PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman wants a paper trail to show that he and his fellow commissioners have gone “above and beyond” the normal public process to award a pair of infrastructure grants.
Commissioners will hold public hearings Tuesday, Aug. 4, before they consider giving a $1 million Opportunity Fund grant to the Port of Port Angeles and a $285,952 grant to the city of Port Angeles.
Chapman on Monday said he asked County Administrator Jim Jones to research the history of Opportunity Fund grants, including the process that county commissioners and the county Treasurer’s Office have used to distribute the funds.
“I think that will be vital information to bring out at the public hearing,” Chapman said.
Although the grants to the port and city were approved in May, County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis rejected the associated warrants because commissioners did not hold a public hearing or secure contracts with the port or the city.
Commissioners then voided the warrants and kicked the grant applications back to the Opportunity Fund Advisory Board, which recommended both grants for a second time.
The port plans to use the money to complete a building for the Gov. Jay Inslee-supported Composite Recycling Technology Center near William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The city will use its Opportunity Fund grant to complete the ongoing second phase of the waterfront improvement project.
The Opportunity Fund is a portion of state sales tax that supports infrastructure in rural communities.
Barkhuis and others have criticized the board for its lack of transparency in dispersing the money.
Chapman countered that the public process has never been more robust in the history of the Opportunity Fund.
“We could all sit here and pontificate about how things have gone, but I think a paper trail is going to show board votes, whether they’re resolutions or contracts, and the process that went from there,” Chapman said.
“I just want to establish that history because I think there have been a lot of comments that this board has deviated from past practice. I have my opinion, but I’ve asked the administrator to document my opinion.”
Commissioners Jim McEntire and Bill Peach did not object to Chapman’s request.
“That would be an interesting history,” McEntire said.
The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and state Auditor’s Office have opined that the board acted appropriately when it approved the grants the first time.
“This is an attack on a process that has no merit,” Chapman said.
“It’s forgetting the largeness, the potential and the scope of support from around the state.”
Inslee has publicly supported the port’s composites recycling project in west Port Angeles, promising $712,000 in funding if the port secured $2 million in grant money.
The technology is also backed by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace.
“For this community to fuss and fight, it really is sending the wrong message to a governor, to a U.S. senator, whose staffers inevitably are cutting out newspaper articles because the governor and senator are not going to want to be embroiled in the local, community politics,” Chapman said.
“We are lucky, we are damn lucky that the senator and the governor have not pulled their support.”
The hearings on the grants are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, in Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
