At the Eagle Council Candidates Forum

By Margie Doyle
First in a series of reports

The Eagle Forum held a well-attended public forum on Saturday April 6 on Orcas Island in which candidates from Lopez, Orcas and San Juan residency districts answered questions from the audience and vetted by Eagle Forum members.

Following are the responses to those questions.

How does the candidate envision Council – Manager – Staff relationships, particularly in light of the code enforcement ordinance currently before the County Council?

Jamie Stephens:
The new county manager will be hired by the Council with input from citizens and staff; looking particularly at the manager candidate’s track record working with council and staff. The new manager should establish a clear chain of command; and conduct regular performance-based reviews. “At the end of the day, the Council is responsible for the improvement of county operations.”

Brian McClerren:
The Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) update has added to the workload of the County’s Development and Planning department(CD&P); it will probably have to add staff. “The CAO went too far, and is out of control. The council needs to be able to talk to staff members.”

Lisa Byers:
The role of the council is to set the budget; oversee communication and interact with state and federal governments. The role of the manager is to implement county policy, interact with staff with regard to communication and interaction with the council and citizens. The impact of the code enforcement law coming through the council would be to “remove instruments of discretion that were causing some distress: it’s a good thing if it includes a policy asking property owners for permission to enter their property.”

Rick Hughes:
The number one priority of a council member is “to be the voice of the people.” The county needs a strong county manager; the council members can act as an intermediary, such as he did recently in bringing Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) and the Public Works Department together when they were at an impasse in their negotiations. Regarding the new code enforcement ordinance, “I don’t want [there to be] discretionary ability of one or two people over property [regulations]; there’s a lot of things to look at this week or next [as the proposed ordinance comes before the council]. The Council members’ roles should be “to listen, simplify and let people get back to work.”

Lovel Pratt:
The job description for the county manager “transfers [job responsibilities] directly from administrator to manager…any changes [to the manager’s job] should go through the public process.” Code enforcement should provide certainty, transparency and the ability for the public to speak to the council. All decisions should be made by the council as a body. “I would like to re-instate the process of a more informal weekly staff meeting to the council as a whole, knowing it’s the whole counsel that [makes policy decisions].”

Bob Jarman:
“I’m excited to rebuild the way the county works.” The manager is the key position; and he or she “should be responsible for all department managers, including the CD&P.” The manager is then responsible to the council. “I’m a firm believer” in the top-management-workers structure. “I hope time to do some work with the Planning Department in building codes.”

Other questions posed to the candidates will be printed in future postings to Orcas Issues. Some of those questions are:

• The Charter provides for non-partisan elections. How do you account for the blatant support for particular candidates by the dominant party in this race?
• How will you work with the constraints of open public meetings with only three council members?
• What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make in representing a large group of people?
• What should the new county manager be paid?
• If a county department such as the CD&P has made a decision that violates county code, will you talk it to death, slap the violators’ hands, or take disciplinary action?