There's an Elephant in the Room

For the last two weeks at the Monday briefings our county commissioners have been discussing the guidance for the 2011 budget.

As I mentioned last week, Tim wants to start out with a goal of $22.9M which is $.5M less than budgeted in 2010. Tim's reasoning is that union contracts still must be settled and they've got to figure out how to fund within a flat revenue stream. Lynda wants to do a zero based budget and scrutinize every expenditure thereby finding savings. Tim and Lynda reiterated their positions again yesterday at the briefings. Saying as little as possible, Ross appears to be going along with Lynda on this specific budget issue.

Here's what I see as a reality that must be dealt with head on in the Mason County 2011 budget development process.

Let me paint the picture. Currently for the County General Fund we spend 73% of our total funding for personnel salaries and benefits. But that's not enough for the current staffing of about 350 employees. There are three problems that I see which need some fix'n starting with the 2011 budget if we are to hold the line on critical services. These three problems are Accrued Leave Fund, retirement contributions, and union contract settlements.

As I've mentioned many times in this blog our BOCC has ignored the Accrued Leave Fund. There's a shortfall there of at least $1M. This fund pays for the unpaid leave days that eligible employees receive when they leave the county. Not only is it underfunded but in 2009 the BOCC actually borrowed from it and then forgave the loan. (Honest, I couldn't make this stuff up.)

Now comes the news that we have a "brewing pension problem" in Olympia which will be pushed down to the local jurisdictions. A recent Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington paper says that we can expect employer contribution rates for some employee pension plans to nearly triple over the next several years. This will most definitely put a strain on the Mason County budget. While it's true that we cannot dictate the contribution rates- in fact, the state will tell us what they are going to be. We must have a plan to absorb these rate increases not just in 2011 but for the following years as the rates continue to increase.

We know from BOCC proceedings that the Jail and Corrections Staff settlement will cost the county an additional $200K in 2011. This covers about 40 employees. There are another approximately 260 or so union employees still under negotiation. At this time of course, we don't know how much that will cost in additional salaries and benefits. But just going by what happened with the Jail and Corrections Staff, we can expect to see more than the modest $500K that Tim Sheldon has proposed to cover known or expected future liabilities.

The challenge for the county commissioners is to balance the budget while holding the line on critical services. The elephant in the room is absorbing 73% of the General Fund and that's not enough given current staffing levels and the realities that are looming ahead of us.

BOCC Briefings - June 14

Here's a quick run down on what I heard and understood today. I was only there for the first hour. All three commissioners attended. As usual there was no media coverage.

1. Financial Services (Theresia Ehrich) briefed the May budget execution. She assured the commissioners that the county is on track as it stands with what is budgeted. But there are no extra funds though and there's nothing to fund bargaining unit contract settlements or any unplanned expenditures.

One very interesting highlight is that the county had more expenditures than revenues 2006 through 2008. Here's how it tracks 2006 this BOCC spent $901K more than they brought in for revenue. 2007 they spent $582K over what came in to the county in revenue. 2008 they had a whopping $1,295K of expenditures greater than our revenues. Mason County, I think we are getting closer to determining what happened to that ending fund balance or cash reserve. In 2009 the BOCC turned around the trend of spending more than realized for revenue. Last year, 2009, we actually had a surplus of $434K.

2. The commissioners will meet Jun 21 at 830 am to discuss 2011 budget strategies. The Auditor's office needs this prior to asking the departments and elected officials to submit their budget estimates. There was quite a list that Ross went through today stating whether he was in favor of or not. He spoke very softly so I really couldn't hear what he was saying. Only the commissioners and Diane Zoren had the list that Ross was reading from. Lynda said she needs to discuss with the other members before she decides what her stand will be on the issues Ross was reading off that I couldn't understand.

