PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners went the “extra mile” Tuesday in referring a pair of policy amendments on budget and finance to the Finance Committee for review, Board Chairman Jim McEntire said.
Commissioners also voted 2-1 to approve a set of debatable budget emergencies and unanimously delayed a vote on proposed changes to board operating guidelines in a series of public hearings.
McEntire said the board was not obligated to wait for the advice from the Finance Committee before approving amendments to county policies 500 and 505.
The former policy refers to general financial policy and the latter to budget changes and modifications.
The amendments are intended “tighten up our procedures and our policies so that we prevent the possibility of loss,” McEntire said.
“This commission is going to extra mile, the extra third mile here,” McEntire said after the fourth of four public hearings.
“While we could adopt these policy changes today, we’re about to vote to refer, yet again, another proposed policy change to the Finance Committee for their consideration. That’s appropriate and in order.”
The financial policy amendment requires a five-day waiting period from the passage of a debatable budget emergency to the issuance of the funds to allow for a challenge in Superior Court.
Previously, quarterly budget emergencies were basically ratifications of money that had been spent.
“While the [existing] policy didn’t directly oppose state law, it was just silent on the issue of the five days,” County Administrator Jim Jones said.
Under the second policy amendment, budget changes would occur on the last Tuesday of every month rather than every quarter.
In his motion to refer the two proposed policy amendments to the Finance Committee, Commissioner Mike Chapman requested that a representative of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office attend the meeting.
The Finance Committee is chaired by Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis and includes McEntire, Jones and Auditor Shoona Riggs.
Barkhuis has withheld a
$1 million commissioner-approved grant to the Port of Port Angeles to complete a 25,000-square-foot building in west Port Angeles and a $285,952 grant to the city of Port Angeles for its waterfront makeover.
Barkhuis has said the board violated state law and county policy because it did not hold a public hearing before awarding the grants from the Opportunity Fund and because there are no written contracts with the port and city.
Chapman cast the dissenting vote on the debatable budget emergencies because of recent developments.
“[Barkhuis] is wanting to exercise veto authority,” Chapman said.
“She has done that. And until we know whether she can, I see no hurry to approve these.”
The budget emergencies included a $300,000 payment to shelter providers through the Homelessness Task Force and a 40-hour workweek for county employees who were previously working 37.5-hour schedules.
Chapman has been a leading force in an effort to release excess county reserves in ways that help the community, particularly the poor.
“If [Barkhuis] wants the final veto authority over the budget process, I’m willing to give it to her until somebody tells us — above us — that she doesn’t have it,” Chapman said.
“Right now she’s exercised it. She’s rejected warrants for the port and the city, and nobody stopped her. So I’m willing to say, ‘Fine, you tell me which ones are good and which ones aren’t.’”
Said Commissioner Bill Peach: “I would like to officially state that her behavior is unacceptable, she has broken the law and that I won’t tolerate this.
“So I would recommend that we proceed with this,” Peach said.
Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols issued a 16-page memo Wednesday concluding that Barkhuis has a “mandatory duty” to release the funds.
“There’s a lot left to play out in terms of a final resolution of the conundrum in which we seem to find ourselves,” McEntire said.
“But all of these [budget emergencies] have been well-vetted. We are doing things in the proper order, except for the longstanding practice of releasing funds prior to actual adoption of the resolution.”
The practice has not resulted in a reportable loss to the county, McEntire said.
“I’m not sure that anybody has veto authority over the lawful activities of this commission with regard to the budget,” McEntire added.
“It seems to me in my reading of the county charter and state law, this commission has full authority to do its budget work, and other elected officials have different roles to play, and properly so.”
The proposed changes to board operating guidelines are largely procedural. The amendments memorialize a longstanding practice for the board to not involve itself in private legal actions.
A vote on board operating guidelines was delayed for a review by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
