YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakima County Republican Party is continuing with their promise of a recall following no response from Coroner Jim Curtice.
Attorney Zack Stambaugh stated that as of 3:00 p.m. today, Curtice has not responded to the party’s request for his resignation. He now plans to file a petition with the county soon.
Efforts for Coroner Curtice to resign began after a Dec. 10 letter was sent from the Yakima County Republican Party, represented by Stambaugh. In the letter, Curtice was cited to be no longer functioning or qualified for the position of county coroner.
This is the second resignation request for Curtice, with the first coming from the Yakima County Commissioners in October.
These requests follow an investigation by the Yakima Police Department, which alleged that Curtice had taken drugs from bodies at the coroner’s office.
Matt Brown, Chairman of the Yakima County Republican Party, explained why they were doing this in the first place.
“There’s a lot of concerns that we’ve had, and namely, the fact that, you know, Jim himself admitted to doing this,” said Brown. “…We’re trying to make sure we hold our… our elected accountable,”.
Stambaugh, the attorney in charge of the letter and proceeding petition, is currently working on filing the necessary information to the county and aims to complete it by the end of the week. He says that the process is not intended to harm Curtice’s image.
“Our goal really isn’t to drag his name through the mud, but to do the amount necessary to achieve the result of getting a functional public servant back in there and keep our existing coroner staff from quitting their jobs,” he stated.
NonStop Local reached out to Curtice for comment, but have not heard back yet.