3. Open forum for citizens was brought up by Ross. He said that Terra Dittmer and Laura Lewis had been really good about not speaking up - they just sit and listen. But others like Annette McGee has been very outspoken at the open forum. And now that this blogger (Brenda Hirschi for County Commissioner District 3) has entered the race, things are going to get bad during the open forum. He said he wanted the other commissioners to consider moving the open forum to the end of the meeting. I must assume this would be done in hopes that people would leave rather than staying to speak. So much for listening to the people. Discourage them and then they'll go away. Oh, those pesky citizens.

Hats off to Lynda for stating that just because someone files for office, that doesn't mean he or she gives up their First Amendment rights. She said the BOCC is the county's business meeting and it must hold a certain decorum. She suggested they speak with Gary Burleson (outgoing prosecutor) about a policy statement about providing guidance to the Board on what can or cannot be done.

Tim then said the BOCC cannot restrict people from speaking at the meetings. He thinks that any time someone says, "I'm confused" or "I'm a simple citizen" that is coming close to being a campaign issue. He had a bit of advice for all of the candidates (Terra was in the audience) and that was don't attend their meetings rather go out and knock on doors of the voters. Tim went further to say that some commissions actually allow comments by the public at the beginning and end of the meeting. There's an idea worth looking into.

4. The Sheriff told the commissioners that he needs an additional $70K to fund the Jail and Detention bargaining unit settlement. The Sheriff's budget will be able to absorb $25K of the $95K additional cost not planned in 2009.

BOCC Meeting - June 8

All three commissioners were at the meeting today. Here's a quick recap.

During open forum time here's a sampling of what the pesky citizens wanted to discuss.

1. This blogger contrasted the salary of the lowest paid deputy in January 2007 compared to Ross Gallagher's salary when he first came into office. Today that deputy's salary remains unchanged while Ross has seen an increase in his salary due to Resolution 85-01. (See Monty Cobb's explanation in previous blog for more info on this.) The failure of leadership on this board is glaring from two perspectives: that they have not revoked Resolution 85-01 and that it's been 41 months with no contract for the Deputies Guild.

Based on their response to my comments today, I'm thinking shame may not work with the members of this Board. Lynda was upset that I had used the masculine pronoun to refer to the deputies. Also she pointed out that Ross donated his raise to other worthwhile causes. That's what we all do right even when we don't get a pay raise we help each other out and don't expect any recognition?

2. Elaine Adam pointed out the BOCC has spent over $90K for attorneys to negotiate with the Deputies Guild. I think that's an outdated number. As I recall it was around $90K last summer or early fall. It's got to be higher now.

3. Karen Randall spoke on behalf of Mason County 4H soliciting support from the BOCC and the LTAC to provide $36K (I think) for the Mason Fair this summer.

4. Ken VanBuskirk announced that on June 19 at 2 PM there will be a ceremony to recognize a recently fallen soldier. I believe the place is North Mason Library for presentation of the Golden Star Banner to recognize Staff Sergeant Joseph M. Cain. (If I have this wrong, let me know.)

5. Annette McGee said she'd been reading the Washington state constitution and that she wanted to remind the BOCC that they are the county's administrators and legislators. Accordingly, they are responsible for negotiating union contracts and for adopting the budget. The buck stops with them.

6. Janice Vocke spoke against bringing ADAGE to Mason County. Janice asked the BOCC to think twice before they approve this facility.

Tim then began grilling Janice questioning what she had said. I overheard someone in the audience say, " Since when is it okay to put citizens on the spot during the open forum time?" Good question is what I'm thinking. It looked bad for someone who not only wants to be a county commissioner but also a state senator.

After the open public forum and on an upbeat note, Bob Simmons talked about the rain garden the WSU Extension folks have put in to prevent storm water run off. Way to go, Bob.

The commissioners went into executive session to discuss the AFSCME contract. Don't know what the outcome was of that meeting. Please add a comment if you do know what happened.

There you have it, Mason County.

Ross Is In Trouble

Ross has been bugging everyone about his signs that are being stolen. That's the least of his trouble. Here's my view on how things look this Memorial Day weekend.

