An attorney who investigated Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson for allegedly creating a hostile work environment concluded that he was unable to substantiate the accusations in the complaint, according to the two-page executive summary.

“Most importantly, no one I spoke with stated that Commissioner Johnson treated anyone differently based on protected status or engaged in discriminatory behavior; in fact, the feedback I received was just the opposite,” Bellevue attorney Jeffrey James wrote in the document.

Documents obtained by the News-Times through a public records request state that Commissioner Janet St. Clair was the “primary complainant,” but she declined to comment for this story.

Johnson has repeatedly stated in the past that she is working on her “tone” in public meetings. At a meeting seven years ago, she made headlines by calling Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks a “snake” and accusing him of lying.

Yet Johnson denies that she has ever created a hostile environment and asserts that the complaint was an attempt by a couple of Democrats to silence her. Johnson, a Republican, points to Banks and St. Clair as being responsible for the complaint and investigation, which she said has affected her ability to do her job.

St. Clair is a Democrat. Banks was elected with no party preference, but he first ran for office 25 years ago as a Democrat.

“Unfortunately, this has sidelined me during the budget discussions because I didn’t want anything to be seen as retaliatory,” Johnson said in an interview, adding that she felt like she was “walking on eggshells” for the last few months.

James was hired by the Washington Counties Risk Pool in September in response to a confidential complaint forwarded by Banks, the report states.

The News-Times received documents related to the complaint through a public records request. The Washington State Risk Pool released 60 pages of emails between risk pool and county officials. The text of all the emails were redacted based on attorney-client privilege exceptions.

The final two pages of the documents, however, includes a “general claims executive summary,” which states that St. Clair was the primary complainant but does not indicate the basis for the complaint.

Earlier this month, Commissioner Melanie Bacon, a Democrat, gave a short speech in which she said she couldn’t support either of her colleagues as the 2026 chairperson of the board because of their ongoing in-fighting, which she described as “hurtful stuff.”

In the executive summary of his investigation, James wrote that he spoke with Johnson, St. Clair, Banks, county Risk Manager Susan Geiger, Human Resources Director Catherine Reid, former Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and a former clerk of the board.

James was unsuccessful in trying to contact former County Administrator Michael Jones; the News-Times was also unable to reach him. James wrote that he asked Bacon if she had any information she wanted to share, but she declined.

Bacon also declined to comment to the News-Times about the complaint or investigation.

James wrote that he read handwritten notes from Jones’ complaint to Human Resources about Johnson as well as a written complaint from the former clerk of the board. Johnson said she didn’t see the complaint from Jones, but she admitted that she once publicly accused him of lying — because he did, she added.

The attorney did not mention two other complaints against Johnson that were made by staff members in 2017. The News-Times obtained the complaints at the time; they accused Johnson of screaming in Banks’ office and then using profanities as she was leaving, which left a staff member feeling shaken.

In addition, James wrote that he reviewed archived recordings of meetings.

In his summary, James wrote that Johnson is “passionate about her job” and feels responsible for holding county personnel, fellow elected officials and vendors accountable “when she feels they are failing to meet expectations.”

“Her methodology has generated some complaints in the past,” he wrote. “She has striven to receive and respond to feedback, which seems to be working: according to Ms. Reid and others, there are no pending complaints against Commissioner Johnson. Additionally, she has been re-elected multiple times by her constituents.”

Johnson agreed with the conclusion.

“I get that people don’t like confrontation, and they especially don’t like it in public,” she said, “but this is a job that demands transparency.”

In addition, Johnson emphasized that she is the only Republican on the board and said she feels the need to be outspoken in order to get her “minority opinions” across.