Amid ongoing conflict with seatmates on the Thurston County Board of Commissioners as they have thus far refused to reinstate her to boards and committees during a workplace investigation, Commissioner Emily Clouse has been dealing with a driving infraction in Lewis County District Court.
Clouse was briefly the subject of a $5,000 arrest warrant last month after not appearing in court.
“Once she was made aware of this issue, she made every effort to clear it up,” Attorney Maia Robbins, who is representing Clouse, told a Chronicle reporter on Tuesday.
Clouse appeared in Lewis County District Court on Aug. 30 to be arraigned on a misdemeanor charge stemming from a July 29 incident where a Washington State Patrol trooper pulled her over on Interstate 5 in Centralia for driving with a suspended license, according to court documents.
A judge found her guilty Aug. 30 of operating a vehicle without a valid license and ordered her to pay a $150 fine.
On July 29, a Washington State Patrol trooper pulled Clouse over on northbound Interstate 5 near the Harrison Avenue on-ramp in Centralia after looking up her vehicle’s license plate and confirming Clouse’s license had been suspended due to “unpaid tickets,” according to court documents.
That unpaid ticket was a late fee tacked onto a speeding ticket Clouse received in South Bend earlier this year, according to Robbins. Clouse paid the fine for the ticket, but said she was unaware of the late fee, Robbins said.
Under Washington state law, the Washington state Department of Licensing has the authority to suspend driving licenses if the driver has unresolved traffic citations or moving violations. Because there was still a balance due to the court for the South Bend infraction, that infraction was considered unresolved, Robbins said. Clouse has since paid that late fee and resolved that infraction, according to Robbins.
During the interaction with the trooper on July 29, Clouse reportedly “stated she did not know her license was suspended.”
She was cited for third-degree driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and was directed to appear in Lewis County District Court on Aug. 9, according to court documents. She reportedly was not present for that Aug. 9 hearing, prompting the court to issue a $5,000 warrant for Clouse’s arrest on Aug. 12. The warrant was canceled by the court the next day, Aug. 13.
“There was a miscommunication, and she cleared it up with the court,” Robbins said.
The driving infraction marked Clouse’s second in Lewis County this year, with the first taking place on southbound I-5 near milepost 74 on April 30.
A chief with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office pulled Clouse over for going 80 mph in a posted 70 mph zone southbound on Interstate 5 near milepost 74. During the traffic stop, the trooper noticed the registration tabs on Clouse’s vehicle had expired in June 2022.
When questioned, she “stated she had a lot of parking violations and wasn’t able to renew her registration,” according to court documents.
She was cited for the expired registration and given a verbal warning for speeding.
The citation came with a $247 fine. Court documents do not indicate whether Clouse has paid that fine, though.
With the resolution of her most-recent infraction on Aug. 30, Clouse has no active cases in Lewis County.
Under Washington state law, driving infractions do not affect a candidate or elected official’s eligibility for public office.
Workplace investigation
In an unrelated matter, Clouse was temporarily removed from all appointed boards and commissions on Aug. 13 following an executive session of the Board of Thurston County Commissioners.
Commissioners Wayne Fournier, Carolina Mejia and Gary Edwards voted to temporarily suspend Clouse as what they called a "precautionary measure." Commissioner Tye Menser did not attend that meeting, citing legal advice, and has said he would not have voted to suspend her, though he has supported the subsequent investigation.
Robbins has said the complaint under investigation “concerns the demise of a garden-variety workplace dating relationship.”
Menser motioned to reinstate Clouse to her appointments on Sept. 3 after a report on some of the third-party investigation’s findings, but he was voted down by his fellow commissioners.
"There were some inflammatory allegations that kind of justified that motion (to suspend Clouse) to begin with," Menser said at the time, according to reporting by The Olympian. "Those inflammatory allegations did not appear to be substantiated. We heard our advice from counsel on this issue and I'm really confused as to why we wouldn't restore the commissioner to her assignments at this juncture."
Last Friday, though, Menser signed on to a statement with Fournier, Mejia and Edwards saying that questions remain about Clouse’s judgment and conduct after some accusations were ruled out as part of the workplace investigation.
"The board appreciates the patience of the public and staff as it works through what has become a very distracting situation," the commissioners said in the statement.
They added: "The initial verbal report from the investigator ruled out some aspects of these accusations; however, there remain questions from the board about Commissioner Clouse's judgment and conduct as it relates to the details of the situation.”
Robbins has said Clouse could pursue legal action against her fellow commissioners if she is not reinstated to the boards and commissions where she represents the county.
According to a county biography, Clouse’s appointments include the animal services committee, the disability board, the emergency food and shelter program, the law and justice council, ORCAA, the regional housing council, the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative Executive Committee and the Thurston-Mason Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization. Clouse also serves as the vice chair of the Regional Housing Council and is a member of the Board of Health.
According to her Thurston County biography, Clouse graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma) with a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in global engagement.
A Democrat, Clouse was elected to the Thurston County Board of Commissioners with 59.9% of the vote during the 2023 election. Clouse was sworn in during a November 2023 commissioners meeting.
