Actions have consequences.
Former Jefferson County Commissioners Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse have learned that the hard way. (Read more from Brad McElhinny here.)
The two refused to attend any of the commission meetings between September 7 and November 30 last year as a protest of the slate of three candidates nominated by the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee to fill a vacancy on the five-member commission. (Jackson is a Republican. Krouse was a Republican at the time, but she has since switched her registration to the Mountain Party.)
Krouse complained in a Facebook post that none of the three was a “true conservative.” Their protest meant the commission did not have a quorum and therefore it could not fulfill its legal obligation to appoint a replacement or take any other official action.
County business ground to a halt for nearly three months.
Vacant positions went unfilled. The county emergency services agency could not renew its maintenance contract for radio services, which endangered public safety. Grant applications sat idle. A county developer could not retrieve a $1 million bond he had posted even though all requirements were met. (The county ended up paying $18,000 in legal fees to the attorney for the developer.)
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey took legal action to try to remove the delinquent duo from office. A three-judge panel heard testimony consistently reinforcing the argument that Jackson and Krouse failed to do their sworn duty even as they continued to be paid—nearly $9,000 each in salary, plus benefits.
The evidence was overwhelming, and the three-judge panel hearing the case left no doubt in their scathing decision:
This Court therefore FINDS the Respondents willfully ignored this duty, prioritized their own agenda over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County, and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a fifth commissioner in order for the Respondents to advance their own agenda.”
The Court concluded that their actions clearly constituted “deliberate, willful and intentional refusal to perform their duties as Commissioners.”
And so Krouse and Jackson have been booted off the Commission. Interestingly, Jackson is running for the Republican nomination for State Auditor, so her name is on the May 14th Primary Election ballot.
Commissioners take a simple, but meaningful, oath when they assume office to “faithfully discharge and perform the duties of the county commission… so help me God.” Krouse and Jackson violated the letter and the spirit of their oath. They put their personal agenda, which was hazy at best, above the greater good of the county. Appropriately, they have been removed from office.