Voters to decide whether city of Pacific will be no more
PACIFIC, Wash. -- The small town saga in Pacific may actually be coming to an end, but only because the city itself may die.
One council member said he's been outright laughed at while trying to make deals with insurance companies. Now the only safe bet may be to stop being a city.
The council voted 5-1 to let citizens answer an historic question: does Pacific live or die?
Council member Josh Putnam called it "a very permanent answer to what we hope would be a temporary problem."
Council members expressed frustration, but they have few options. This summer's arrest of Pacific Mayor Cy Sun wasn't the only worry for the city's insurance company. A round of firings and squabbles with the council led the company to revoke insurance, effective at the end of this year.
"The city is unpredictable in its reaction and as long as that unpredictability stays there, they will not renew our insurance coverage and the citizens are going to be deprived of a city," said city attorney Kenyon Luce.
Putnam has tried to reach out to other insurance companies as the town gets its act together.
"We've gotten very polite laughter from some very professional people," Putnam said.
With no takers and without insurance, come January, the $11.2 million in legal claims against the city become personal liabilities.
"If something goes wrong, they come after the employee, they come after the council, they come after the mayor," Putnam said.
This February, voters will get the chance to kill their own town. The council will continue to plead for insurance help between now and then could even call off the vote.
"Our number one goal is to protect the citizens of the city of Pacific and more than anything, we want to remain a city. We want to stay intact," said Pacific City Council President Leanne Guier.
The mayor was not present at the meeting and a woman who answered the door at his home said he was asleep after returning from traveling.
One council member said he's been outright laughed at while trying to make deals with insurance companies. Now the only safe bet may be to stop being a city.
The council voted 5-1 to let citizens answer an historic question: does Pacific live or die?
Council member Josh Putnam called it "a very permanent answer to what we hope would be a temporary problem."
Council members expressed frustration, but they have few options. This summer's arrest of Pacific Mayor Cy Sun wasn't the only worry for the city's insurance company. A round of firings and squabbles with the council led the company to revoke insurance, effective at the end of this year.
"The city is unpredictable in its reaction and as long as that unpredictability stays there, they will not renew our insurance coverage and the citizens are going to be deprived of a city," said city attorney Kenyon Luce.
Putnam has tried to reach out to other insurance companies as the town gets its act together.
"We've gotten very polite laughter from some very professional people," Putnam said.
With no takers and without insurance, come January, the $11.2 million in legal claims against the city become personal liabilities.
"If something goes wrong, they come after the employee, they come after the council, they come after the mayor," Putnam said.
This February, voters will get the chance to kill their own town. The council will continue to plead for insurance help between now and then could even call off the vote.
"Our number one goal is to protect the citizens of the city of Pacific and more than anything, we want to remain a city. We want to stay intact," said Pacific City Council President Leanne Guier.
The mayor was not present at the meeting and a woman who answered the door at his home said he was asleep after returning from traveling.
Time to dissolve.
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I used to live in Pacific. It should be dissolved, let it become part of Auburn. At least Auburn takes care of it's parks, roads and people. Then Algona will be next.
These little cities shouldn't be incorporated.  I call them Little Play Cities.  They are too big for their britches and should all be dis-incorporated and returned to the counties.
 @Dean Fuller I don't live in Pacific, but does it really need to be a city? Do we need all these small cities with independent police forces, city councils, etc? Â
 @Dean Fuller Not to mention an abusive police chief.......
Assuming for a minute that I believe that the squeaky clean mayor (with the Oregon license plates) truly wanted to clean up corruption, he failed by not following the rules. Rules are often onerous and burdensome but they still allow for a degree of fairness. It sounds like he came in and tried to become a dictator.
Hope Pacific has enough crayons for everyone to vote...
Hey Recall Effort - Still need that  $15,000 to recall Mayor Sun from a City that doesn't exist?
Congratulations City Council and Tracey Apata - you did it! Â
I live in Pacific and see no problem voting for disincorporation as I see no benefit to having a City. Â I blame the entire City council for this mess. Â If they had accepted the voters decision for mayor and worked with Cy Sun from the beginning, this would not have happened. Â It was the City Council who empowered a City Clerk not meeting the requisites of her position to have the Mayor arrested. Â City Council refused to accept any of the Mayor's candidates for unfilled City positions while supporting a business person who doesn't even live in Pacific to lead a recall election. Â We have a police chief with a drinking problem refusing to uphold the law by submitting to a BAC test, a murderer council member, a police force who does little else than hand out speeding tickets between visits to Big Foot Java hitting on the girls. Â I would be delighted to see all of them out of jobs from Calkins to the woman I give my water bill payments to every month and especially the entirely useless city council beginning with Mr. Putnam. Â The City is unable or refuses to take care of City Parks. Â Cy Sun lived up to his campaign promise of ending City corruption by ending the City. Â If everyone had worked at having a more harmonious positive City of Pacific image then maybe Mr. Putnam would not be hearing polite laughter from the insurance industry.
 @OttoMobile Wow! "police chief with a drinking problem". When would you want him to submit to a BAC test? Any time of day? I am not disputing your comment, I am just wondering about the logistics.  Well, I better not meddle in, I am just observing.Â
 @Komo Dragon Chief Calkins has been arrested multiple times for suspicion of DUI and the most recent he refused a BAC test accepting a 1 year suspension of his drivers license.  I would expect any police officer and especially a police chief arrested for suspicion of DUI to submit to a BAC test at the time of their arrest and not work the system to avoid prosecution for DUI.  This is all public record and old news, look it up.
 @Komo Dragon I think he's referring to the fact that Chief Calkins was arrested for drunk driving and refused to give a breathalyzer and went on trial for that.  You're right - you don't live here and so don't know all the details.
There was always something I liked about that mayor. Maybe just that he was different and kind of non-PC, and someone who didn't like bureaucracy? I admit, I tend to like older people who tend to give a rat's arse :-) and tell it how they see it. It's kind of refreshing. Of course, I don't live in Pacific, so I am just entertained by what's going on. I think he reminds me of Ross Perot, a little.Â