EVERETT — A Gold Bar blogger who has filed numerous unsuccessful recall petitions against public officials in Snohomish County has failed to convince the state Attorney General’s office that her latest effort has legal merit.
Anne Block filed recall paperwork late last month targeting Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe. She alleged Roe should be voted from office for deciding not to bring charges in a 2009 case involving allegations of assault on a child.
Block’s recall petition failed on two grounds, Deputy Solicitor General Rebecca Glasgow said in a July 11 memo.
At the time he handled the case, Roe was a deputy prosecutor, and months away from assuming the prosecuting attorney’s job, Glasgow noted. He’s also up for re-election on Nov. 4.
State law is clear that recalls only can be brought against elected officials for alleged misdeeds while they are in office. Meanwhile, recall efforts can’t be engaged within six months of a general election, Glasgow noted.
“The Attorney General’s Office respectfully decines to formulate a ballot synopsis and will not petition the superior court to approve a synopsis or determine the sufficiency of the charges,” she wrote.
Block was joined in this recall attempt by Megan Anderson, of Snohomish, and former county social worker Tamara Dutton, of Bothell. Dutton was a longtime mistress of Aaron Reardon, the former county executive who resigned from office in 2013 after a string of scandals, including over his use of public money in the affair.
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