PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis said she will withhold commissioner-approved grants to the city and Port of Port Angeles until a Superior Court judge has determined whether the money was “disbursed according to law.”
Barkhuis, a nonpracticing lawyer who was elected treasurer in 2010 and ran unopposed in 2014, cited state laws that govern custody of public money and county budgets to buttress her argument in an email to county officials.
The three county commissioners May 12 awarded a $1 million grant to the Port of Port Angeles to complete a 25,000-square-foot composites recycling center in west Port Angeles and a $285,952 grant to the city of Port Angeles for waterfront improvements.
The board authorized the Auditor’s Office to issue warrants from the Opportunity Fund to pay for the grants.
The money had been earmarked for the yet-to-be-built Carlsborg sewer.
The Opportunity Fund can be used for infrastructure projects and personnel in economic development offices.
On May 11, Barkhuis said county policy and state law required the board to hold a public hearing before awarding the grants from the Opportunity Fund.
In her email to the three commissioners and other county officials, Barkhuis called for a judicial review of the board’s action.
“In my opinion, county commissioners do not have the authority to ‘authorize’ and ‘wish’ away their own compliance with provisions in state law and county policy that entitle county taxpayers to public hearings and written contracts,” Barkhuis wrote.
“As such, as the duly elected county treasurer acting on behalf of the Clallam County taxpayers, I will withhold the funds for these grants until the Clallam County Superior Court has determined whether these funds are being ‘disbursed according to law.’”
Barkhuis said judicial review is appropriate because of the amount of money at stake, the technical nature of relevant law, the taxpayers’ right to address unanticipated expenses and the county’s need to hold public hearings, the county’s limited ability to recall funds that have left the county treasury and the precedent being set by the board’s decision.
In a telephone interview, County Administrator Jim Jones said the board “acted completely and entirely within policy, RCW [Revised Code of Washington] and with full support from the prosecuting attorneys as our legal advisers.”
Jones said Barkhuis may have misinterpreted a part of county policy that colored her interpretation of a state law.
“I respect her as a treasurer and I respect that she wants to do her duties as they exist,” Jones said.
“I differ with her interpretation of the RCW.”
Barkhuis said she would reject the warrants if the city and/or port present them for payment.
“To the extent that the Board of County Commissioners utilizes taxpayer-funded legal representation to pursue disbursement of these funds in the absence of prior public hearings and written contracts, I will request the county Superior Court to appoint me independent legal representation to assist me in defending these important taxpayer rights before the county Superior Court judiciary, to occur before the funds leave the county treasury forever,” Barkhuis wrote.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
