County officialsdebate advocate

Should Wahkiakum County accept state funding to make a part-time employee full-time?

That's the question county officials have been debating the past two weeks.

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow reported that the state is offering fulltime salary and benefits for the position of the crime victim advocate in his office. The state has been funding the position part time, and Bigelow last week asked the board of commissioners to accept the new funding and make the position full time.

The board could act on the proposal at its meeting next Tuesday.

Commissioners George Trott, Dan Cothren and Blair Brady balked at the proposal.

Cothren said that the board cut funding for two positions in other offices, and he doesn't want to create new positions until those positions can be restored.

To do so would be a slap in the faces of other officials and employees, he said, and it would cause internal dissension.

Trott agreed with Cothren's concern and added his own concerns about continued funding and whether or not the position would come under jurisdiction of the county employees' union.

Brady expressed reservations about creating the position when Bigelow raised the issue June 3, but after Bigelow responded to the concerns at the board's June 10 meeting, he said he had been persuaded to approve Bigelow's request.

Employees in the prosecutor's office are already exempt from union jurisdiction, Bigelow said, so the position wouldn't be governed by the union contract.

The money for the position was allocated to support crime victims; the aid from advocates also enhances the prosecutor's cases, Bigelow said.

The money is intended to be a continuing appropriation, he said; if there were no funding, the position would be cut. And if the county doesn't claim the funding, it may be appropriated to another county and thus wouldn't be available to Wahkiakum in the future.

Trott also raised concerns that came from the District and Superior court offices--that there isn't a sufficient workload for the position, and the current part-time advocate is working in the Law Library and is in the way if the public or attorneys want to use that room.

Bigelow said he had never heard a complaint that the advocate was in the library. The advocate either leaves or shares space and a computer with researchers, he said.

He also said the advocate would be able to find enough to do even though the prosecutorial caseload is now low.

Wayne Flohr, a mental health counselor and commission candidate, urged the board not to ignore victims in order to appease perceived public opposition to new positions. And if the full-time position wasn't needed, the prosecutor could decline the funding in the future, he added.