Let's not forget what body is the most powerful legislative authority in Mason County. That would be our Board of County Commissioners chaired this year by Commissioner Ross Gallagher. In this election year he is giving real material to those who have announced that they want his job. I'll just list a few of the more obvious recent reasons why we should be taking a serious look at those who would like to replace Ross.

1. Note the minutes of May 11 said nothing about the fact that Ross didn't allow Annette McGee to speak. See my blog posting (BOCC Meeting - May 11) for a more complete summary of the meeting where Ross refused to hear a former county commissioner to speak. Here's a link to the "official BOCC approved" minutes from that meeting: http://www.co.mason.wa.us/commissioners/Minutes_2010/2010-05-11.REG.pdf.

Why would the commissioners omit this from the minutes? Why would Ross, as chair of the board, go along with approving these minutes with this serious omission?

2. Let me answer that question. For the same reason the Board under his chairmanship needs to obfuscate the fact that Lynda and Tim are getting a 3 percent pay raise in 2011. The wording of this consent agenda item from the May 25 meeting was totally twisted to confuse us. Didn't work. We see right through what they are up to. Tim moved and Ross seconded to raise Lynda and Tim's salaries in 2011. Ross salary will stay the same at $76,083 in 2011. Why didn't Ross refuse to second?

What a deal for Lynda Ring Erickson. While she's off vacationing in Rome, she gets a pay raise but doesn't have to spend any political capital on the dirty deed.

Resolution 85-01 sets a salary increase of 3% per year for the commissioners. At this rate by 2020 we'll be paying them $102K each per year. See my blog posting "Staff Driven" from January 2010 for more on what we are getting for the salary we pay this our most powerful legislative authority.

Mason County, we need to demand a salary commission.

3. Only some resolutions in place are strictly adhered to as in the case of increasing their salaries. For the Accrued Leave Fund Resolution 62-03 set targets for funding what Lynda described as a fund to provide "a golden handshake" to county employees. It's not that golden for the taxpayers. April 2010 month end reports show the Accrued Leave Fund with a balance of $232K with an unfunded liability of $1.5M as of Dec 2008. Ross voted to adopt the 2010 budget knowing full well that this unfunded liability existed. I know this for sure because I and many others attempted to convince the BOCC to deal with this problem. Let's hope the upcoming sale of surplus property nets enough to fully fund the liability and that the commissioners deposit this in the Accrued Leave Fund.

4. And yet another reason Ross should be unelected is: We still don't have a union contract with the Sheriff's Deputies Guild and the one signed contract with the jail employees was a mess. The Board approved it without knowing what the budget impact would be. I couldn't make this stuff up.

5. Where does Ross stand on ADAGE coming to Mason County? Does anyone know? That's a question that many of us want to hear answered.

Stop looking for those signs, Ross. The signs aren't what's going to get you reelected.

Meetings to Consider Attending - Week of May 24

Next week there are several meetings that you may want to consider attending.

1. Tomorrow afternoon (May 24, 2 pm) the City of Shelton Mayor and Commissioners will hold their regular weekly business meeting.

See my blog posting on last week's meeting. At the meeting this week someone might want to ask about the cost of the city providing water to ADAGE out at John's Prairie.

Recall last week that Commissioner Pawnell responded to the question: "Will this negatively impact the city's water table? No the city has plenty of water available." As we have followed the money we now understand that the City of Shelton is applying for a LOAN from the Dept. Health Drinking Water Revolving Fund to bring the Shelton Springs water source back on-line and add it to the City's water supply. The project will include design, permitting and construction of a disinfection facility for the Springs as well as improvement to the transmission main.

So in order to have "plenty of water available" the City of Shelton is currently applying for over $2.37 MILLION ($2,373,500). This would be a 30-year LOAN at 1% interest! This is yet another cost for the taxpayers in new infrastructure support required to meet ADAGE needs.

2. Tomorrow evening (May 24, 7 - 9 pm) at the Shelton Civic Center Dr Greg Helms, a research scientist will provide information on the environmental risks associated with allowing ADAGE to operate in Mason County. I will share with attendees what I have learned to my simple questions: why is ADAGE good for Mason County and what are the costs and risks?

