SEQUIM — The debate about potential changes to the Clallam County charter, including a suggested increase of county commissioners from three to five and a discussion on how to choose the director of the county Department of Community Development, continued this week.
The Clallam County Charter Review Commission met in Sequim on Monday for the second of three public hearings this month.
The third hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. June 29 in Room 160 of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
About 50 area residents attended the meeting at the Sequim Transit Center, with about 14 speakers addressing the commission.
The commission — composed of five members from each of the three county commissioner districts — is considering potential amendments to the county charter and will incorporate citizen input in developing questions for voters to consider in the Nov. 3 general election.
Clallam is one of seven counties in the state to operate under a home-rule charter. The review process is conducted every eight years.
“I support placing the option for five commissioners on the November ballot,” said Candace Pratt, who spoke as a private citizen and not in her official capacity as mayor of Sequim.
“Having five districts served by five part-time commissioners will best serve the people of Clallam County.”
The three county commissioners now serve full time.
With five part-time commissioners, each would represent about 14,000 people, Pratt said, speculating that the commissioners would work out of their homes in the districts in which they live.
She also suggested that they be elected by district rather than a countywide vote in the general election.
“You are suggesting they would be part time, but what would the cost be of redistricting into five districts?” asked Ron Bell, a charter review commissioner for District 1.
Don Corson, a charter review commissioner for District 3, said it would cost about $10,000 “to look at all of the demographic information” for redistricting.
Jerry Sinn of Sequim, who narrowly lost a seat on the commission after a recount last November, said the present system should stay in place.
“It has been very effective,” he said. “It is efficient.”
Because Clallam County does not have a large population in comparison with metropolitan areas, “we don’t need a huge bureaucracy,” he continued.
“And it is much more transparent. There is very little that goes on that you can’t figure out who is doing what, and I kind of like that. You can’t hide behind a larger majority.”
DCD director
Clallam is the only county in the nation to elect its director of the Department of Community Development (DCD), which is responsible for comprehensive planning, zoning and processing of development and building permits.
The suggestion has been made that the director be appointed by the county commissioners.
“I strongly believe that the county DCD should be [appointed],” Pratt said.
Dick Pilling of Port Angeles, who is chairman of the county Republican Party, said the position should remain elected.
“I like elections. I like local control. I like keeping the control of the elected positions as local as possible,” he said. “Keep control in the hands of the people.”
An appointment, in lieu of an election, “would bring somebody, probably, from out of the area unfamiliar with our situation, our county [and] our history to attempt to lead,” Pilling continued.
Jim Pickett, a resident of the Sequim area, said the charter may not need any amending at this point.
“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said.
Sometimes the charter review commissioners “seem to think they have to do something to demonstrate they are doing something,” he continued.
“And if . . . you didn’t have any changes, I would respect that as much as if you had 12 to submit.”
Sinn agreed.
“Don’t try to change things for the sake of change,” he said. “The charter has served us very well, actually, since its inception” in 1976.
“And our structure, as it has evolved, has done a really good job, considering we are one of the best-run, I think, counties in the state,” Sinn said.
If the charter review board does decide to offer changes to the voters, Pickett said it should carefully consider what that would cost taxpayers and inform the public of such costs before making a final decision.
Otherwise, “I think it is easy for people to read something and vote for it and not have any sense of really what it is going to cost them as taxpayers,” he said.
A public hearing was held in Forks on June 1.
Those who cannot attend a hearing in person can submit comments through the charter review commission’s website at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-countycharter or fill out a questionnaire at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-chartersurvey.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
