05/13/2026
Tax payer dollars wasted
County Commissioners weigh legal costs as Bromm Lawsuit expands
By Lynnette Hoffman
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners met last week to discuss the recent lawsuit filed against Lewis County - the lawsuit filed by former Coronerâs Office employee Paul Bromm. The suit names multiple county officials, and now the question on the table is whether Lewis County taxpayers will once again be footing the bill.
The commissioners discussed whether the county should cover legal fees for the county-side defendants. The decision is currently in the hands of two commissioners.
On Tuesday, April 28, the Board of County Commissioners met to discuss the lawsuit. Commissioner Swope had to recuse himself since he is named in the lawsuit. Commissioner Scott Brummer made a motion to cover all of the individualsâ attorney fees and Dr. Po***ck did not second the motion. The motion died for lack of a second. Dr. Po***ck instead wanted to speak with outside counsel to determine if the case has any merits and if this is a liability for the county and the individuals who spoke out that are named in the lawsuit.
After reviewing the lawsuit, many residents say the situation is not as clearâcut as Commissioner Swope and his associates have suggested. One key point raised in the filing is that Bromm was not on duty when he made the post in question; according to the lawsuit, he was off the clock, though still wearing his county uniform. The content of the post angered some officials because it spoke critically about a public figure who had been assassinated. While many found the post inappropriate, others argue that the broader issue is what it means for free speech in Lewis County. They note that if expressing an opinion on personal time can lead to termination simply because it conflicts with certain viewpoints, it raises serious concerns about how employee speech is treated within county government.
It really is more about what happened after the post went public. Commissioner Swope immediately started a campaign to fire Paul Bromm. Swope literally applied public pressure to our coroner as seen in Swopeâs facebook posts. Next you see letters from Chief Andy Caldwell from Centralia and Sheriff Rob Snaza sending letters to the coroner letting him know that his deputy coroner was not to be involved in any of their cases. Bromm has had no discipline actions before this and now everyone who Commissioner Swope was pals with were suddenly against the deputy coroner. This was a small gang of individuals who felt they had the power to remove someone and they pushed it to the point where the prosecuting attorney advised the coroner to fire said employee. You can see that the coroner was trying to get the right answer from everyone, he was instead overrun with the political power that Swope wielded along with his cronies.
The interesting thing about the prosecuting attorney popping into this game is that the civil division of his office had already informed the coroner that they could not fire Bromm. Before long, letters were going out, the Prosecuting Attorney became involved, and what several people described as âCommissioner Swopeâs circleâ appeared to line up against one individual simply because he didnât share their views.
This is not the first lawsuit Commissioner Swope has gotten the county into based on his own personal agenda - this is the third. When will Commissioner Swope recognize that taxpayers are exhausted by the constant stream of legal bills triggered by his comments and the chain reactions that follow? In the Bromm case, it appeared to many observers that a group of county officials simply didnât like what Bromm had to say. It looked less like a personnel issue and more like a coordinated effort to push him out â not just to fire him, but to break him down entirely.
Shortly after the firing, Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer issued a Brady Letter, effectively making it impossible for Bromm to continue working in his field. According to those familiar with the situation, Bromm did not have a history of discipline issues â he gave his opinion, and they disagreed. The decision to issue a Brady Letter rested solely with Meyer. For years, many have raised concerns that Meyer has not applied the standards for Brady Letters consistently.
For now, Dr. Po***ck must rely on outside legal counsel because the prosecuting attorney is named in the lawsuit, and she is expected to follow that advice in deciding how the county should proceed, often standing alone against two commissioners who routinely agree with each other and have doubled down on past lawsuits the county has already lost.
Lewis County faces significant risk in this case, with unavoidable attorney fees and the potential for far higher costs if the county loses in federal court. Brommâs legal team specializes in civilârights and employment cases, adding to the countyâs exposure. Lewis County has already lost two lawsuits tied to actions involving Commissioners Swope and Brummer, and more than $1,000,000 in taxpayer funds has been spent over the past four years on disputes critics describe as personal rather than governmental. Commissioner Brummer and Swopeâs involvement has cost the county an estimated $250,000 per year in legal fallout, and he has said he would make the same choices again. These mounting expenses have led many residents to question when county leadership will recognize that such decisions are not serving the interests of county government.
Many residents say the broader issue now extends beyond the Bromm case, pointing to a pattern of county resources being consumed by disputes involving Commissioners Swope and Brummer and calling for greater accountability in how taxpayer funds are used. Critics argue that repeated involvement in outside controversies â from local nonprofits to municipal politics â has strained public trust and county reserves, while others note that when elected officials represent only a narrow segment of the community, the rest of the county is left without a voice. With the lawsuit now resting solely with Dr. Lindsey Po***ck, residents acknowledge that she faces a difficult and consequential decision, and many say they trust she will weigh the facts carefully and choose the path that best protects the longâterm interests of Lewis County.
