Members of the Morton City Council convened for their first regular meeting of the year on Monday, Jan. 26, with four out of the five councilor positions now occupied by newly elected councilors.
Morton Mayor Rick Mead and Councilor Jason Sawyer were joined by the new faces of Councilors Maria Gonzalez, Peter Hansen, Jeff Johnson and Jason Knutson.
During the meeting, councilors made nominations for mayor pro tem in the upcoming year. Sawyer was nominated first but the council ultimately voted 2-3 against his nomination — with Gonzalez, Hansen and Johnson voting against it.
Johnson was then nominated, and his nomination was approved by a vote of 3-2, with Sawyer and Knutson voting against it.
Also discussed during the meeting was the possibility of purchasing city-issued cellphones for each council member. Ultimately, the council decided to do more research into the matter to explore possible cheaper alternatives.
Additionally, a local resident asked why a shipping container of unknown origins, which found itself stuck in the Tilton River by Gust Backstrom Park following the flooding event at the beginning of December, has yet to be removed. The container was first observed floating down the river by residents on Dec. 10, with videos posted in the Morton Talks Facebook group, and got stuck on the river bank just before the river passed the park.
Morton Police Chief Cole Cournyer explained that state officials were looking at Alta Alta Forest Products to take responsibility to remove it from the river, as the high water mark where the container ultimately came to rest is on the company’s property.
With the Tilton River being a fish-bearing stream, Cournyer stated Washington state Department of Ecology staff would issue a permit “at no cost,” if Alta Forest Products workers used their heavy equipment already on site to remove the container.
“That was something they have to run up to their big corporate office. They are in the process of doing that, and I have not heard back from them yet,” Cournyer said.
Morton City Clerk LuAnn Ward added Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Lewis County officials were keeping tabs on the container’s removal.
During Monday’s meeting, members of both the East Lewis County Chamber of Commerce and American Legion Post 2015 also pitched their ideas for separate events to celebrate America’s 250th birthday coming up on July 4.
East Lewis County Chamber of Commerce President Rhonda Cornwell had already been at December’s council meeting and announced they hoped to set a Guinness World Record for biggest potluck picnic-style event.
At Monday’s meeting she clarified the chamber’s event would be an attempt to set an official record for attendees for a potluck picnic, and while it wouldn’t be a world record, it would be certified by Guinness Book of World Records staff for their Superlative States records campaign. Cornwell added she was already in contact with Guinness staff to begin planning for their record-setting attempt.
She stated it would take 1,200 people to break, and proposed using Jubilee Park as the location on either June 27 or July 4.
American Legion Post 215 Commander Ed Smith explained he wanted to put on some sort of picnic event to celebrate Independence Day, though he wanted it to be separate from the Chamber’s picnic and to be on July 4. Smith had his eyes on Jubilee Park as the location for the Legion’s picnic, which aside from a barbecue would have games and events for local children.
Both made pitches to the council in order to ask for assistance with permitting and planning for their events. Ultimately, the council wanted more details from both organizations as to their specific picnic plans and file official permit requests before making any decisions about the events.
Given both events would be expected to draw large numbers of people, Ward wanted to talk to the city’s insurance company first to get their opinion on the events.
City-issued cellphones
As for the matter of city-issued cellphones, the idea was proposed by Sawyer. As he explained, it was an effort to increase government transparency and try to restore residents’ trust in the city government he came up with after talking to multiple Morton residents who expressed distrust and frustration to him.
The distrust and frustration stems from the fallout over the past couple of years from former Morton Clerk-Treasurer Tamara “Tammy” Clevenger and former Morton Police Chief Roger Morningstar.
“Folks have asked me how council plans to address the breach of trust in the city’s administrative branches. I believe that using city-issued phones would be one way to help improve the issue of transparency within Morton’s ranks,” Sawyer said.
Clevenger faced federal charges for embezzling almost $1 million in taxpayer dollars from the city between 2013 and 2021. She ended up pleading guilty to the embezzlement charge.
Toward the end of 2025, Morningstar took a plea deal for one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer after he was initially charged with two counts of second-degree identity theft, one count of third-degree theft and abuse of office in December 2024 after it was alleged Morningstar used a city credit card for unauthorized personal purchases.
He had already resigned as Morton’s police chief in 2023 after failing a polygraph examination pertaining to internal investigations of sexual harassment, misused public funds and untruthful statements made on his department application.
With his plea deal, Morningstar was sentenced to 364 days in prison — with all 364 days suspended for two years — along with restitution reserved. Clevenger also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay back the funds she embezzled to the city, on top of an additional $799,000 to the city’s insurance company for the city’s insurance claim, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
Mead estimated city-issued phones for every councilor would cost $10,000, at least initially, including the purchase price of the phones — which he explained was why he opposed getting the phones given the rural East Lewis County community’s already strained budget.
“We talked before about some housing, and one of the big concerns was for our kids that are coming up,” Mead said. “The more that we throw out their money, it’s just creating them a bigger debt, a harder time to live, to make ends meet with the cost of everything.”
Some city officials already have city-issued phones, including Mead and Cournyer, along with many of the city’s public works staff.
Ward explained Cournyer frequently uses his phone not only for official police calls, but to photograph evidence and crime scenes. Public works staff have phones in order to be able to respond to emergency situations at all hours as well, as does the mayor.
Sawyer still argued for the phones, adding that since councilors are currently just using their personal phones for city business, those personal phones could be subject to public records requests. Cournyer stated that in cases where information is requested from a city official’s personal phone, only information specific to the request is disclosed, not all personal information contained on the phone.
Sawyer added city-issued phones could also be voluntary, with councilors having the option not to have one issued if they wanted still.
Johnson explained he preferred communicating via email, as they all had city-issued email accounts already, and it was much simpler to ensure a record of communications was being kept that way. Hansen concurred, explaining he already had two phones with a work and personal, and did not want a third.
Other options were discussed, including official communication apps. Public comment on the issue was allowed, with commenters voicing opinions both for and against Sawyer’s proposal.
Ultimately, councilors tabled the matter, agreeing to revisit the issue at a future meeting with more concrete options and information on where the funding would come from if councilors decide to get city-issued phones.
