Commissioners invite governorto visit county

Wahkiakum County commissioners would like company for the holidays.

On Tuesday, they signed a letter to Governor Chris Gregoire inviting her to visit the county and discuss issues facing the county.

In this time of nationwide financial difficulties, many of those issues will relate to money.

County officials are dealing with their shortfalls and personnel layoffs in the budgets released Monday afternoon.

And on Tuesday, members of the county Mental Health Advisory Board joined Health and Human Services staff to urge attention to funding shorfall threats to services to certain mental health programs.

Commissioners would also like to discuss timber and fishery management issues with the governor.

Mental Health counselor Chris Holmes and other mental health advisory board members reported that cuts in the federal funding for mental health programs could affect Wahkiakum clients.

Some of the losses, Holmes said, would end funding for Elochoman Valley Partners, a limited partnership formed by people with developmental and other disabilities to operate businesses such as the Made in Wahkiakum store and Wahkiakum on the Move transit.

Holmes and the advisory board members urged the board to consider imposing a 0.1 percent addition to sales tax in the county; this would raise about $21,000 which could be leveraged against state incentive funding to cover the programs.

Commissioners said they would consider the proposal and make a decision in early December so that the request could be included in the governor's 2009 budget request to the legislature.

Public Works Director Pete Ringen reported that last week's storm and high waters caused about $20,000 damage to county roads.

The largest amount, $6,000 occurred on Kandoll Road where the Grays River washed away the rock surface. Risk Road sustained about $5,000 in similar damage.

The storm caused flooding in the Grays River Valley and put water over roads in the Elochoman and Skamokawa valleys. Slides occurred on Elcohoman and Eden valley roads.