Pacific no more? Mounting legal claims could bankrupt city
PACIFIC, Wash. -- The city and its embattled mayor have been sued by seven former employees and the former mayor, and the city attorney says the claims could bankrupt the city.
In a memo to city employees on Wednesday, Pacific Mayor Cy Sun said, "Everything is OK," that the city will be survive and their jobs will remain safe.
But the eight newly-filed claims could cost the small city several million dollars -- possibly more than it can afford, according to the city attorney.
What's happening in Pacific could be a lyric to a country song. The city council is fighting with the mayor, who is fighting with the police.
When the mayor was arrested trying to cross a police line inside City Hall, he fired the arresting officers on the spot. Now those four officers are each firing back with $1 million civil claim, citing wrongful termination.
On top of those claims totaling $4 million, Pacific Police Chief John Calkins and two other heads of department have each filed a $1.5 million wrongful termination claim.
And the former Pacific Mayor Rich Hildreth has filed a $500,000 claim for defamation of character over Sun's claim that Hildreth is corrupt.
But that's not all.
In addition to the $9 million in claims filed by eight individuals, fired city clerk Jane Montgomery has filed a $2.2 million claim, bringing the total to $11.2 million.
The city attorney says Pacific is only insured up to $10 million, which means the claims could bankrupt the city.
The impending claims and possible loss of insurance have the city council preparing a plan in case the city folds and has to dis-incorporate.
Despite the claims, Sun remained optimistic in his memo to employees.
"I am very confident that the outcome will be just as we are," he wrote. "So, you're in good hands!"
Meantime, the recall effort against the mayor is moving forward. Sun has 15 days appeal. If not, supporters of the recall have four days to collect signatures and get the issue on a special ballot, most likely in December.
In a memo to city employees on Wednesday, Pacific Mayor Cy Sun said, "Everything is OK," that the city will be survive and their jobs will remain safe.
But the eight newly-filed claims could cost the small city several million dollars -- possibly more than it can afford, according to the city attorney.
What's happening in Pacific could be a lyric to a country song. The city council is fighting with the mayor, who is fighting with the police.
When the mayor was arrested trying to cross a police line inside City Hall, he fired the arresting officers on the spot. Now those four officers are each firing back with $1 million civil claim, citing wrongful termination.
On top of those claims totaling $4 million, Pacific Police Chief John Calkins and two other heads of department have each filed a $1.5 million wrongful termination claim.
And the former Pacific Mayor Rich Hildreth has filed a $500,000 claim for defamation of character over Sun's claim that Hildreth is corrupt.
But that's not all.
In addition to the $9 million in claims filed by eight individuals, fired city clerk Jane Montgomery has filed a $2.2 million claim, bringing the total to $11.2 million.
The city attorney says Pacific is only insured up to $10 million, which means the claims could bankrupt the city.
The impending claims and possible loss of insurance have the city council preparing a plan in case the city folds and has to dis-incorporate.
Despite the claims, Sun remained optimistic in his memo to employees.
"I am very confident that the outcome will be just as we are," he wrote. "So, you're in good hands!"
Meantime, the recall effort against the mayor is moving forward. Sun has 15 days appeal. If not, supporters of the recall have four days to collect signatures and get the issue on a special ballot, most likely in December.
Does anyone know about "Valentine Project" and how city is getting money to make this road double wider than West Valley HWY? The business owners on this road are pushed to give space and money to make the road. More than 60% of them voted "NO" to the project in public hearing but City attorney passed the project. Now City is going to face another Lawsuit from those Business Owners on Valentine Road. I wonder how come News Media never asked any question about this project to any Council Members?
Filing a lawsuit and winning one are totally different. Good luck you'll need it. How do 4 officers who never left file for wrongful termination. Let alone a chief who was investigated by KOMO and an independent investigator hope to win wrongful termination when the chief serves at "the mayor's pleasure" and Calkins is back with back pay, which will soon be proven illegal, not to mention none of the 4 officers even took their firing seriously they just kept reporting back to work. AS for HILDRETH you were a public official at the time and as a result your being a public official anyone can say anything they want about you. If you didn't want to be in the limelight with the consequences of not everyone being nice you should have stayed safely hidden in that dump hoarding mess of a house and yard you have. Okay Hildreth here goes: You are corrupt. your are a pig. your are in violation of the noxious weed ordinance, you took public property to build your dump of a green house which you never finished as you never finish anything. And you are a lousy womanizer. You cast yourself in the limelight by becoming a public official so deal with it. Corrupt? Really? You actually argue and think you can sue for that. Hildreth you are not considered a private citizen especially when running for re election. WE DON'T HAVE TO BE NICE TO YOU. Oh and how many years did you have that cat you never bothered to license. Look around at the campaign ads going on Hildreth. Your suit is just as baseless as the sickening suit you and your buddies paid that woman from California to file 40 years later all for show. Take care of that belly of yours Hildreth or the ladies aren't going to keep playing with you
Hildreth while you plan your suit against me you might want to remember by casting yourself in the political limelight with your blogs and interviews after you were kicked out you no longer have the same protection of private individuals. You know this. Your just stirring up trouble again. Another example of Hildreth being able to dish it out but too delicate to take it
Like I said in an earlier post; Pacific and Algona just need to be incoporated as part of Auburn, I think this is the perfect catalyst to push that to fruition. Bye Bye Hazard County!
