EDITOR’S NOTE: Stephanie Noblin of Port Angeles (email: sn@larrynoblin.com) videotapes the Charter Review Commission meetings.
You can watch her 2-hour, 45-minute YouTube video of Monday’s meeting on this page; it is embedded immediately below this news story. Or you can view it at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-charterreview.
You can see other commission meeting videos at her YouTube website. Noblin files as “Justice Restoration.”
PORT ANGELES — Clallam County voters should have a voice in land-use regulations, taxes, forest land management and union requirements, the Charter Review Commission heard this week.
These and other suggestions were made by citizens who testified at the commission meeting Monday.
The elected Charter Review Commission has begun “winnowing down” ideas for potential charter amendments to present to voters on the November ballot, Chairwoman Norma Turner said.
Subcommittees have been formed to study each of the 13 articles in the county charter.
These groups have held initial meetings and will delve deeper into the county’s “constitution” for government in the coming weeks.
The 15-member commission will incorporate citizen input as it develops proposed charter amendments.
Dick Pilling of the Port Angeles Business Association suggested a requirement that new taxes resulting in $500,000 in annual revenue be approved by a vote of the people.
“We want this concept enshrined in the charter because politicians like to spend money — lots of it — because it’s easy to spend other people’s money,” Pilling said.
“If our elected politicians can make a good enough case for their spending, the voters will approve it. And if they can’t, the voters will let them know.”
Carol Johnson of the North Olympic Timber Action Committee recommended a countywide vote to re-convey state forest trust lands to the county, as Grays Harbor County has done.
“The public should have the option of voting on whether Clallam County can have their forest trust lands re-conveyed to the county where these lands would be managed in trust to produce revenue,” Johnson said.
“This would reduce the overall management cost and leave the county in control of the timber harvest.”
Representatives of the charter review subcommittees briefed the full commission on their initial meetings. Some of the subcommittees had not met as of Monday.
The entire commission will discuss proposed changes to the charter in meetings scheduled for April 20, May 4 and May 18.
Public hearings will be 6:30 p.m. at Forks, Sequim and Port Angeles on June 1, 15 and 29, respectively. The Port Angeles meeting will be at the Clallam Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. Other sites will be announced later.
The commission will discuss the public input July 6, finalize language July 20 and review the language at its last meeting Aug. 3.
Clallam is one of seven counties in the state that operate under a home-rule charter.
Kaj Ahlburg of Port Angeles, the first to testify in public comment, pitched amendments that would strengthen local control over land-use regulation and policies.
For legal reasons, he suggested replacing the word “cooperation” in Section 1.20 of Article 1 in the county charter with the word “coordination.”
“If followed properly, (coordination) puts a local government on the same level as a state or federal agency vs. cooperating status, which is an inferior status where the agency can dictate to the local government,” Ahlburg said.
“I think that is something that could have stood us in good stead with issues like the recent water resource rule in the (Water Resource Inventory) Area 18 and Dungeness Valley,” he continued.
“I think we would have done better protecting local interests if we had been able to negotiate with Ecology on an equal basis. This would set the stage to be able to do that in the future.”
Ahlburg is a member of the Olympic Resource Protection Council, which has sued the state Department of Ecology over a controversial rule that restricts outdoor water use for certain property owners.
He said the county has “an affirmative duty to protect the county’s human environment and shall place the county’s human environment on an equal footing with its natural environment.”
Harry Bell of the Port Angeles Business Association said the group has proposed language that would require a vote for land-use ordinances that cost citizens more that $5 million.
Susan Shotthaffer of Port Angeles said union membership should be optional for county employees.
“Public employees should have a right to work without being forced to join a union,” she said.
“Only 35 percent of public employes belong to unions, so when given a choice, a large majority of employees prefer not to belong to public unions.”
Mandatory union membership “unfairly discriminates” against job seekers, she added.
“Under forced membership, public union employees hold a monopoly preventing competition, therefore public funds may not hire the most competent but only those joining unions,” she said.
Shotthaffer also suggested “transparent” contract negotiations between county officials and union employees.
“With transparent contract negotiations, representatives on both sides are held accountable — union representatives to their members and elected officials to the taxpayers,” she said.
“This proposal does not ask that citizens have a voice during negotiations, but only the ability to monitor the discussion and agreements.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com. Here’s the video of the meeting:
