told us when we filed in June… if we withdraw after June 14th, there would be a special filing period and still there would be a potential for elections in November. Thus, Tuesday I called back the others who had filed (sorry, I couldn’t reach you, Mike) and suggested that the withdrawls be held off pending Friday’s hearing.”

July 13 12:15 – See update below.

Just when everyone thought the end was in sight …

South Kitsap Parks & Recreation District Commissioner Warren Collver, citing RCW 49.60, has filed a formal discrimination complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission against members of his own board and its attorney Tony Otto. The document is in the mail, he said tonight after what was supposed to be the board’s last meeting.
Collver has been a strong proponent of transferring ownership of South Kitsap Community Park over to Kitsap County, but his complaint could delay the parks board’s dissolution process and thereby incur on the board a cost in the upcoming election, estimated by county election officials to be between $25,000 and $30,000.

Tune in to www.kitsapsun.com just a little later tonight as …

Warren Collver speaks his mind.
Larry Walker tears his hair.
Tony Otto, perhaps, wonders why he got into the legal field.
And Kathryn Simpson says, if there were a way, she’d remove herself from the ballot and encourage other SK Parks candidates to do the same.

Like I said before … curiouser and curiouser.

Update: I spoke with Tony Otto this morning and he has assessed that Collver’s claim against members of the board, which could result in a fine up to $10,000, would constitute grounds for a delay on the dissolution of the board.

Karen Flynn this morning said that while the official deadline for candidates withdrawal is passed, the law allows her office to consider on a case by case basis late coming requests for withdrawal. One factor is the deadline for printing ballots and election pamphlets. Flynn, probably speaking for the rest of the SK folks who have followed this story’s bizarre twists and turns, summarized this latest episode by saying, “Ya know, you can’t get it off your shoe.”

The South Kitsap Parks & Recreation District Board of Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Park Vista retirement center in Port Orchard for what will likely be the last time.

The Board petitioned for dissolution last month as part of its agreement with Kitsap County to transfer ownership of the park to the county. A hearing on the dissolution is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 20 in Kitsap County Superior Court, and if no one comes forward with a claim against the park, monetary or otherwise, the dissolution will be finalized.

The board has already signed over the 200-acre South Kitsap Community Park to the county, and at a farewell celebration at the park June 30, even the most ardent park advocates were nostalgic but upbeat about the regime change and ready to move on.

One small cloud on the horizon is a threat made in late June by board member Warren Collver to lodge a discrimination complaint against the board. Collver has not responded to repeated attempts by the Kitsap Sun to contact him.

Parks board chairman Larry Walker recounted the dispute with Collver, who, he said, began sending critical e-mails to him in March. Walker said Collver’s main complaint was in regard to several special meetings held by the board, which, Collver alleged, were in violation of the law. Walker said Collver, who uses a wheelchair, also complained about discrimination on the part of the board. Some of his complaints centered around past discussions about physical access to meetings, which were moved from an upstairs meeting room to a retirement home, said Walker. But Collver also complained of being shut out of the decision-making process.
“He accused every individual board member of trying to sneak around behind closed doors and run secret agendas,” Walker said.
In mid-June Collver had “made noise” about lodging a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission, Walker said. Collver repeated the threat at the parks board’s June 28 meeting. A staff member at the Human Rights Commission verified that Collver had called in May, but no formal complaint had been filed as of today (July 11).

Since the June 28 meeting, Walker learned from a story in the Port Orchard Independent that Collver does not intend to file a complaint. Walker has not heard directly from Collver, nor has parks board attorney Tony Otto, who is uneasy about the lingering pall Collver’s threat to file a formal complaint casts on the potential outcome of the July 20 hearing.

“If he does, it may just delay the dissolution of the park,” Otto said.

And here’s another, slightly more ominous cloud on the horizon. Any delay would be more than just a legal formality. If the board doesn’t dissolve by Aug. 14, it could incur even more election debt, since four people — all advocates of county ownership of the park — have filed for the upcoming election. Their action, said spokesperson Kathryn Simpson, was to ensure that dissolution would occur one way or another, even if the current board balked.

The candidates did not withdraw, even after the board signed papers on June 14 formalizing their intent to dissolve. A 30-day window was required to allow people to come forward with any claims against the parks board before the dissolution can become final.

“I’m just hoping it will go smoothly, and we can put the district to bed,” said Otto.