3. If you live on Harstine Island on Tuesday evening (May 25, 7 - 9 pm) at Harstine Island Community Hall, Dr Helms will again share scientific information and Craig Watson will provide what he's learned about the financial and economic aspects of the project.

4. If you aren't going to the presentation on Harstine Island, then by all means, come out to the Board of County Commissioners meeting (May 25, 6 pm) to see for yourself how absolutely out of touch our commissioners are as they vote to increase the salaries for Lynda and Tim.

If you read the proposed consent agenda item up for their vote, you might be mislead. It's got a real positive spin. "Approval of the resolution suspending the 3% increase, as previously established by Resolution 85-01, for the 3rd District County Commissioner (Ross) in 2011. This results in all three Commissioners being paid the same salary in 2011 at $76,083 annually." What they aren't saying in this agenda item is that Tim and Lynda will get a salary increase. You'll want to see first hand as your commissioners tell you that they must raise their salaries - it's a Constitutional requirement. Even as the Sheriff's Deputies who provide for our public safety have not had a contract or a pay raise in more than three years.

Shame has no limits with our county legislative authority.

5. KMAS is hosting a public meeting with ADAGE on May 27, 6 - 8 pm at the Mason County Public Works Building. I've been told that attendees will provide their questions on 3 by 5 cards and then KMAS will ask them of the ADAGE representatives.

Hope to see you around the county this week as we continue to "follow the money"!

BOCC Meeting - May 18

Just Ross and Tim at the meeting since Lynda's on vacation through June 7.

Open public forum time on the agenda has gotten really interesting. Ross was probably thinking today that he should never have shut Annette McGee down last week. In fact he gave her a whole round of ammunition that she used on him today.

Ross called on Annette first but she said that she'd wait her turn until other citizens had an opportunity to speak because she knows what it's like to be cut off. Recall she was not allowed to speak last week by Ross. What a mistake, Ross.

Lewis Caponi has become quite the regular speaker sharing with us his views on the Arizona state immigration policy. I wonder if he is aware that our commissioners don't set immigration policy for Mason County. Lewis, if you need some budget issues to get outraged about, do drop this blogger a line. I can set you up because I must prioritize what I will be outraged about on a weekly basis. I welcome your support.

Todd Fredson made the case that ADAGE will be cutting down twice the amount of board feet once considered a sustainable practice. Tim of course disagreed with him and missed Todd's point. But I sure wasn't surprised by Tim's response.

I asked the "dreaded questions" about conflicts of interest and personal gain involving the commissioners, family, friends and staff as related to biomass power production. Ross appeared to be responding sincerely that he really needed to check to make sure that he didn't have an issue with Simpson being part of his 401k. Tim said that if he thinks he has a conflict he'll let us know before he casts a vote. I'll have more to say on the whole issue of the costs and benefits of ADAGE, Mason LLC in an upcoming blog. Please check back later in the week.

Annette came back to the podium to really blast Ross. She said that as a former commissioner she would never have denied a citizen the opportunity to speak and that a limit of fifteen minutes per meeting for citizen comment was insufficient. When she served as county commissioner, meetings could last up to two days if the public wanted to speak to the commissioners. And Annette said she never wanted to cut the public off because she needed to hear what they had to say. Boy, what a novel concept - listen to the voters.

Then Annette went on to take exception to Lynda's comment last week when she said, "We've gotten rid of the Fairgrounds. Now we may have to eliminate the Parks, WSU Extension and Probation Services in order to pay the increased union contract costs."

None of these potential cuts would have been necessary had the commissioners made responsible decisions with our money 2006 through 2008. If the Jail union contract is an indicator, then the amount the county will be paying above the adopted budget will be somewhere well above $1 million.

Both Annette and the Undersheriff Jim Barrett underscored that Lynda is attempting to drive a wedge between the Sheriff's department and the other elected officials and department heads. Who ultimately loses in this type of blame game atmosphere? We the citizens are the big losers. As Annette said, "Stop taking it out on us." Sometimes the commissioners appear to be punishing us - the citizens and taxpayers for whom they work and to whom they are answerable.

