Moana Kutsche Serves on Charter Review Commission

Moana Kutsche, County Charter Review Commissioner from Orcas East.

Commission meets Saturday, Jan. 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Orcas Hotel

Moana Kutsche, one of Orcas Island’s elected County Charter Review Commissioners, says of her fellow islanders, “We’re pretty darned independent and we like local control.”

That’s her explanation for why San Juan County voters adopted the “Charter” form of government in 2005. The other form of government available to Washington State counties is the “Code” form of government, with laws set up by state legislation that address how many county government commissioners should serve, how the executive and legislative functions are carried out, how elections should be conducted, and similar laws.

The charter, or home rule charter, system allows a group of freeholders to draft their own county “charter,” or document, of governance. That option was proposed twice before to San Juan County voters, in the 1970s and 1980s, and voted down.

However, in 2005, voters accepted the recommendations of the freeholders, and chartered a government that provides for six County Councilors (rather than the three commissioners previously in place), and an initiative and referendum process.

Kutsche serves as one of 21 Charter Review commissioners elected last November to review the 2005 charter, to talk to government officials and to people interacting with government to see what works, where there are problems, and what changes should be made.

Charter Review Commissioners “really want to hear from people with different knowledge and experience of how the charter has worked,” says Kutsche. “We’re elected to represent our district, but we really want to know how people think, and how to make the government better.”

In Kutsche’s view, the charter commissioners are envisioning a broad regulatory document, similar to the U.S. Constitution, that is “fairly general,” but not specific to a group of people or a set period in time.

It is her personal take that people are concerned with the current county budget, and that there should be more efficiency in county operations. She also feels that people want the County Council to be elected by the whole county, and not just their representative districts. The charter provisions for initiative and referendum are “pretty attractive” to voters, she says.

The Commissioners have set up an [intlink id=”15139″ type=”post”]ambitious schedule[/intlink] for the next several months of meeting every Saturday morning. They face an August deadline for putting their findings on a ballot for the November election. That ballot issue will present voters with the choice of a revised charter or a return to the code form of county rule.Only three of the 21 current review commissioners served as a freeholders in 2005. On Orcas, the other commissioners beside Kutsche are Steve Garrison, Linda Tretheway, Bob Gamble, Bill Appel (Waldron), Ralph Gutschmidt and Ed Sutton.

The whole commission is scheduled to meet for the third time this Saturday, Jan. 21, on Orcas Island at the Orcas Hotel.

At their first meetings, commissioners dealt with procedural matters, electing Gordy Petersen and Maureen See as Chair and Vice-Chair. They brought up the charter government issues they thought were most important; Kutsche felt that they got “a good idea of what was important to the commission as a whole.” They shared similar concerns regarding:

• Whether to return to the code form or to work with and revise the charter form of government;
• Whether six was the right number of County Council members and whether they should be elected by their representative districts or by the county at large;
• How to clarify and distinguish the legislative and policy-making duties of the council from the administrative functions of the County Administrator (before the charter, the council handled both executive and legislative duties);
• How to effectively budget and coordinate the functions of county government.

The Charter Review Commissioners’ work and recommendations will be reviewed by the County Prosecuting Attorney and the County Council by mid-August. Their agendas and minutes, as well as the current charter and other relevant documents are available on the county website at sanjuanco.com/committees/charterreview/

Kutsche wanted to serve as a county charter review commissioner for several reasons:

• As a lawyer, she’s experienced in how laws are interpreted and applied and was curious to see how laws are made;
• As a resident, she’s curious to see how effective the charter has been in serving county government;
• In the review process, she appreciates the opportunity to meet and work with other engaged, thoughtful islanders.

She emphasizes that it is essential that the commissioners have the input of county voters. “We’d really, really like to hear from people: to know how people think and how to make our government better.”

All meetings will provide public access at the beginning and during the meetings, and Kutsche says, “Hopefully there will be interesting ‘other stuff’ to listen to in the course of the meetings.” Written comments are welcome.

And if people can’t come to the meetings, “I want them to feel free to approach commission members and bend our ears,” says Kutsche, especially comments relating to structural or process improvements to county government.

People should know they are needed in the process and we’re not just meeting ‘behind closed doors,’ says Moana.

“If we come up with something the voters don’t want, it’s a waste of time.”

Honored Guests in the Jan. 21 morning session include Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord, former three-term County Commissioner John Evans, and former Commissioner/Councilman Alan Lichter.