FRANKLIN COUNTY, Wash. – The Office of Public Defense Coordinator for Franklin County has resigned, the second public official in the county to leave their position within a month
The resignations come amid an investigation on multiple county officials for alleged misconduct, including Commissioners Rocky Mullen and Clint Didier and Auditor Matt Beaton.
Whitney Conner publicly announced the resignation on July 9 via Facebook, stating that “there has been some in county leadership that have simply made it impossible for [her] to continue working for Franklin County.”
July 9 was also her final day in office.
Conner is the second public official in Franklin County to resign within the last month, with former County Administrator Mike Gonzalez announcing that he was stepping down during a meeting on June 18.
Later that month during a Board of Commissioners meeting on June 26, Didier moved to terminate Gonzalez “for cause as administrator of Franklin County” in a severance disagreement, which failed to get a second and was immediately followed by a motion placing Gonzalez on paid administrative leave.
Conner’s full notice of resignation can be found here:
Franklin County,
Please accept this as my official notice of resignation.
Over the past 8 years I have dedicated my career to serving Franklin County. When I started, the Franklin County Office of Public Defense had just been created after severing from Benton County. Since then, we have evolved into a professional, fully staffed office that has weathered many storms and still found a way to be fiscally responsible while providing the required constitutional right to counsel.
Over the past several months there has been some in county leadership that have simply made it impossible for me to continue working for Franklin County. The constant stress of being treated like an expendable pawn in political games has become too much. This decision has not been made lightly but appears to be necessary so that some in county leadership can get back to serving the citizens like true public servants instead of looking for ways to undermine and disparage my character and work ethic.
My last day in the office will be July 9, 2024.
Sincerely,
Whitney Conner
