‘Incredibly frustrated.’ Thurston commissioner speaks out about response to Clouse’s suspension
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Commissioner Clouse investigation and fallout
Thurston County’s commission removed Emily Clouse from her appointed advisory boards and commissions on Aug. 13, 2024, after receiving a sexual harassment complaint from her executive aide.
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Thurston County Commissioner Carolina Mejia said she felt “disappointed and incredibly frustrated” by public comments supporting her suspended seatmate Emily Clouse.
“These past three weeks have been a waste of government resources, taxpayer money and a huge emotional burden,” Mejia said. “I’m disappointed because I’ve seen what I myself have experienced and what other people of color experience over and over in these systems.”
Mejia shared her perspective during a Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday. This marked Mejia’s first public statement on an ongoing investigation into a complaint against Clouse — a situation that prompted Mejia and two other Commissioners to temporarily suspend Clouse from her appointed boards and commissions.
After Mejia spoke about the matter, she excused herself from the meeting and did not return after a 20-minute recess. However, Mejia later rejoined the rest of the board for a Transportation Benefit District board meeting.
“I myself have been scared to speak out because it’s easier to believe the white woman tears and easier to paint the narrative of an angry brown woman,” Mejia said. “It’s easy for her to say that I don’t like her, and for people to believe her, than for people to know why I’m keeping my distance and the way she has made me feel.”
Mejia went on to say Clouse has used “her position of power and system” and made it “work for her.”
“This is the reason that people of color are afraid to speak up and to confront because the only time people care to hear about our side of the story is when we’re lying dead on the street.”
County officials have refused to describe the nature of the investigation into Clouse. So far, the public has only been able to glean information from broad statements made by Clouse’s attorney and other county commissioners.
Maia Robbins, Clouse’s attorney, said last week that the county is investigating a “brief dating relationship” that Clouse had with a “colleague at work.”
“She is cooperating fully with the investigation, and looks forward to its conclusion, which will reveal nothing more interesting than someone dating their coworker: something that happens every day in America’s workplaces.”
Robbins also called the decision to suspend Clouse a “regrettable exercise in overkill and not warranted by the actual circumstances of the relationship.”
Clouse referred The Olympian to her attorney when asked to comment about Mejia’s statement on Tuesday. The Olympian is awaiting a response from Robbins.
In her remarks on Tuesday, Mejia called attention to the person who made the complaint against Clouse.
“None of you have ever cared to think about how the person who stepped forward is doing,” Mejia said. “How they deserve accountability, how their mental or emotional health is doing.”
Mejia then preemptively addressed potential criticism for her remarks about race.
“Before anyone says I’m making this a race issue, I am laying out the truth of my experience and the experience of people of color,” Mejia said. “How did your attorney put it? Something that happens every day in America’s workplaces.”
She closed her remarks by saying she did not choose to suspend Clouse out of “political vindictiveness.”
“I have nothing politically to gain from this and honestly, not what motivated me to run or why I continue to serve,” Mejia said. “I’m holding Commissioner Clouse to the same standards of what I would expect from any elected official in this community if confronted with a complaint like this.”
Notably, Mejia previously conveyed to The Olympian that she would not comment on the situation involving Clouse until after the investigation was complete.
Public comments in support of Clouse
Jeff Sowers, a Thurston County resident who previously worked on Clouse’s campaign, told the County Board he felt “shocked” and “appalled” to learn that the board voted to suspend Clouse.
“I understand there’s been a complaint, but to take this kind of dramatic action against another commissioner before the investigation has even begun is premature and outrageous.”
Sowers said he felt the actions against Clouse were “underhanded and undemocratic.” He said the board has stripped her of her ability to carry out a large part of her executive functions and he wants her to be able to do the job she was elected to do.
“I read that you thought you were doing this as a precautionary measure,” Sowers said. “Well, it doesn’t seem very cautionary to me. It’s kind of a bold and dramatic action that I think has questionable legality.”
Sowers also thanked Commissioner Tye Menser for sitting out the executive session where Commissioners Mejia, Gary Edwards and Wayne Fournier voted to suspend Clouse.
“He fortunately had the good sense to listen to the county prosecuting attorney and did not participate in this,” Sowers said.
Menser told The Olympian on Monday that he supported the investigation into the complaint against Clouse, but did not support the move to suspend her.
Syd Locke, a west Olympia resident and Democratic legislative aide who is running for a 22nd Legislative District seat, echoed what Sowers had to say and asked the board to reconsider Clouse’s suspension.
“I feel like it’s premature,” Locke said. “You should wait until after the investigation is completed.”
Locke said he feels Clouse’s suspension was punitive.
“It’s not just punitive to Commissioner Clouse, but it’s punitive to all the people who voted for her, all the people who support her,” Locke said. “Because we want a commissioner who can fully participate and right now, we’re not getting that.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 6:26 PM.
