Board of County Commissioners Meeting - Feb 23

There wasn't much on the agenda for this week's public meeting which was an evening meeting. All three commissioners were there for the entire meeting.

Lodging Tax Advisory Committee:

I spoke yet again on this issue as a follow up to last week's decision by the Board to fund all other event requests except for Harmony Hill. But Harmony Hill is not the real issue. The real issue is that Mason County doesn't have a set of clear criteria that they apply consistently to all requests. I asked the Board to begin now fixing the decision process.

I also pointed out to Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson that while she sits as a trustee to the Shelton Mason Chamber of Commerce, she leaves the impression that there is the appearance of a conflict of interest. To this she said that had I done some research I would find that she is not involved in any Chamber money decisions. Obviously Lynda missed the point. She could have simply abstained from voting to send dollars to the Chamber and the Joint Tourism Board. That would have kept the LTAC decision in the open and relieved her of conflict in her roles and relationships. She must not understand what the appearance of a conflict of interest means. Even Tim had pointed out to her in a commissioners briefing earlier in the month that by sitting on this Chamber she could compromise her vote on LTAC decisions.

But the good news is that after the meeting Ross told me that he's calling for a meeting of the LTAC and that they will begin looking at fixing the process.


Crime in the County:

A local father who lives near Arcadia Point made an impassioned plea for more law enforcement as he shared that his daughter was found crying at school because she is so scared. He told the commissioners that recently there have been several homes broken into in his neighborhood with over $36K in stolen property to include 14 guns. He made it clear that their job one was public safety and that if they didn't get things fixed they would not be reelected. He went on to say that at times there are only three deputies on duty in the county. He sure gave the commissioners their marching orders. Tim Sheldon went a long way toward defusing the tension in the room as he spoke to the father.

Let's see what happens over the next few months. Will the commissioners reallocate money to the higher priority of public safety?