Lawsuit claims Olympic Medical Center commissioners violated Open Public Meetings Act

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Open government advocates in Clallam County are pushing back against how local healthcare leaders handle public business. A lawsuit filed in Clallam County Superior Court accuses the Olympic Medical Center Board of Commissioners of multiple violations of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act, centering on a contentious bond refinancing package passed during a rapid succession of summer meetings.

Filed on Friday by Olympia resident Arthur West, the legal action names Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2, doing business as Olympic Medical Center, alongside six individual board members, aspeninsuladailynews.com reported. The complaint targets decisions made during three separate sessions held on July 15, July 27, and July 29.

The July Meetings Under Scrutiny

The friction began on July 15, when the board failed to lawfully dispose of or continue a pending motion regarding Resolution 573, a measure designed to refinance district bonds. According to the lawsuit, the motion simply vanished from active consideration without any order of continuance entered in the official minutes or posted in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW.

Things escalated on July 27, when commissioners convened for a special meeting. At the outset, officials announced that no action could be taken because of a scheduling oversight that breached public meetings statutes. While the board discussed the bond refinancing resolution, they did not vote. Yet, the lawsuit argues that conducting deliberations during an improperly noticed meeting violated the law.

Complicating matters further, the board convened an executive session during that same July 27 gathering to evaluate the performance of a public employee. Scheduled to conclude at 5 p.m., the closed-door session stretched until 5:05 p.m. without a public announcement extending the time, a direct violation of state transparency statutes requiring precise scheduling for closed sessions.

A Two-Minute Vote and an Unserved Defendant

Just two days later, on July 29, the board held a special meeting that lasted all of two minutes. In that brief window, commissioners voted unanimously to approve Resolution 573. The lawsuit highlights that the meeting minutes reflect no presentations, staff reports, public comments, or deliberations of any kind.

Because the underlying financial discussions occurred during the contested July 27 session, the plaintiff argues the final vote should be declared null and void. The complaint asks the court to penalize commissioners Phil Giuntoli, Tom Oblak, Nancy Field, Carleen Benson, Gerald Stephanz, and Thom Hightower $500 or $1,000 each for knowing participation in the alleged violations.

As of late October, the hospital district had yet to receive formal service of the complaint. Bobby Stone, OMC’s marketing and communications director, confirmed that the organization had not been officially served.

Enforcing Public Access Through the Courts

Arthur West, who is not an attorney, has a long history of filing transparency lawsuits against municipal entities across Washington, including governments in Seattle, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Jefferson County. He did not reach out to the hospital board before filing the paperwork.

That’s what you do when an agency violates the act, West said, as reported by the Peninsula Daily News. The OPMA doesn’t get enforced unless citizens enforce it.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to bar future transparency breaches, alongside statutory costs and penalties. Whether the court will unwind a multimillion-dollar bond refinancing over scheduling and notice errors remains to be seen as the legal challenge moves forward in Clallam County.

Olympic Medical Center

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