I'll continue tomorrow on this. Today I'm exhausted.

BOCC Meeting - May 11

All three commissioners were there for the entire meeting.

1. During the public comment period today there was entirely too much drama - even for me!

- Nancy McMahon attempted to ask the commissioners whether they stood to benefit financially in any way from ADAGE coming to Mason County. Tim Sheldon asked the Chair (Ross) to reign things in stating that this was not an interactive time. So Nancy then told them the questions that she would have asked had she been allowed to: did they stand to gain financially from ADAGE and had they received campaign donations of any kind from ADAGE or it's affiliates? Then she sat down.

- I was appalled at Tim's "over the top" reaction to Nancy's questions and told him so during this same public comment time. I've been going to these meetings for nearly two years and the public comment time frequently is an interactive dialogue between citizens and the commissioners. Later in the meeting he apologized to Nancy and said that he was feeling overwhelmed by all of the ADAGE opposition.

- While I had the floor I asked the BOCC to schedule a Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) meeting so they could get Harmony Hill funded. They claim that no "revenue generator" in the community wants to sit on the LTAC. This may or may not be true. Apparently Terry Oliver who lives in Union and owns a lodging facility has applied to sit on the LTAC. Ross told me later that he will look into this. Meanwhile I made the case today for more at-large members to help bring some diversity to the LTAC.

- Officer Michael Sargent spoke about the commissioners' plan to force the Sheriff to absorb the settlement costs resulting from the agreement with the jail and corrections staff bargaining unit. He told them they made the decision to accept the contract and that now the BOCC should provide the money to cover this unbudgeted salary increase. He went on to give them a hard time for declaring the 2010 budget a balanced budget when they knew the labor contracts were under negotiation and that they had to be funded. Ross responded to the officer by saying, "Maybe there will be a supplement to fund the additional labor costs as negotiated or maybe not". Then he reminded him that the real problem is 2011. That's when the increase of over $200k for this small 40 member bargaining unit will be more than double what we're seeing in 2010. Lynda appeared to be threatening to eliminate WSU Extension and Parks in order to fund the Deputies Guild contract increases. (Recall that we've been told the Deputies Guild could be as high as $1M.) Nothing like pitting one department/elected official against another.

-I failed to mention in yesterday's briefing notes that Lynda announced she's been working with the Auditor's Office and has a secret plan on how to fund all of the contracts still to be negotiated. Made me think of Richard Nixon when he told us that he had a plan to end the Vietnam War. Gosh, I hope she really does have a plan. Can't wait for the plan to be released to the public. Lynda, don't make us wait for you to return from your vacation.

- It's worth noting here that one citizen who made an effort to be recognized during the public comment period was ignored by the BOCC for about 10 minutes. Former County Commissioner Annette McGee (the first female Mason County Commissioner) came to the podium after raising her hand but the three commissioners kept their eyes glued on the papers in front of them. Annette just stood there and waited. Ross refused to recognize her or allow her to speak. In the time he spent being so stubborn about not allowing her to speak, she could have had her say and left Ross looking like a well mannered public official. Oh no, we had to watch as he sat as chair of the Mason County legislative authority wielding his power. The thing about power is that it can be taken away just as it was given - on the ballot by voters. By ignoring Annette and then refusing to let her speak, Ross made a huge mistake today in my estimation.


2. Two consent agenda items were tabled.

-The American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) agreement was tabled until June 8 because the BOCC still doesn't know how much this is going to cost. Ross can't vote on this agreement because his wife is a member of AFSCME and Lynda is going to be on vacation from May 18 through June 7. Tim asked that all AFSCME employees, supervisors and elected officials write back to him with their opinion on the proposed settlement. Can anyone help me spell "potential unfair labor practice"? Tim also asked the Auditor's Office to provide an analysis of what the proposed agreement will cost the county.