What does Algona have to do with it? Comment shows total lack of knowledge. Algona is only city with no furlogh days, raises to employees, increased services to residents, passed on statutory tax increase in 2012 and money in the bank. Name another city that can say that!
Two Words: William Larson. Again, another Hazard County incident.
The city mayor should sue the city council. He will win. Hands down and a Slam Dunk. Nuff said.
 @SlimPickens In the works dude along with suing HIldreth, lol. Wait and see. The old guy has other more pressing business at the moments, but don't think he won't get on this too
If you have a basket of apples where some of them are clearly rotten you can only rationlize picking through them in order to save the good ones up to a certain point. Eventually it becomes clear that the only intelligent thing to do is to throw away the whole basket and start all over from scratch.Â
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I do believe the city of Pacific is in desperate need of a whole new basket of apples.
It would probably be a good thing if the City disolved. Mayor Sun was elected because a majority of the citezens were fed up with the corruption that has run rampant in Pacific for years. He just went about fixing it the worng way.
What a pathetic mess from all parties involved.Â
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Well, its a reality show in the making. Maybe TLC will pick it up as a series. Proceeds made can help pay for the legal expenses.
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These law suits vindicate the mayor and show that these employees have been screwing the citizens of Pacific for years, have been conspiring to undermine the mayor, and now have conspired to destroy the city. The mayor was right after all.Â
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And you notice the media doesnât print the court documents. It is clear that someone working at Pacific knows someone at Komo4.com, which results in the slanted articles.Â
 @Doc Savage That's probably true combined with KOMO being desperate to create news
@Doc Savage - What alternate universe are you seeing this situation in?  These lawsuits VINDICATE the mayor? Â
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The nut bag that's singlehandedly destroying the city in his warped version of 'fixing the corruption'?
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By his actions, he's proven that he's as corrupt as the others that are claimed to be corrupt. The only potential difference is that he's corrupt because he's so bloody incompetent and foolhardly in his method that his -supposed- attempts at destroying the existing alleged corruption are so destructive that his actions themselves are resulting in his being corrupt.
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At this point the city deserves to fold. Those that blindly support the actions of the Mayor without realizing that his actions are at best WORSE than those he's supposedly removing for corruption.
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Violating the law, angering EVERYONE except your few supporters and destroying the town while in pursuit of 'corruption' is the plot of a bad movie - not the actions of someone who wants to follow the law while fixing the town.
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He's a lit nuclear bomb in a china shop - he's that much worse that the proverbial bull in a china shop. He may mouth the right intentions - but he's clearly NOT capable of doing it in a manner that will actually fix the town in any way.
 @FormerMarineSgt I think you are saying that people who chose him were "Stupid, idiots" They did not know what they were doing when they elected him? People who chose him are still his supporter and you can see the poll when he was elected.
 @FormerMarineSgt  @Doc Oh right. And the council, the city attorney, the corrupt employees conspiring together, and the drunk Calkins are not the problem.
@FormerMarineSgt What law did he violate?  You can not legally block a Mayor from an office he is entitled to enter. Its in the RCW's.
Pathetic, 4 policeman and 4 ex city workers filing suits against the city, nice to see their civic duty runs deep. Having dealt with Rodger Smith as a business owner in the city of Pacific I can tell you first hand he is the poster child for over reaching, lazy pos government employees that has ZERO respect for business owners in the city.
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 Linda Morris, former community services director, $1.5 millionRoger Smith, former building inspector, $1.5 millionjohn Calkins, former public safety director, $1.5 millionRichard Hildreth, former mayor, $500,000.
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You ex city workers should be ashamed of yourselves.
