PORT ANGELES — Voters will help decide where Clallam County is headed as they vote on eight proposed amendments to the county’s charter, according to two members of the Clallam County Charter Review Commission.
The proposals are on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. They were selected and crafted by the Clallam County Charter Review Commission over the past year.
Norma Turner and Sue Forde offered their views of the proposed amendments to the 30 people who attended the Port Angeles Business Association meeting Tuesday morning.
■ Amendment 1 would alter general elections so that each county commissioner is elected only by voters in his or her own district, eliminating the at-large general election.
“We need to keep the government closest to the citizens,” Forde said.
When state or federal representatives are elected, only their own district voters are polled, and that representative reflects the desires of his or her district, she said.
Turner said that in a small county with only three commissioners, each may be elected from different parts of the county but once in office, each person represents the entire county.
■ Amendment 2 would change review of the county charter from every eight years to every five years.
“The other six charter counties meet every 10 years,” Turner said, adding that the last time a change to five years was proposed, which was in 2007, it was rejected by voters.
Forde said that with new residents moving into the county each year and rapid changes happening, the commission needs to be able to respond more rapidly than every eight years.
■ Amendments 3 and 4 are almost identical, requiring qualified initiatives and referenda to be taken directly to voters without prior consideration, adoption or rejection by county commissioners, Forde and Turner said.
The committee initially attempted to put both initiatives and referenda on the same amendment, but state law required initiatives and referenda to be dealt with separately, they said.
Initiatives are original concepts presented by members of the public, while referenda are responses to actions already taken by government officials, they explained.
The amendment was necessary because at least once in county history, commissioners refused to approve a qualified initiative for the ballot and instead sent it to the courts, Forde said.
Turner noted that the court system ruled the initiative as being unconstitutional, so the commissioners prevented the dual cost of an election and a court battle.
Forde said it should go before voters first, and if it is defeated by voters, it ends the need for an expensive court fight later, she said.
■ Amendment 5 would increase the amount of time for supporters to gather signatures to put an initiative on a ballot from 90 days to 120 days.
There was no discussion regarding the amendment.
■ Amendment 6 reclassifies the Department of Community Development from its current elected status to an appointed position.
The position had previously been an appointed position and was made an elected position 12 years ago, Turner said.
Clallam is the only county with an elected DCD director, she said.
Turner said if past donors to a campaign wanted to apply for a permit, being granted the permit could open the elected director to accusations of favoritism.
“This is not an ouster of Mary Ellen Winborn,” Turner said, adding that Winborn would remain in her elected position until the end of her term, after which a director would be appointed by the county commissioners.
■ Amendment 7 is a housekeeping measure, the two said.
It ties charter interpretation to existing state law and the home rule charter.
“I’m not sure why the county commissioners have not done it,” Turner said.
■ The final amendment on the ballot clarifies the dates of the one-year term for charter commission members as running from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of the year following elections.
Currently, there are several views on when the commission members begin and end their one-year term of office, including on the date of election, from the date of election certification and Oct. 1, Turner said.
One of seven in state
Clallam is one of seven charter counties in the state and was the second to adopt a charter.
Adopted in 1976, the charter has been amended by the voters five times.
The 15-member Charter Review Commission debated more than 20 proposed amendments before deciding on eight to put before the voters in November.
The final meeting of the commission took place Monday, Turner said.
Three additional amendments have been prepared by the commission. Those will appear on the November 2016 ballot because they did not meet the deadline for the 2015 general election.
Turner and Forde said there was an overall lack of public participation in the process, with no public participation at the first commission meeting in Forks.
The 23 articles of testimony offered by members of the public were all written or presented by six people, Turner said.
It was because of a lack of public response that the commission sent a survey to 30,000 residents in Clallam County to gauge interest in possible amendments.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