- The appointment of Gary Yando to the Stormwater Management Task Force was also tabled because neither the Public Works staff nor the BOCC could say whether he'd indicated a conflict of interest on his volunteer application. This item was tabled until May 18.

3. The public hearing for Peninsula Topsoil LLC to rezone about 70 acres of land from Rural Residential 20 to Rural Residential 10 had no decision today. The public comment period was closed and the commissioners will reconvene this public hearing for a decision only on June 8. The Prosecutor's office was not there today to answer some legal questions the BOCC had.

4. As usual at the end of the meeting, the commissioners reviewed their calendars for the past week and told us what they had planned for this week. During his calendar review Tim mentioned that he'd met with DNR last Friday. I asked him what that was about and he responded that he was getting a burn permit to burn slash on his property. Later I thought what a waste to burn slash right about now when there's all of this concern that ADAGE might not be able to secure enough slash to keep their incinerator running that 24/7 cycle. What a waste that Tim is burning his slash rather than waiting for ADAGE to be up and running. But then maybe Tim has accepted that ADAGE won't really be coming to Mason County.

That's all, Mason County.

Thanks so much for reading my blog. Drop a comment - I love hearing from you.

Briefings - May 10

Here's what I heard and understood at today's briefings. Meeting went from 830 am until noon with all three commissioners in attendance.

1. Union Contracts. For background see my April 6 and May 3 postings on the contract settlement with the jail and corrections facility staff.

Today the Sheriff and the Undersheriff met with the commissioners to discuss how this obligation is going to be funded in 2010. Recall that we're talking salary increases of $95K in 2010 and over $200K in 2011 - that's for just 40 or so union employees. We learned today that some of these employees have not had a salary adjustment in about nine years resulting in a need to increase salaries up to 16 percent but on average the increase was 5.6 percent. The bombshell in my estimation was learning that because it's taken so long to negotiate this agreement, the county and union employees will start all over negotiating a new contract next month - June 2010.

The Commissioners insisted the Sheriff must absorb the increase of $95K. The Sheriff and Undersheriff made the case that in the past a supplemental budget increase has been provided to offset the increase the Commissioners negotiated. The Commissioners, who rarely agree with each other in such an open and fervent manner, stood firm on the position that the county doesn't have the extra revenue to cover the increased salaries.

Lynda in the midst of this pretty tough discussion about how this pay roll increase was going to be funded says, "Move the jail from the Sheriff and place it under the Commissioners." In other words if the Sheriff can't figure out how to manage the jail within his current budget then the Commissioners will take the jail on. At this point Tim just about came out of his seat saying, "I don't want responsibility for the jail and I want to go on record stating this."

Next Monday the Sheriff and the Board are going to pick this same conversation right up again. So check back next week for more on this.

For future reference purposes, I heard Tim state during all of this heated discussion that he is willing to consider a levy shift for 2011. Let's all remember this as we go into the budget development process this fall.

2. Commissioners Salary. Assuming I understood this correctly, the commissioners are planning to increase by 3% the salaries for District 1 and 2 (Lynda and Tim). Rationale for the increase is to bring all commissioners salaries to the same level. Ross is currently being paid ($76,083.60) while Lynda and Tim are at $73,867.32. I honestly couldn't believe my ears that a salary increase was even being discussed given the anti-incumbent feelings sweeping the country. After further reflection I'm wondering why not just decrease District 3 salary? That would be another way to standardize the salaries.

3. Increase BOCC from Three to Five. Tim proposed increasing the commission to a five member board. He would take the total salaries for the three commissioners divide it by five. By doing this there would not be an increase in cost of payroll and we'd have two extra commissioners. He made the case that his district is the largest of the three and that it's "U" shaped with a fjord in the middle. The other two commissioners don't have the same geographic challenges, Tim opined. Lynda appeared to be open to the idea of redrawing the three districts but not necessarily going to a five member board. To bring about either change (five districts or redrawing the district lines) there would need to be a petition of 20% of the voters from each district. With enough signatures from voters, the change in districts could be placed on the ballot.