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I am not endorsing Cyâs actions but there are more constructive ways to deal with the challenges the city faces then quitting your jobs then suing the city that hired you to protect their interest.
@tappsguy - there's hundreds of LEGAL ways to accomplish his goals - he's clueless and clearly incapable of learning what those LEGAL manners of fixing government are.
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He needs to go - as does the town.
Let's see greedy cops, greedy chief of police, greedy ex mayor..................nothing more needs to be said
@Dhnr ah, so it's all the greedy ex-employees eh? The current Mayor's illegal actions are perfectly fine then?
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Gee - it's no wonder this town is about to cease to exist.  You are telling us that one person's illegal actions are justified because of the alleged illegal actions of others.  You're confusing a bad movie plot (so called 'good' cop comes to town, breaks MANY laws to 'get' the bad guys who run the town while nearly leveling the town, but hey - the movie ends before the bill comes due on the 'good' cop)...
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 @FormerMarineSgt Excuse me SGT are you unaware that a 3 month Sheriff investigation turned up squat on accusations of ANY illegal action of the mayor and that's why the King county prosecutor said there was no basis for criminal charges? Of course you don't know because the press barely reported that
 @FormerMarineSgt I am going to ask the same question @SlimPickens asked.  What law did he violate?  What illegal actions?  What are you talking about? Â
@JakeB @FormerMarineSgt @SlimPickens He is not able to answer your questions because he does not understand them. He is in rage and is City council members follower.
This is the first time I've seen this man in something other and jeans, vest and a baseball hat. Even so HE HAS TO GO! Now look at that face - "this is my happy face".
Seems strange that this elected official is driving a car with Oregon plates. Looks like same car he left in last time he drove away from an interview. Wish I could have a car reg. out of WA at times.
He is not taking anybody'd money to buy those cars. He is donating his pay to City and is still being criticized. Thanks to Citizens of Pacific just like yourself.
Although this town has serious issues, I think over the next five years you could see a few dozen "cities" disincorporate and be run by the County or by the larger city next door. There is enormous overhead with the Mayor, chief of PD, etc, etc. They try to put fear into you by saying "no police" but that is not true. You can get as much coverage as you want.
 @Say What Well as it stands, when they need help, the surrounding police departments step in, as they have incorporated their radio/dispatch signals to each other, for backup purposes. I don't think Auburn would want Pacific to become over-run by crime anyhow, since it'd just spill into Auburn anyhow! Hopefully Pacific will be able to help itself though, I think if they just hire the appropriate people to lead the city, this will all go away and be back to normal.
 @Rsills82  @Say What Hiring appropriate people requires the city council to confirm the hiring which they have refused to do so they can say the positions are vacant and blame the mayor yet the court knows differently
 @711 Cares  @Say What Yeah I was referring to what NEEDS to happen, whether they will actually let it happen or not, that's the real problem. If they want the city to survive after all of this, the mayor needs to stop being in the lime light though, as all they are going to do from here on out is nit-pick him to death and try to find every small reason to get on his case.
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At this point, it doesn't look like there is much good at any side of the story, I think it just needs to be put to rest, and figured out internally. Obviously there are a lot of things that are not being said to the media of what's actually going on, it's a big PR mess. Â Hopefully it'll all work itself out, or someone else will step in and work it out for them.
 @Rsills82 I should have said why I believe this. Many small "cities" in WA might have one stop light. They are very small. Best example I can think of is driving East from Everett toward Stevens Pass. I believe several of those towns are incorporated. I can name three towns in my small county I live in that have one stop light. They are barely making it now. If revenues dip like in 2008 many will have no choice but to take County sheriff and fire protection. But these places will be fine. This is not as terrible news as many want to claim. They keep the town name. They are just unincorporated.Â
 @Say What It somewhat reminds me of where i grew up.. just up the hill from Algona/Pacific coveniently. Auburn mailing address, Lakehaven Utility (Tacoma Water), Fife School District, etc. etc. Federal Way School District picked kids up about half a mile from our house.. Across the street from us was Pacific land (technically), we were Auburn..etc, was very strange! But it worked.. a lot of laws were in our favor, being on unincorporated King County, not in any major city (like I said, technically).. so King County and/or sometimes Pacific would come to aid if someone called 911, but usually KC.  I do miss it up there though, a lot less BS than in the city (I live in Kent now, ugh), as well as much quieter!
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 @T-Prop all the other potatohead citizens elected him.  silly me, I voted for Mayor McCheese.
