PORT ANGELES — Now’s your chance to weigh in on the composition of the Board of County Commissioners, whether the elected community development director should be appointed and other Clallam County issues.
The Charter Review Commission has activated an online survey with eight questions the panel will discuss in a series of public hearings next month.
Visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZDH2QGK to view the questionnaire.
Paper versions of the same survey will be included as inserts next week in the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum, and in a future edition of the Port O Call newspaper, said Trish Holden, clerk of the Charter Review Commission.
The SurveyMonkey questionnaire is designed to solicit citizen input on eight items the commission is exploring.
Public hearings will be held Monday in Forks, June 15 in Sequim and June 29 in Port Angeles.
Clallam is one of seven counties in the state that operate under a home-rule charter, a type of county constitution that allows citizens to vote on how their government is structured.
The 15-member Charter Review Commission was elected last November to propose charter amendments that voters would consider in this year’s general election.
Survey says
Questions in the survey are:
■ What number of county commissioners would best represent Clallam County citizens?
■ Should county commissioners be elected by district in the general election?
■ Should the charter be changed to elect the Home Rule Charter (review commission) every four years instead of the current eight years?
■ Should elected county officials, county administrator or charter-exempt employees be allowed to serve as a member of the Charter Review Commission?
■ Should initiatives and referendums be allowed to move to the ballot process without passing through the county commissioners?
■ Should the charter allow 120 days, rather than 90 days, to gather petition signatures for initiatives and referendums?
■ Should the charter be amended to appoint the director of the Department of Community Development by the county commissioners? [Clallam is the only county in the nation where voters elect a DCD director.]
■ Shall a mechanism be created which would allow the community to investigate and independently determine whether a Clallam County public official has disobeyed or ignored the law?
Suggestion space
A blank space is provided for survey-takers to suggest other issues for the Charter Review Commission to examine.
The online questionnaire collects basic demographic information such as ZIP code, age range, gender and voter status.
Members of the public can testify on anything they want at next month’s hearings, whether their issue is part of the agenda or not.
A group of citizens has repeatedly asked the commission to consider a charter amendment that would create a citizens’ grand jury.
Comments will be limited to three minutes at the hearings.
Public hearings
The public hearing in Forks will begin at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Forks City Hall, 500 Division St.
The hearing in Sequim will begin at 6:30 p.m. June 15 at the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
The hearing in Port Angeles will begin at 6:30 p.m. June 29 in Room 160 of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
Preceding each of the hearings will be a Clallam County League of Women Voters information session on the county charter.
League-sponsored presentations, “Our County Charter in Context,” are scheduled at 5 p.m. in Forks and Sequim and at 4:30 p.m. in Port Angeles.
The Charter Review Commission website can be accessed on the county website, www.clallam.net.
Click on the “Boards, Committees and Groups” link to navigate to the charter review home page.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
