Incumbent back on ballot; Hughes denies allegations
Until a few days before the August primary election, the position of Okanogan County coroner had only one candidate — Rojean (Jeannie) Hughes, who has worked as a volunteer deputy coroner in Ferry County.
But things took an unexpected turn when David (Dave) Rodriguez, who has served the past eight years as coroner and had announced his retirement, entered the race as a last-minute write-in candidate and garnered more than enough votes to get on this fall’s general election ballot.
Rodriguez said his decision to challenge Hughes for the seat followed discussions with a number of county residents who were concerned by questions related to Hughes that were raised during a public candidate forum in Tonasket in July.
According to people at the forum, and Hughes herself, an audience member asked if she took money and a car belonging to two Republic residents after their death, and whether she had been ordered by a judge to return the car. Hughes denied the allegations at the forum and also in an interview with the Methow Valley News. “All of that is false,” she said.
Hughes told the News that she was not the deputy coroner on the case in question; she said the county has two other volunteer deputy coroners. At the forum and in the interview, Hughes said she had not been ordered by a judge to return a car belonging to deceased persons, but a judge had “suggested” she turn it over to an attorney.
Concerns raised
The allegations made at the Tonasket candidate forum in July raised concerns among people attending the event, including Teagan Levine, chairman of the Okanogan County Republican Party. “Some questions got asked [at the forum] and I was like, ‘What?’” Levine said in a recent interview.
“Several people came up to me afterwards and said, ‘What is the county [Republican] party doing?’ My phone was blowing up,” Levine said.
Subsequently, some people considered filing as write-in candidates and contacted Rodriguez to learn more about the coroner job, while others urged Rodriguez to reconsider running for another term, Levine said.
After being contacted by concerned citizens, Rodriguez said he “got documents that were available through public disclosure” from Ferry County and Okanogan County. “Based on the information I reviewed … I’d like to provide voters with an alternative,” he said.
Ferry County Sheriff Ray Maycumber and Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley confirmed that their offices are conducting investigations that involve Hughes. Maycumber said a deputy in his department is conducting the investigation after three Ferry County residents made “a good number of allegations” against Hughes. “Nothing we’ve found so far has been criminal,” Maycumber said last week.
Complaints being investigated are related to property that belonged to a brother and sister in Republic, both disabled older adults, who died on the same date last November, Maycumber said. He said Hughes had been helping the brother and sister, as well as a surviving sister, for many years with daily activities. After the brother and sister died, some citizens began raising questions about “uses of money” and power of attorney related to the decedents’ estate, Maycumber said. “It’s a large — so far, civil — mess.”
The Okanogan County sheriff’s office initiated an investigation last summer after “a concerned party came into my office and talked to me directly,” Hawley said. He said he could not provide further information about the investigation.
Write-in effort
A “vetting committee” of the county Republican Party met separately with both Hughes and Rodriguez shortly before the Aug. 2 primary election, Levine said. Rodriguez decided to enter the coroner race as a write-in candidate only five days before the election.
Levine said she sent out information via social media and email to voters, advising them that there was a write-in candidate for the coroner’s position. Rodriguez needed to receive at least 250 write-in votes to qualify for the November ballot, but he was dubious about succeeding on such short notice, and because some people had already voted and returned their mail-in ballots. He tallied about 1,300 write-in votes.
Rodriguez said he is campaigning on his own merits and his work as the county’s first elected coroner, rather than bringing up the questions raised about Hughes. “I have no intent of trying her in the newspaper or on the campaign trail or in a public forum. I’ve been to four or five candidate forums. I purposely steer away from this whole topic,” he said.
Levine said Rodriguez has been endorsed by the Okanogan County Republican Party in the coroner’s contest.
Hughes’ response
Hughes told the News that she had been helping the adult brother and sister, who had mental and physical disabilities, for 20 years before they died last November. She said she assisted them with things like shopping and home repairs, and purchased furniture and appliances for them with her own money.
“We felt like family. They were the sweetest people and needed help,” she said. Hughes said she worried that some people were “trying to take advantage of them.”
Hughes said the man’s death was determined to be related to COVID-19, and the woman’s death was due to heart failure. She said no wills have been found.
Hughes said she said she is also helping the surviving sister, who also has mental and physical disabilities, and has used a car owned by the deceased siblings to help transport and care for the sister. She said the woman was weak after being hospitalized with COVID-19 at the same time her brother and sister died, and was unable to get into a truck that Hughes drives.
Hughes said a judge had suggested, but not ordered, that she turn the car over to an attorney. She said she still has the car at her house and is concerned it could be repossessed due to late loan payments. “I talked with the [Ferry County] sheriff’s department, and they agreed it should stay here until the payment issues are resolved,” Hughes said.
Maycumber said when the brother and sister died there was not an executor for the estate, which complicated matters related to questions about money and property that belonged to the siblings. A “person of authority” was recently designated as a spokesperson for the estate, he said.
“It’s been a very messy civil thing so far,” Maycumber said. “It’s more a matter of people arguing about promises made before someone died. It’s too bad, because none of these people involved in this have been selfish … they’ve all helped out in one way or another with this family. I suspect if the political season wasn’t going on, the climate would be different.”
Coroner candidate statements
The Methow Valley News requested statements from the candidates for Okanogan County coroner in the upcoming November election. Washington State law provides for the creation of an elected office of coroner in counties with a population of 40,000 or more. In counties with populations less than 40,000 the duties that normally fall to a coroner are carried out by the county’s prosecuting attorney and appointed deputies. In 2014, after surpassing 40,000 residents, Okanogan County created an elected coroner position with a four-year term.
Rojean (Jeannie) Hughes, Republican
I have been building my life with my husband, Denny Hughes, for 32 years; we have three children and six grandchildren. I grew up in Bellingham. Denny and I moved to the Colville area in 1992, falling in love with the Republic and Tonasket area and staying to retire in the Aeneas Valley.
Being a coroner is a job most people do not want to have. With my 20 years of experience as a volunteer deputy coroner in Ferry County, when the opportunity arose with no one running for the position of Okanogan County coroner, I felt it was time for me to serve the people Okanogan County, where I live.
I have training in Basic and Advance Death Investigation, SIDS Death Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation and many more years of training. I was an EMT in Ferry County as well as with the Colville tribe. I have been a First Aid CPR Instructor, teaching at Republic High School, Kinross Employees, and other places. I served the American Red Cross as a volunteer, helping for nine weeks after Hurricane Katrina, in different states.
The primary duties of the coroner are to investigate unattended deaths, take care of the deceased, order autopsies when needed, determine the cause of death, sign death certificates. The coroner also identifies next of kin and informs the family of the death, and keeps the family up to date on any investigation.
Aspects of the coroner’s office I would like to improve is having more than just one person working for the coroner’s office, to help cut down on response time. With Okanogan County being the largest in the state, response can be one to two hours, that is a long time to be waiting with a deceased loved one.
David Rodriguez, Republican
Okanogan County has been my home for 33 years. It’s where I’ve raised a family and served my community in many different capacities. Many of you already know me because we worked together in the U.S. Forest Service or responded in the middle of the night together to a medical emergency as an EMT with Aero Methow Rescue Service. A lot of you may remember me as Deputy Rodriguez with the sheriff’s office answering the call when our citizens’ safety and security were threatened.
Eight years ago I became Okanogan County’s first elected coroner. At that time I promised you I would work with county officials, first responders, law enforcement investigators, funeral homes, the medical community and the public to establish a professional coroner’s office. Not only do I believe I’ve been successful, but I invite you to ask any of these public service professionals if I’ve kept my promise.
We’ve been through a lot and challenges have been numerous since taking office. Being the coroner during a global pandemic, an opioid overdose crisis and wildfire tragedies has been difficult and heart-breaking. Additionally our county has seen an increase in suicide and homicide deaths. Yet in spite of these difficult times I can say that every death is reviewed properly and each individual and every family member is treated with respect and dignity.
What’s coming next for our county and our nation? I don’t know. What issues will this office face? Again, I don’t know. What I do know is that whatever comes, my office will confront it with irreproachable ethics, compassion and professionalism.
