Two separate police agencies investigated where he really lived.
Both of them proved he was lying.
Morfin claimed he lived in a house inside Toppenish so he could take a vacant seat on the City Council. After a resident complained, he doubled down and repeated the claim. Then officers from two different police agencies went looking — and proved he was lying. Not only did Morfin not live in the right district, he did not even live in Toppenish.
“The evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that Mr. Morfin does not reside at 327 South Division St. … It is likely that his declaration of residency in Toppenish was made to meet city council eligibility requirements rather than reflecting an actual place of residence.”
— Cmdr. Christopher Mason, Richland Police Department · Feb. 27, 2025 · RPD 25-008280
RCW 35A.12.030 — Eligibility to hold elective office. No person may hold elective office unless they are a registered voter of the city and have been a resident of the city for at least one year preceding the election.
Morfin didn’t just say he lived in Toppenish. He put it on a signed application for the council seat — under a penalty-of-perjury declaration.
“I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the foregoing information I have provided is true and correct.”
— Declaration on Morfin’s application for appointment to the Toppenish City Council, stamped received Feb. 14, 2024
That is what his application claimed. But investigators pulled his address history and found a prior residence at an apartment in Vista, California — where records show he lived from April 2019 through July 2021.
Richland PD investigation · application review & address history
Morfin bought a home near S Olden Way and Fort Rd in January 2010 and is listed as sole owner on the loan — roughly 2,495 sq ft of living space on nearly two acres. It sits 1.89 miles outside the Toppenish city limits. The address he claimed instead is a four-bedroom rental owned by someone else.
Richland PD investigation · property & utility records
Automated license-plate cameras captured Morfin’s 2007 Dodge Caliber 60 times inside Toppenish city limits. This is the real map of Toppenish, with the two cameras named in the police report. His car lived on the west side of town — the way in from S Olden Way. It reached the camera by the address he claimed exactly once.
Richland Police pulled utility accounts, property records, vehicle registrations and camera data — then sat on both houses and watched. Every category pointed the same direction.
His most-used vehicle was captured 60 times by plate readers inside city limits. It appeared near the South Division St. address he claimed as home exactly once.
Richland PD investigation · FLOCK camera analysis
Investigators watched both addresses on four separate days — Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb. 19 and Feb. 25 — including early morning hours. His vehicles sat at the house outside the city. At the address he claimed: no sign he had ever been there.
Richland PD investigation · physical surveillance
The house Morfin claimed is owned by other people, with the utilities in their names. He switched his driver’s license to that address in May 2024 — the same window he applied for the seat. Yet all three of his vehicles — a Land Rover, a Dodge Challenger with the vanity plate EZEKIEL, and the Dodge Caliber — stayed registered to the address outside the city.
Richland PD investigation · City of Toppenish utility records
On May 11, 2024, Toppenish officers responded to a call at a property outside city limits and found Morfin there holding a hammer. Investigators reviewed the footage:
“Yeah, I live over there.”
— then he hesitates and corrects himself —
“Well, that’s my house; it’s all my things, but…”
Richland PD review of Toppenish PD body-worn camera footage, 05/11/2024
Morfin buys a house near S Olden Way and Fort Rd — 1.89 miles outside the Toppenish city limits — and is listed as sole owner on the loan.
Address records place him at an apartment in Vista, California — during the stretch he would later describe as part of 49 unbroken years in Toppenish.
His application for the vacant council seat is stamped received. It lists 327 S Division St as his residence, claims 49 years in Toppenish, and carries a declaration signed under penalty of perjury.
Toppenish police contact Morfin at a property outside the city limits. On body cam he says “Yeah, I live over there” — then catches himself: “Well, that’s my house; it’s all my things, but…”
Morfin switches his driver’s license and vehicle registrations to a Toppenish address, in the same window he applies for the vacant council seat.
A resident files a formal complaint with the Toppenish City Clerk: Morfin does not live inside the city.
Toppenish Police Chief Joseph Mehline asks the Richland Police Department to run an independent investigation — specifically to guarantee impartiality.
Richland PD delivers its findings: the evidence “overwhelmingly” shows Morfin did not live at the address he claimed, and likely declared it only to qualify for office.
Five days later, Morfin resigns from the Toppenish City Council — in a handwritten note blaming “medical reasons.” The investigation is never mentioned.
Morfin quit five days after investigators concluded he had lied about living in the district. His resignation letter says nothing about any of it.
“However, because of medical reasons, I am resigning from the Toppenish City Council.”
Handwritten resignation letter · received by the City of Toppenish Mar. 4, 2025
Read the letter (PDF)
In 2025, the Toppenish City Council had to adjourn a meeting early because Morfin refused to participate and walked out of the room. A motion was made at a later meeting to censure him for his actions.
Toppenish City Council Records
The Washington Public Disclosure Commission has found Morfin in violation two separate times for failing to file the financial disclosure statement every elected official is required to file.
WA Public Disclosure Commission enforcement records
These are the actual public records. Read them yourself.
VOTE NO
ON EZEQUIEL MORFIN
STATE REPRESENTATIVE · 14TH DISTRICT, POSITION 2
General election — ballots due Tuesday, November 3, 2026
State Representative · 14th Legislative District, Position 2 · General election, November 3, 2026.
Deb Manjarrez(Prefers Republican Party)
Vote YES for Deb
Vote YES for Deb Manjarrez Check your ballot at VoteWA.gov Register, confirm your address, or track your ballot — Washington Secretary of State.
This information is from public records, candidate statements and official documents. You can check the facts for yourself.