County Commissioners offer different perspective

GUEST EDITORIAL

Overview

The Board of County Commissioners for Grant County has been requested by the Columbia Basin Herald to offer the history and provide information from its viewpoint on the Home Rule Charter, which is Proposition 1 on the upcoming ballot, along with the accompanying freeholder election positions. While individual board members may have opinions on these issues, the board as a whole is committed to remaining neutral in this process. As such, the board sees our role as providing local citizens with information that is educational and factual in nature.

Background

Grant County operates as a standard "code county," along with 32 other counties in this State. The state Constitution provides for another form of government, called a Home Rule Charter. The standards for instituting a Home Rule Charter form of government are contained in three sections of Article XI of the state Constitution. To make this change in a Washington county, a valid petition must first be submitted to the county. The next step is for the proposed change to come before the voters. In June of this year, the county was approached by a group of individuals interested in bringing the Home Rule Charter question to the voters. They requested that the board bypass the petition process and adopt a resolution to have the Home Rule Charter placed on the November ballot. However, because of the state Constitution's outline of utilizing the petition method, the board held an open-record public hearing to receive public input prior to making its decision on this request.

At the hearing, the majority of those testifying were against having the resolution placed directly on the ballot, and the board voted to have the group go through the petition process to gather the required signatures (10 percent of the total voters in the last general election) and have the Home Rule Charter placed on the November ballot. In August, the county was presented with a petition with approximately 2,200 signatures. The county auditor's office had to determine whether all signatures were valid registered county voters, and encountered the need for legal review on a portion of those signatures. After legal review, it was determined that the petition met the threshold of 10 percent, thereby qualifying to place the charter question on the November ballot.

With assistance from the assessor and the Global Information System (GIS), the board then moved to establish the rules and districts for the 21 freeholder positions, within the requirements of the state statute. These were geographically divided by population. The freeholder election positions may be held by individuals either in favor of, or in opposition to, the Home Rule Charter method. The board then set and advertised a five day filing period for freeholder positions.

Since that time, the board has fielded numerous questions from local citizens about the Home Rule Charter and freeholder positions. To provide local voters an opportunity to learn more about Home Rule Charter and the election issues, the board set up four educational forums across the county - at Hartline/Coulee City, Moses Lake, Quincy and Royal City. In keeping with the board's commitment to remain neutral, a facilitator was employed at some of the forums.

Perspective:

Review and change

are the norm

Even though the county's form of government is approaching the 100 year mark, the county has been constantly changing and upgrading services to meet the needs and requirements of its citizens. Roles and services continue to evolve under increasing demand from local citizens, municipal governments, state and federal agencies, and other sources. Some of the more significant changes in the last 20 years include major shifts in the criminal justice and legal system from the cities to the county, which now serves as the regional service provider. Others include the handling of elections and county-wide tax collection, and subsequent technology upgrades. Recently, the county added a human resources department, established to address personnel and public access needs, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The county now provides employee training covering management improvement, anti-harassment measures and annual performance reviews. The responsibilities and duties of the county's department of emergency management services has changed in recent years due in large part to federally-mandated Homeland Security requirements. Also, the building and planning departments have been reorganized into two separate divisions. Upon recommendation of a citizen's advisory committee, the board hired an administrative services coordinator and - its most recent public service position - a state-mandated public records officer.

The county's public works department, responsible for maintaining 2,534 miles of roadway and 217 bridges, has seen the introduction of a new bridge crew, major landfill upgrades incorporating the newest technology in health and groundwater protection, in addition to the department's improving and replacing aging facilities and road district shops. Improvements have also been made in the capability and quality of equipment, which has resulted in substantial efficiencies in road maintenance and preservation activities. The board also implemented a "gravel to pavement program" committee, made up of an equal number of members from each commissioner district, in order to prioritize road improvements.

In recent years, an information services department has been created and technical upgrades have occurred across the board within Grant County government. These have been made in an effort to make more efficient use of limited resources, remain and/or become compatible with other governmental agencies, increase the public's access to information, and "buy technology" instead of simply increasing staff. Many of these technical upgrades have focused on electronic records, first in the auditor's office then the courts, and other county offices, for imaging and record-keeping. Much information is available on the county's Web site, for offices such as the assessor and GIS (www.co.grant.wa.us).

Past and present board members also have many responsibilities and commitments outside the walls of the courthouse. These relate not only to services currently provided to Grant County citizens, but involve strategic planning for future service provisions, as well. For example, the Grant Transit Authority (GTA), the Multi-Agency Communications Center (MACC), and the Regional Support Network (RSN) are three among the many committee groups on which individual commissioners serve groups working to meet current needs of area citizens, while working and planning for anticipated needs in the future.

Summary

The Home Rule Charter issue set before the voters is whether or not a different form of county government will serve to meet the current and future needs of Grant County's citizens as well as - or better than - our current form of government. One thing is for certain, there will be ongoing economic considerations no matter what form of government exists. One of the most frequently asked questions of the board is, "What will the freeholder process cost the County?"

It is impossible to determine what the freeholder's choices may cost. What we do know, however, is the direct impacts of the Home Rule Charter question has taken employees away from some of their other essential county duties since the issue came to the board in June.

The board encourages everyone to get out and vote on this important issue. This paper can provide interested persons with the Web sites that have been set up by both proponents and opponents of Proposition 1.

Please vote!