Charter Review Committee Airs Ballot Proposals before Orcas Voters

By Margie Doyle

On Thursday, July 26, members of the Charter Review Commission (CRC) from Lopez, San Juan and Orcas Island came to the Eagle Forum in the Eastsound Fire Hall to answer questions about the proposals put forth by the CRC, which will be voted upon in November

Rick Boucher fielded questions to and responses about the ballot measures from members of the CRC, including CRC Chair Gordy Petersen and Vice-Chair Maureen See.

Proposed Ballot Titles for the CRC’s recommendations are:

Proposition 1:

Shall the County Charter be amended to reduce the County Council from six members nominated and elected by district, to three members, each of whom reside in a separate district and are nominated and elected county-wide?

Proposition 2

Shall the County Charter be amended to place with the County Council those administrative and executive powers not granted to other elected officials, and to remove references to the County Administrator as the chief administrative officer, and to require that the County Council appoint a County Manager to assist the Council in carrying out its duties

Proposition 3

Shall the County Charter be amended to state that all meetings of the County Council and all committees thereof be open to the public except when a private (executive) session or closed session is allowed by law?

The CRC is charged with reviewing the Charter “to determine its adequacy and suitability to the needs of the County.” Proposed changes will be put on the ballot for the public to vote on in November.

In addition to the dozen or so CRC members, about 32 people were in attendance at the meeting, the first of its kind on Orcas Island. Questions re-iterated many of the concerns that the CRC grappled with when it met weekly from January to June:

Is it fair to have the entire county select council representatives from separate districts (San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez/Shaw/Decatur)?
If there are only three Council members, how can dominance by two members be addressed?
If the County Executive Administrator position, held from 2006 to 2012 by Pete Rose, is eliminated and the Council members hold “those administrative and executive powers not granted to other elected officials…. and appoint a County Manager to assist the council in carrying out its duties,” how will micro-management and ‘too many chiefs, not enough Indians’ be avoided?
In the absence of any direction in the Charter, should Council members be part-time or full-time and what is fair and adequate financial compensation for their service?
Is the expense of running a countywide election such that only the wealthy or retired citizens will be able to hold public office? Will only the majority view of the voting public be represented?

Orcas CRC member Ralph Gutschmidt said that, in an “at-large,” countywide election, voted representatives should be “vigilant to all who elect them, not just those in the district where they reside.” He spoke of former Council and Commission member Kevin Ranker, who told the CRC that, because of the pre-Charter, countywide election for his San Juan Island seat on the County Commission, he understood the entire county much better.

Bob Levinson, CRC member from San Juan Island, said, “Looking at the history of the council since 1988, although most [people] are liberal, the conservative [viewpoint] has been regularly represented.”

Moana Kutsche, representing Orcas East in the CRC, said, “In a county this small, it is the job of candidates and voters to make their views known.”

County Council Chair Patty Miller pointed out that for the past two years, the Council has “voluntarily foregone any cost of living increase.”

Maureen See, CRC Vice-Chair, and County Council Clerk, said it was better to have a county manager operating under the council’s direction. “Now the authority lies in the Charter, rather than in the Council or the Manager.

“We are a small county; what can we afford, how can we live within our means?” See asked. Later, she brought up that the Council should “write” the manager’s job description specific to this county, rather than employ someone who comes with “a blueprint [for county administration] from another county.

Leonard Wood, CRC member from Orcas, said, “Whether there’s a firewall or not [between a County Manager and the Council] is a decision that needs to be made. In essence, this proposal [#2] makes the decision.

“However, the charter doesn’t define how it’s to be done. The Council is not a singularity and won’t give that direction to the County,” Wood concluded.

CRC Chair Gordy Petersen noted that the large majority of Washington State counties operate with a hired county manager.

Orcas West CRC member Ed Sutton compared the functions of county government to those of a school board system; and said as a citizen he looks for “more accountability back and forth.”

Orcas East CRC representative Steve Garrison viewed the “wall” between policy and operations in light of the county’s solid waste disposal issues. He credited Orcas East Council representative Patty Miller for researching those operations and policies and bringing the long-standing and growing debt of solid waste operations to a county vote last November.

“I’d like to see the Council work that way,” Garrison said.

Art Lange spoke from the audience, asking “What would happen if we had three – or six – council members doing that? There’s a dangerous potential for multi-headed bosses.”

Petersen and Larry Hendel, CRC member from Lopez Island, both argued in favor of a three-person legislative body, with Petersen saying the 3-district representation had been in existence for 140 years, and Hendel saying, “[Three Council members] brings more unity to government.”

Critical documents were circulated at the meeting:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAC) prepared by the CRC Public Education Committee regarding the proposed amendments to the San Juan County Home Rule Charter;
CRC Findings dated June 5, 2012 regarding:

Number of Council Members
Countywide Elections
County Council Residency Districts
Full-Time Legislators
Substitution of Subordinate Administrations for Separate Administrative Branch
Requirement for Employment of County Manager
Interaction of Individual Council Members with Appointed Staff and Other Employees
Transition and Terms

The Findings also listed the topics discussed with no changes recommended:

Initiative and Referendum
Non-partisan Elections
Elected rather than appointed Auditor, Treasurer, County Clerk and Assessor
Appointed rather than elected County Administrator/Manager
Separate elected officials (not consolidated)
Citizens’ Salary Commission
Hearing Examiner System

The Findings can be found at www.sanjuanco.com/committees/charterreview.

A memorandum from County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord on the “Constitutionality of the Proposed system for Electing Council Members,” responding to the specific question of whether the “one-person-one-vote” rule is offended if the residency districts are of unequal size.”

Questions and comments to the CRC can be sent via email to crc@sanjuanco.com which is received by all of the CRC members.

Previous reports on the work of the CRC may be found at:

orcasissues.com/charter-review-commission-finalizes-recommendations-to-the-county

orcasissues.com/charter-review-commssion-report-next-meeting-to-approve-work

orcasissues.com/charter-review-commission-to-refine-recommendations-for-ballo t

orcasissues.com/charter-review-charts-major-changes-finalizes-recommendations

orcasissues.com/next-session-last-for-proposed-charter-changes

orcasissues.com/county-council-administrator-transition-changes-drafted-into-charter-recommendations

orcasissues.com/charter-reviewers-define-county-administrators-role

orcasissues.com/this-weeks-report-from-the-charter-review-commission

orcasissues.com/charter-reviewers-consider-returning-administrative-powers-to-county-legislators

orcasissues.com/charter-review-commission-hears-differing-views-on-number-of-commissioners