4. Increase Coroner Salary for 2011. Lynda also made the case for increasing the Coroner's salary. The Assessor, Auditor, Treasurer, etc make $68,130 while the Coroner is paid $51,192. Lynda doesn't think this is fair and asked the staff to do a survey of other counties to determine what other coroners in the state are making.

3. School Impact Fees. Community Development brought this up today asking the commissioners what they wanted to do. Both Tim and Lynda turned to Ross and each separately said to him,"Ross, what do you want to do?" Barbara Adkins will let the Planning Advisory Committee know that just because the school supervisors want to increase impact fees, the county commissioners are not required to hold public hearings or even consider the proposal. I'm thinking this is a dead issue.

There you have it, Mason County. Talk to you again soon and thanks for visiting my blog.

Briefings - May 3

Here's a quick run down on what happened at the county commissioners' briefings. All three commissioners were in attendance. There was no media coverage.

1. Union Contracts. Recall on April 6 the commissioners voted to approve the settlement of the contract with the jail and corrections facility staff. At that time I asked what the 2010 budget impact would be. I got a vague answer from Monty Cobb (who just happens to be an attorney working in the Prosecutor's Office and, oh by the way, is running for Prosecutor this election coming up). He said that there was no specific dollar amount at that time. He expected a 1% to 6.5% increase and for each percent we could expect to see a $15K increase in salaries. He surmised somewhere around $65K after the salary survey had been completed.

Well today the Auditor came in to break the news on what the real deal is. In 2010 it's going to cost the county an additional $95K in salaries and benefits but for 2011 it will be over $200K plus an expected increase in pension costs. This is for 42 employees. The county still must settle with the other unions - another 300 or so employees.

Today the commissioners decided to send a memo to the Sheriff telling him to absorb the salary and benefit increases which the commissioners had approved.

This is almost like a kabuki dance.

The real problem rests squarely in the commissioners' laps. I asked were they surprised at how much of an increase they'd approved for this one bargaining unit and both Lynda and Tim said they were surprised. I didn't ask Ross because he's admitted he signs stuff without reading. He's on record the fall of 2009 stating that he signed without reading the settlement to the Unfair Labor Practice with the Deputies. Honestly, if you gave the Board a ham sandwich on some days I believe they'd sign it.

2. Noise Control. Tomorrow there's a public hearing to revise the Mason County Code, Title 9, Section 9.36. Barbara Adkins advised the commissioners that tomorrow the folks opposed to a race track coming to Mason County would likely show up. She went on to say that this could be a challenge for the Board and that they should emphasize to the public that the purpose for revising this code was merely to allow the county to have more "flexibility".

3. School Impact Fees. The Planning Advisory Commission (PAC) asked the Board to schedule more public meetings on the topic of impact fees as proposed by several local school superintendents. Lynda said, "We delegate to the PAC. They don't delegate to the Board." So there, PAC, go deal with it. The Board wants to see an up or down vote by the PAC. But why would the PAC do that when both Tim and Ross say it's a dead issue? There will be no public meetings or public hearings on impact fees. I'll bet the supervisors are surprised since they thought both Lynda and Ross were going to support the impact fees. Ross could afford to support this initiative when he was running unopposed. New day in Mason County for Ross Gallagher - some one else is after his job.

4. Storm Water Task Force. I'll bet you thought 29 people was a large enough committee to study storm water but you and I would have thought wrong. Today the commissioners deliberated bringing another member aboard, Gary Yando. Gary, if you're reading this you might want to listen to the tape of today's briefings prior to joining up. I didn't get the impression you'd be welcome. One who shall remain nameless has a problem with your management style while two commissioners have "reservations" about bringing you in to the taskforce. Egads. Enough said.

5. Sale of Surplus Property and Accrued Leave Fund. On tomorrow's BOCC agenda we find that the county is holding a public hearing to declare 28 parcels as surplus which should bring in to the county coffers over $1M. After paying off any delinquent property tax obligations and reimbursing the Road Fund for their expenses, the remaining dollars will be placed in the Accrued Leave Fund per county Resolution 70.04. Public Works came to the commissioners today to make sure they wanted to put this money into the Accrued Leave Fund or did they want to change the resolution so the dollars could go elsewhere? Tim says we have to put it into the Accrued Leave Fund because there's this one retired budget analyst who has expressed continued concern about this unfunded liability. Thanks a bunch, Tim.

