PORT ANGELES — Angry gardeners Monday picketed on the steps of the Clallam County Courthouse over proposed cuts to staff.
Master Gardeners is a volunteer-based program that helps feed the needy and teaches county residents how to grow their own food. It is part of the Washington State University Extension Office, to which the county provides office space and funding.
Clallam County is laying off 15 workers this month and cutting the workweek for the remainder to 37.5 hours next year to make up a $2.4 million shortfall in its $30.4 million general fund budget.
Most of the services that the county provides are required by state law.
Master Gardeners is not a mandated service.
“I want to save jobs, they want to save services,” said Mike Chapman, one of the three county commissioners, after spending his lunch hour visiting with pickets.
“I totally appreciate that. People are passionate about this.”
County Administrator Jim Jones’ budget proposal eliminates the part-time Master Gardener program coordinator position and cuts the full-time assistant. Those cuts save $76,000 in salaries and benefits.
Other extension programs like 4-H will continue to operate as they have.
“I understand their frustration,” Chapman said of the Master Gardener volunteers. “I told them that we’re still reaching out to the unions to work with them on concessions.”
Chapman said he is hopeful the county and its unionized workers can work together to “save as many jobs as we can.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do all along,” he added.
Master Gardeners has about 130 active members.
It holds annual fundraisers and harvests food for Clallam County food banks.
Recently, it expanded to the West End and began to train Master Gardeners in the Lower Elwha and Makah tribes.
“Master Gardeners is an amazing program with thousands of volunteer hours,” Chapman said.
“They do a great job. And they educate from kids on up.”
Chapman told the pickets he will sharpen his budget pencil and try to save the part-time position.
Program Coordinator Muriel Nesbitt said she appreciates Chapman’s efforts, adding that Master Gardeners does “a lot of good for the community.”
“And it’s going to be difficult for us to do that with no staff,” Nesbitt said.
Nesbitt said longtime staff assistant Lori Kennedy is “the person who makes it go.”
Anderson will be bumped into another position at the county by the Teamsters union when the layoffs take effect Nov. 30. Nesbitt was not a member of the union.
Nesbitt said she will try to coordinate the program as a volunteer.
About two dozen people attended the noon hour picket.
Protesters held signs with slogans such as “Master Gardeners supports extension staff” and “Extension staff are vital to our county.”
Judy Richmond, president of the 4-H Leaders Council, was there to show her support for Master Gardeners.
“Everybody has been saying: ‘Well, you’re only losing one person,’” Richmond said.
“It’s the only person in the office that’s a full-time paid employee by the county.”
Washington State University will still hire a new extension agent for Clallam County by the end of the year.
The county pays a third of the agent’s salary.
The former agent, Curtis Beus, took a transfer to Okanogan County in April.
Three finalists will be interviewed in the coming weeks. Commissioner Mike Doherty is on a hiring panel.
Gena Royal, the interim extension agent, will continue to coordinate the 4-H program.
Although Jefferson County will cut $30,000 from it already-reduced WSU Extension budget, County Administrator Phillip Morley said there are no plans to do away with Master Gardeners.
Laura Lewis was recently named Jefferson County’s WSU Extension director. She replaces long-time agent Katherine Baril, who retired in January.
When the search for Beus’ replacement began, county commissioners wanted Washington State University to hire agents in Clallam and Jefferson counties with complementary skills.
The idea was to have the Clallam County agent work in Jefferson County some of the time and vice versa.
“They [WSU] decided not to do that,” Jones said.
Jones said he received and replied to “a bunch” of letters and emails urging the county to keep the Master Gardeners staff.
“We’re very hopeful that whoever the full-time extension agent is, depending on that person’s skills, that they will make it an even better program,” Jones said.
“They’ve got wonderful volunteers. It’s the most volunteer-rich program we’ve got in the county.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
