PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is back on the market for a hearing examiner.
The three commissioners have directed staff to prepare a request for proposals for candidates who would adjudicate land-use matters in a quasi-judicial role.
The county’s one-year contracts with Hearing Examiners Lauren Erickson and William Payne will expire Feb. 28.
Those agreements likely will be extended to give time for human resources staff and a yet-to-be-formed screening committee to vet, rank and recommend potential candidates for the key position, commissioners said.
Appoint by June
Commissioners hope to appoint a primary hearing examiner by June 1.
He or she would operate under a three-year contract with the county.
“It’s a pretty important position,” Commissioner Mike Chapman said during a board work session Monday.
“It’s actually one of the few that’s called out in the county charter.”
Last year, commissioners ended a long-standing practice of keeping a hearing examiner on staff.
Flat fee
Erickson and Payne, both private attorneys who previously worked for the county, have rotated hearings for a flat fee of $2,250 per case.
“We have $30,000 in the budget for the hearing examiner in 2016,” County Administrator Jim Jones told commissioners.
“Last year, we spent $29,200, and that’s the first time we’ve been under $90,000 in the 10 years I’ve been here.”
The contracted hearing examiners conduct administrative and quasi-judicial hearings and render written decisions on appeals of Department of Community Development decisions and a variety of land-use permits.
“It seems to me like the flat fee method that has been used last year seemed to have worked relatively well, and I would have no problem with just putting out an RFP [request for proposals] to do it again,” Commissioner Mark Ozias said.
“I don’t know if either of the two hearings examiners wish to do it again, or if there are others out there who might want the opportunity to bid on it, but this general system seems to be an improvement — certainly a cost savings — over having it as a staff position.”
Erickson and Payne have expressed a willingness to continue, Jones said.
Select examiner
Commissioners Chapman, Ozias and Bill Peach said they would support Community Development Director Mary Ellen Winborn’s suggestion to have one hearing examiner rather than a rotation.
Alternates would be appointed when the main hearing examiner has a conflict of interest, which has occurred on average about three times a year, Jones said.
Clallam County has had three hearing examiners since Christopher Melly became a Superior Court judge in January 2014.
Mark Nichols was the commissioners-appointed hearing examiner until he was elected as Clallam Country prosecuting attorney in November 2014.
Erickson handled five hearings in 2014 when Nichols was unavailable or had a conflict of interest.
Different hearing examiners have different sets of expectations for the amount of materials to prepare for hearings, DCD staff have said.
The rotation also creates disparities in the amount of time that Erickson and Payne spend on the cases.
“Some cases take 15 minutes, and others take hours,” Winborn said.
Hiring transparency
Chapman stressed a need for transparency in the hiring process to “take the politics out of it.”
“The more open and transparent this is, the better we could feel comfortable signing a three-year contract for this support service,” Chapman said.
The county Human Resources Department will verify resumes, conduct background checks and phone references.
A screening committee will further vet the candidates and provide a recommendation to the board of county commissioners.
“It doesn’t have to be much more than three or four people,” Chapman said of the committee.
“Maybe a representative of the building industry, the environmental community and maybe a retired judge or a retired someone from the legal profession that isn’t practicing in this area.”
In the 18 hearings that occurred last year, 16 petitions were fully approved by the hearing examiners.
None of those cases was appealed.
There were a record 22 hearings in 2014, which officials attributed to a spike in conditional-use permits for siting recreational marijuana businesses in the wake of Initiative 502.
There were 20 hearings in 2013, 11 in 2012 and nine in 2011.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