Why aren't there more of us tearing into these meetings? If for nothing more than the entertainment value, they are worth the price of admission.

That's all, Mason County.

BOCC Meeting - April 6

With all the ADAGE coverage, I failed to recap last week's public board meeting. All three commissioners were there for the entire meeting.

• Belfair Waste Water Treatment Facility: The BOCC approved the contract with EnviroIssues to provide "Side Sewer Communications Coordination and Construction Outreach Support" at a cost of $221K. The cost per contract hour comes to $93.52. Not bad wages in a county with such high unemployment. The budget line continues to be "clear as mud", a phrase that you'll find used frequently as we discuss whatever is happening in the county commissioner chambers. Tom Moore couldn't answer what was remaining of the contingency funds set aside for a $40M dollar construction effort fraught with uncertainty and risks in every step of this project. Kudos to Tim for having read the contract and for sharing with the public what deliverables are included in this contract. But when are our commissioners going to get it? With more than a quarter of the year lapsed, we do not have a complete budget description of what one third of the county's 2010 budget is being spent on. Here is a fact - not even one full page of the 2010 budget document is devoted to the BWWTF while over 160 pages are spent on the balance of the revenue and expenditures. This does not make sense to me.

• Storm Water Management Advisory Task Force: The BOCC approved this 28 member task force that includes five members who do not live in this county but will provide such essential expertise that they must be voting members of the task force. This task force will help to "craft financial options to fund storm water improvement activities". First of all when was the last time 28 people were able to get anything done in a timely manner? Secondly since when is it okay for someone who lives in Thurston County to come to Mason County and help us figure out how we want to be taxed? I was not surprised that all three commissioners felt this was honky dory. Am I a minority voice on this? Mason County, I think we may all want to keep an eye on this before we see it appear on our property tax statements. Then it may be too late.

• Corrections and Support Staff Bargaining Unit (IAM&AW Local Lodge W38): The BOCC approved the agreement between the county and this bargaining unit. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Monty Cobb couldn't tell us what the budget impact was exactly but he could tell us that for this 42 member unit the increase is somewhere between 1% and 6.5% and that for every one percent increase it will cost the county an extra $15K in 2010. The way I figure it's somewhere between $15K and $97.5K. Clear as mud, right? One bargaining unit down and 11 more to go. The big one is the Deputies Guild. Be watching here for more on this.

• KMAS sent a letter to the county protesting the use of the Shelton Mason Journal as the official newspaper for county official notices. This agenda action was tabled for further review.

• BOCC approved changing the HR/Budget Director position back to HR duties only. They couldn't tell us what budget duties are being omitted but could tell us that they'll contract out this work. Nor could they tell us how much they are saving. Clear as mud, right?

• Public Works announced that the county's annual chip seal contract was awarded. The County Roads account saved $20K because the awarded contract was less than the engineer's estimate. Another reason why a levy shift from Roads to Current Expense/General Fund are in order for 2011. And this is as clear as fresh spring water.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Eleventh Hour County Business

Once again Mason County Commissioners have not been paying attention to the business at hand.

The Sheriff's deputies bargaining unit have had a signed agreement from the county since August 2009 settling on how they get paid for their uniforms. Basically the deputies want a separate check. Now to get this separate check to the deputies in the "eleventh hour" of 2009 will take extraordinary effort by Don Gardner's accounting firm which you and I will pay for.

When the Commissioners were briefed on this by the Sheriff's office on Dec 14, they could have taken action to get this resolved in-house and in a more orderly fashion. They didn't. Commissioner Ring Erickson wanted more information but then she went on leave. Commissioner Gallagher stated that he knew this had to be paid but he didn't force the issue with Ring Erickson. Tim was absent from this briefing.