City will cover mayor's legal fees in permit lawsuit

The City of Shelton will cover Mayor Eric Onisko’s legal expenses for a suit brought against him and the city for failing to issue a building permit to a marijuana production facility.

The City Council voted at its regular Nov. 19 meeting to indemnify Onisko, who abstained. The city’s insurer, Washington Cities Insurance Authority, is covering the city’s defense costs.

“The City Council agrees that legal representation and costs associated with the claims against the Mayor shall be borne by the City and covered, as appropriate, by WCIA,” according to the resolution.

Knockfierna LLC sued Onisko in his official capacity as mayor and the City of Shelton for a writ of mandamus Sept. 20 in Mason

County Superior Court.

The writ is used “to compel the performance of an act which the law especially enjoins as a duty,” according to the complaint.

Knockfierna claims the city didn’t timely issue a written determination on the completeness of the project permit application.

The company applied for a building permit for the Mill Street marijuana facility in 2017.

The original permit expired prior to work being completed, so Knockfierna applied for a new permit in 2020, the complaint states.

“The City does not have an indeterminate amount of time within which to decide whether an application is complete for processing or whether additional information was needed, but is required under statute to send the applicant a written response within 14 days of the applicant’s submission of supplemental materials,” the complaint states.

Shelton City Manager Mark Ziegler called the claims “frivolous” before the council vote.

“The city did not issue the permit because their plans did not meet building and fire codes. It was clearly communicated with the applicant a number of times,” Ziegler said.

“The applicant failed to provide the city with information and materials necessary for the city to process the application verifying applicable building and fire code compliance. Staff have been working with the applicant since 2017 to find resolution,” the resolution states.

Ziegler added that Onisko has no authority over the permitting process.

“The mayor has no role in permitting or permit review processes. In my opinion, he was certainly acting in good faith,” he said.

Under the Shelton Municipal Code, city officials are entitled to a defense at city expense when they have acted in good faith, according to the resolution.

Knockfierna wants statutory damages for violation of due process and attorney fees.

The case was removed to USDC Western Washington in Seattle on Oct. 17 because the complaint alleges a federal question, according to Shelton and Onisko’s attorney, Adam Rosenberg with Keller Rohrback in Seattle.

Rosenberg did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.