Embattled Pacific mayor fires another clerk, comes under fire again
Feb 27, 2013, 10:41 AM | Updated: 11:24 am
Pacific mayor Cy Sun has fired another city clerk just six months after firing her predecessor. (MyNorthwest file)
(MyNorthwest file)
The embattled mayor of the troubled city of Pacific is at it again, firing another city clerk just six months after hiring her following the termination of her predecessor.
Patti Kirkpatrick took the job in September after a Pierce County Superior Court judge ordered Sun to fill seven positions left vacant after employees quit or were fired.
Sun has been under fire for several years. City Attorney Kenyon Luce says Pacific settled with the first clerk for $175,000 for wrongful termination. Sun was arrested last July after breaking into a locked office. And the city nearly lost its insurance coverage at the end of 2012 over the ongoing controversy with the mayor.
Kirkpatrick told KIRO Radio she had no idea what she was getting into when she was hired.
“I was not familiar with the history. I knew there was some controversy but I didn’t do any prior research before accepting the position,” she said.
Kirkpatrick said she only met Sun briefly at her interview before she was offered the job, and had no indication there were any problems before she was fired.
Luce praised Kirkpatrick, calling her “efficient, a top level city clerk, fully qualified.” He told KIRO Radio the mayor’s unwillingness to fill other positions including vacant spots on the police department is taking its toll on the department, with the city that straddles the King and Pierce County line seeing a dramatic increase in crime.
“There’s been almost, I think, a 370 percent increase in car thefts and almost double the amount of burglaries or prowlings. So it’s getting serious,” he said.
While Luce said the city needs to hire a new clerk immediately, Sun made it clear he doesn’t feel much urgency to fill the job. “It could be a while, it could be 10 years from now, or I might die tonight,” Sun told The News Tribune.
As for why he fired her, Sun told the Tribune “She was a new hire on [a six-month] provisionary period, and our relationship just didn’t work out, so I let her go.”
A recall effort to oust Sun was recently put on hold by a King County judge, but critics plan to continue to work for his removal.
