COUPEVILLE — Island County Commissioner Kelly Emerson and her husband, Kenneth, again have been told no.
Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock last week denied their motion for reconsideration of his dismissal of their lawsuit against Island County.
On the eve of Election Day in November 2010, the Emersons sued her political opponent, John Dean, the incumbent county commissioner, saying he used his position to alert the county planning director and a building inspector to a construction project at the Emerson home on Camano Island.
That act, the Emersons claimed, was intended to kill her political campaign.
The Emersons, however, had not applied for building permits to make improvements and additions to their home, even though they had been told that any development on their property would require approval by the Island County Planning Department. County officials say the Emersons’ property includes a wetlands area, considered sensitive under state environmental laws.
With their motion for reversal, the Emersons wanted to include information from a licensed hydrogeologist who says wetlands don’t exist on the couple’s property. The judge called the move untimely since the information was available but not submitted at the time of the hearing.
Emerson, a tea party Republican, defeated Dean, a Democrat, in the election to represent Camano Island and north Whidbey Island on the three-member board of county commissioners.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Emerson said that her complaint was with the two county employees and Dean, and that she didn’t want to cost county taxpayers money. In January, however, her former attorney amended the complaint to include Island County as a party in the suit.
The motion also sought an injunction to stop the county’s code enforcement and mounting fines against the Emersons.
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