A Mixed Bag

The county commissioners briefings on Feb 1 are highlighted as follows.

1. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Finally a commissioner listened to us. Ross presented the LTAC's recommendations from last Tuesday's meeting and added his proposed changes. Ross wants to fund Harstene Island Community Choir ($2.5K), Anna's Bay ($3.8K) and add $2K to the Rodeo. The LTAC had recommended $3K for the Rodeo but Ross would give them $5K total. To this Lynda says, "We know you like rodeos, Ross".

Ross doesn't like Harmony Hills' Summer Fest as much though unfortunately. He recommends denying the Summer Fest any funds as did the LTAC but I sure haven't heard him or the LTAC provide a consistent and credible reason for denying Harmony Hills' grant request.

LTAC 2010 funding will be placed on the agenda as "Item 10. Other Business" either next Feb 9 or Feb 16. At that time the public is supposed to be allowed to ask questions and provide testimony prior to the BOCC making their decision. I say "supposed" because they can decide to not let us speak since it isn't a public hearing. Keep your eyes and ears open for this to go on the agenda.

2. ADAGE. Tim announced that on Thursday, Feb 4 from 1 to 3 PM the senior executives from ADAGE will hold a dog and pony show at the Port of Olympia with the governor in attendance. They will be displaying equipment from their John Deere alliance. Tim very cleverly offered to Lynda that if she is available she might like to introduce the governor at this meeting. On the spot, she cleared her calendar. Yes, she will be available to introduce the governor. As a private citizen I'm just hoping that she still follows through on an earlier promise to hold public meetings with the citizens of Mason County on ADAGE prior to approving the construction of this plant. (see earlier blogs for more info on ADAGE)

3. Human Resources/Budget & Finance Position. The commissioners held a closed door executive session today to review the 12 or 15 applicants they've received for this combined position. My question is how can they hire when others can't?

4. Hiring Freeze. Lynda asked that HR provide the county's policy on hiring during the current county wide hiring freeze. Tim stated that all elected officials must have BOCC approval prior to hiring even when they have the position in their approved budgets. Also at question was whether the elected officials could advertise for a vacancy without BOCC approval.

Now I'm going to editorialize. Because the Board's in the driver's seat, they can give themselves an exemption to the hiring freeze as they see fit. Examples are the above mentioned HR/B&F and the recently hired switchboard operator. What I'd like to see is some fairness applied by the BOCC. As we saw in 2009, they had one set of rules for their departments and another set of rules for the elected officials. That wasn't fair in 2009 nor will it appear even handed in 2010. Let's not get off to a bad start.

5. Noise Ordinance. The BOCC will be considering soon a change to Mason County Noise Ordinance (Chapter 9.36). The need for a change was recommended by the Economic Development Council, Matt Matayoshi so that the county can have racing events.

6. Marine Recovery Areas. This came up in the Public Works briefing today and is associated with the Storm Water Plan. Here's what I heard - the issue is the definition of what is considered a marine recovery area. Apparently about one half of Mason County is considered a marine recovery area. The commissioners want a briefing from Public Health, Public Works, Utilities and Planning to help them understand what this means to the county's homeowners, businesses, and the permitting process. More to follow on this I'm sure.