PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has a new hearing examiner.
Andrew Reeves of Sound Law Center was selected Tuesday over three other candidates that county commissioners interviewed in public May 23.
Reeves, 34, is the chief legal writer for the Seattle-based law center that specializes in land-use hearings and the primary hearing examiner for the cities of Tumwater, Lake Stevens and Kent.
He will travel to Clallam County when needed for hearings.
“He had a real focus on fairness and making sure that the audience is heard and has a chance to be heard, which I think is really important,” Commissioner Mark Ozias said in a board work session Tuesday.
“I really appreciated the amount of experience that he’s had writing opinions and his success rate in terms of having a very small fraction of his decisions that were overturned.”
With Ozias and Commissioner Bill Peach supporting Reeves, board Chairman Mike Chapman directed County Administrator Jim Jones to negotiate a three-year contract.
No vote was taken; the decision was made by consensus.
The contract will come back to commissioners for a formal vote and, if approved, Reeves will start soon after.
Chapman, who is leaving county office at the end of this year, did not announce which candidate he favored in the work session.
In a later interview, he said he, too, favored Reeves.
“It was a great process, and I really appreciated Mark and Bill working together to come up with a great selection for the county,” Chapman said.
“I fully support their decision.”
Quasi-judicial hearing examiners conduct hearings and adjudicate land-use matters, including appeals of Department of Community Development decisions and a variety of land-use permits.
They issue written decisions in accordance with local, state and federal regulations.
Hearing examiner decisions can be appealed to Clallam County Superior Court.
Reeves was chosen over Port Angeles attorney Lauren Erickson, Sequim attorney William Payne and Tacoma attorney Michael McCarthy.
Erickson and Payne are the current hearing examiners.
Ted Hunter of Sound Law Center applied to be Reeves’ adviser but did not participate in the interviews.
Reeves said he was informed Tuesday morning that he had been selected.
“We’re thrilled,” Reeves said. “It was a great phone call.”
Prior to joining Sound Law Center more than two years ago, Reeves served as a judicial clerk on more than 100 appellate decisions with the state Court of Appeals.
“I think that having someone who has the professional background himself but also has the access and the resources of a firm that specializes in this kind of work all over the state makes him a very strong candidate,” Ozias said.
“And as far as I am concerned, he was the clear standout among the ones that we interviewed.”
Peach agreed.
“And I was surprised,” Peach added.
“I thought it was going to be a conversation about which of the two from the county that we’re familiar with.”
Erickson and Payne have been rotating hearings for a flat fee of $2,250 per case.
DCD Director Mary Ellen Winborn recommended in January that commissioners pick one primary hearing officer for consistency.
With the resources of the law center, Reeves will provide Clallam County officials with updates on judicial decisions that require changes to county code, Chapman said.
“That additional level of input will really be important,” Chapman said.
Past hearing examiners gave quarterly briefings to the board, the longtime commissioner added.
“We kind of lost that in the last decade or more,” Chapman said.
Winborn told commissioners that Reeves was the “right choice.”
“It’s just going to raise the bar for Clallam County,” Winborn said.
“It’s the difference between a generalist and a specialist.”
Peach said there are certain advantages to having a local hearing examiner who is vested in the community.
“What I see, though, is that [Reeves] brings something to the table the others don’t,” Peach said.
“There’s a degree of experience.”
A nine-member ad hoc committee screened the applications and recommended that the board interview each of the candidates.
“It was obviously a worthwhile endeavor since we both ended up being a little bit surprised,” Ozias said.
Clallam County hearing examiners conducted 11 land-use hearings in 2012, 20 hearings in 2013, a record 22 hearings in 2014 and 18 last year.
This year, the average has been about one or two per month.
Reeves will receive a flat fee for each case he handles.
Clallam County budgeted $30,000 this year for the position.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