If the city doesn't exist any more then I guess that will end the supposed "corruption" this man says he sees everywhere. Â If he really cared about the city of Pacific he would step down and face his accusers as an individual and not take the whole place down with him. Â He doesn't seem to be that kind selfless leader though. Â He'll most likely take the city with him down the drain.
Why don't the corrupt Council members Step down and let him run the show for a few years? Or give him a chance to prove his words.
 @newsie You are an idiot
Get off of my lawn!!
This is insane! All over this nut job of a mayor. Boot his **s and be done with him.Â
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@RF66 S-Hole is right! Algona to ...
 @RF66, Not all of Pacific is like that and would prefer that my home not be leveled and turned into a park. I think that both sides are ridiculous at this point there are plenty of people in this city who do not fit your description. Maybe it is the people you associate yourself with?
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 @RF66 Then there's the Police Department/Post Office building, then the City Hall/Ghetto car/teenager hangout next to the convenience store there ;)Â
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That place surely isn't getting better!Â
 @Rsills82 Ah yes.  The "Ghetto car/teenager hangout."  Well you must have moved away about 4 years ago.   So what we hung out there.  Did we ever hurt anybody?  I'll have you know that we were a crime deterrent, and many times we stopped drunk drivers and idiots and called the police.  I apologize on behalf of myself and my friends that we couldn't afford brand new cars for your viewing pleasure.  Stereotype, much?  Maybe you should actually talk to people before judging their character.
 @JakeB Yeah I don't think the city is bad overall, I guess it's just the propaganda of the news in the last several months that's got it over-run with hype. I actually didn't mind living in that area, the thing that annoyed me the most were actually the over zealous police officers and their tactics to get speeders, but it wasn't all of them.Â
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I guess it was somewhat of a stereotype, or just me being used to people being up to no good that would hang out like that together, and I do agree, there was not much to do in Pacific.. Once again, I apologize again if I originally offended, as that was not my intent! It was more of a joke than anything. I am really a light-hearted person that tries to be good as much as I can, I try not to offend anyone or be ridiculous with my statements :)
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I am happy that you helped break up the bad apples, as well as stopping people from hurting themselves or others, as that's the main goal if we can help it. It's more than I did while I lived there, I must admit. I had more of an issue with my neighbors (The owners brother of the house we rented), even he eventually got arrested for a DUI with his niece in his car.. lovely man, he was.
 @Rsills82 While I admit that there were a few bad apples, don't let them ruin the whole bunch.  There was no partying while I was there, and I frequented the parking lot, as it was a place to hang out away from home and b-s with friends.  Seeing as how we were across the street from the police station we couldn't be all that rowdy.  A few officers I got to know pretty well, and they understood what we were doing there and told us to keep the place clean, and be safe.  With the exception of a few idiots, we stuck to those rules and were allowed to hang out there.  I made a guess at 4 years because that's about the time we stopped hanging out there.  It had gotten to the point where more idiots were showing up, and ruining the experience for everyone.
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If you lived in Pacific long enough, you know that there is absolutely nothing to do around here, so we found enjoyment in harmless hang out sessions at city hall. Â I apologize to you if we somehow caused you any harm. Â
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Two moments stick out where we stopped people. Â One was a Paranoid Schizophrenic who had gone off his meds. Â Almost ran over 3 of my friends, the other was a motorcyclist who was drunk riding. Â I think drunk is a bit of an understatement though. Â This guy was HAMMERED. Â
 @JakeB Uh.. it's not really a stereotype if it's true. It was teenagers hanging out and partying in a city hall parking lot at all hours of the day/night, being loud. I wasn't referring to peoples' cars, I was referring to people being ghetto in a town hall parking lot loitering ;) I don't have a brand new car, I am not a snooty folk..Â
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I was just saying that it just seemed like people needed a less obnoxious hobby ;) Â I apologize if I offended you.
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Thanks for stopping idiots and drunk drivers, if that's what went happened. Not trying to be hypocritical or stereotypical, just sort of a statement. We are all entitled to our own individualized opinions.Â
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PS. Yes, it was about 4 years ago or so, good call on that ;) I did however also remember the silly cops that like to hang out at that school right there, watching and waiting for ANYONE to go more than 1 mph over the speed limit with their speed traps.. crazy stuff.
He kinda looks like my profile picture. No toys for you!!!
Pacific Mayor Cy Sun:Â The newest poster child and leading candidate for Mr. Curmudgeon 2012??
Pacific, the new "South Auburn"? Not even sure if they would want ANYTHING to do with annexing the red headed step child of SE King County.
Good. I'm sick of hearing about Pacific. Time to move on to the town of Atlantic. What's going on there?