PORT ANGELES — A three-hour Clallam County Charter Review Commission meeting Monday swung between routine committee planning and a discussion of personal and professional discord among county officials.
The commission received unexpected information about a workplace rivalry from Clallam County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis, one of the elected charter commissioners, who detailed her feud with County Administrator Jim Jones.
The Charter Review Commission also added a new commissioner and assigned subcommittees, heard testimony from two Clallam County commissioners regarding how their jobs are related to the commission, heard testimony from the county prosecutor regarding whether his position can become nonpartisan and heard more details about how individuals hold two elected positions at a time.
Elected officials
County Commissioners Jim McEntire and Bill Peach, Auditor Shoona Riggs and Community Development Director Mary Ellen Winborn detailed how their positions work with or are affected by the charter, which is the county’s home-rule “constitution.”
Barkhuis, a charter commissioner, also was asked how her treasurer duties relate to the charter.
Instead of an accounting of her duties and their relation to the commission, she detailed her dispute with Jones.
Barkhuis said that after her office lost a position due to budget cuts and difficulties arose with the level of staffing, she made a request to Jones to restore the position.
In what Barkhuis called “tit-for-tat bargaining,” she said Jones offered her the position in exchange for what she said would have been an illegal release of funds for another county purpose.
Barkhuis said she has attempted to have the problem addressed in other ways but has been blocked.
Who’s subordinate?
She said she questions whether under the county charter, elected department heads are subordinate to Jones or if Jones serves the elected department heads.
Charter commissioners questioned her choice to run for the Charter Review Commission.
“As an elected official, is this the appropriate thing to do?” Commissioner Glenn Wiggins asked.
He asked Barkhuis if her reason for running for the commission was to contribute to the county’s charter, “or do you want to see change within your office?”
“I am here because I don’t know where else to go with my issues,” Barkhuis said.
New commissioner
In other commission business, Don Corson was sworn in Monday to fill a vacancy.
Co-owner of Camaraderie Cellars winery in Port Angeles, Corson will replace Cheryl Williams, who resigned for personal reasons March 3.
The commission was broken into 16 subcommittees to study proposed changes to each of the 13 articles of the Clallam County charter.
Three articles — 4, 6 and 11 — had more commissioners volunteer than are allowed and were broken into two subcommittees per article.
On March 11, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols was to look more deeply into whether his position could be made nonpartisan.
Then Monday night, he said according to his research, the position is designated by the state constitution and state law, and that an attempt by another county to convert the position was blocked.
The commission asked Nichols to make a formal request to the state attorney general for an opinion to see if a charter county, which is typically given more leeway, is held to the same standard.
Next panel in 2023
The charter commission is likely to be finished and disbanded before the attorney general’s opinion is received by the county, Nichols said.
The information can be used by the next commission in 2023, said Chairwoman Norma Turner.
Commissioners also asked Nichols to clarify a rule regarding individuals holding multiple offices at the same time.
Two members of the charter commission are City Council members in Sequim, and one is county Treasurer Barkhuis.
Rod Fleck, charter commissioner and Forks city attorney/planner, said he did not believe there is a conflict based on past cases, including state Rep. Steve Tharinger, who at one time was county commissioner and state representative simultaneously.
Nichols said he agreed with Fleck and added that the rule is intended to apply to positions in which the elected official could use one position to vote to fund his or her other position or otherwise directly benefit from the second position.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
