Pierce County Councilman Jim McCune has been turned away as a candidate for the county's Charter Review Commission because of a possible conflict of interest. County Auditor Julie Anderson, who oversees elections for the county, said Thursday that she denied McCune's candidacy on May 21, about one week after he applied during the candidate filing period May 11-15 for this fall's election. McCune asked Anderson to decline his candidacy on May 20, saying in a message to her that because he's a member of the County Council, he's "not qualifiedGÇ¥ to run for a seat on the commission. Questions had arisen about whether McCune, as a council member, would have a conflict if he is elected to the commission that later this year will begin meeting to review and possibly recommend changes to the charter, the constitution-like document that guides county government. Under election law, McCune can be elected to the commission while also in the elected office of County Council. But it appeared he could have a conflict of interest if the commission discussed or proposed revising the charter's provisions that affect the council, such as term limits or the number of council members. Anderson said McCune "will not appear on the ballot,GÇ¥ and that he "fully concurs with this decision and he understands the conflict.GÇ¥ McCune wasn't immediately available for comment, but his council assistant, Amy Cruver, said in an e-mail that he "did remove himselfGÇ¥ from the running for the review commission. Voters countywide will elect the 21-member commission, which will be comprised of three members for each of the seven council districts. Cruver is a candidate for one of the seats for District 3, which McCune represents. After the general election in November, the panel will spend about six months reviewing the charter and recommending possible changes of it. Any proposed amendments would be decided by voters in the 2016 election. McCune had two opponents for the commission's Position 2 in his district GÇô Bruce Lachney, a former candidate for the council and the state Senate, and Richard Thurston. They remain in that race. The district, which includes Graham, Eatonville and other communities in the county's south end, has three candidates for Position 1 (Cruver, Marianne Lincoln and Jason Bergstrom) and four for Positon 3 (John Seidl, Patrick Durr, Kerry Hooks and Greg Hartman).
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