Commissioners hear personnel requests, handle varied business

Wahkiakum County commissioners heard requests to add personnel to two departments when they met Tuesday.

Commissioners also passed a resolution taking over responsibility for appointing a manager for the county fair and handled a variety of other business.

The board started to hear a request from Sheriff Jon Dearmore to add a new position, emergency services director, but postponed the dicussion upon learning that they hadn't received supporting budget documents from the sheriff's office.

Dearmore and Undersheriff Mark Howie have been working to return administration of a state emergency services grant from the Town of Cathlamet to the county. The move would allow the county to restore the position of emergency services coordinator, which was cut in buget cutting moves two years ago. The Cathlamet council has approved the move.

"I want to take action quickly to get the position going," Dearmore said Tuesday. ""We need the person in place by early November."

At that point, Dearmore and the commissioners discovered that they hadn't received background budgetary information from the sheriff's department.

Commissioners said Dearmore needed to show where he would get funding to cover the position for the last two months of the year, and when the board goes over 2012 budget requests, they would consider future funding for the position.

Dearmore said the grant is funded through grants from the US Department of Homeland Security and goes through the state Department of Emergency Management, so the funding should be secure for the next few years.

However, Commissioner Blair Brady commented that the state is going to have to go through another period of budget cuts and even that money could be reduced.

"I don't want to get anybody on board and then have to let them go," said Commissioner Dan Cothren.

They voted to allow Auditor Diane Tischer to go over budget for personnel and hire a replacement for Clerk Kathy Durrah, who is retiring at the end of 2012 after working 32 years in the auditor's office.

Tischer asked for funding for two months of employment, but the board allowed only one.

Tischer said department staff need time to train the employee; they don't want someone to start work in January without any training, for that would present a severe demand on their time for training a person for one job while they're doing their own.

"I couldn't support this amount of time, based on our current budget," said board Chair Lisa Marsyla. "The largest I'd go would be for a month."

Cothren agreed, and the board voted to support one month's training.

Saying they have signs of tension and instability in the meetings of the Wahkiakum County Fair Board, the commissioners adopted a resolution reclaiming authority to appoint the fair manager. The board had adopted a resolution in 2010 giving that authority to the fair board.

"There are conflicts of interest that need to be addressed," said Commissioner Blair Brady.

Commissioners signed a letter notifying fair board President Neil Beerbower of the action and said they would work with the board to address the issues.

In other business, Puget Island resident Dennis Gordon asked the commissioners to look into removing two elected officials from office for their roles in the Cathlamet Fire Department.

Gordon said he would send the board a letter later this week listing the men's part in the activities coming under scrutiny in a recent Washington State Auditor's Office audit of the fire department.

Dr. Alan Melnick, county health officer, reported that county officials are meeting with personnel from clinics, hospitals and other health care providers to develop a plan to implement the federal Health Care Reform Act.

Their goal, he said, is to creat a system of "integrated medical homes" for patients that would include providers for physical health, mental health and chemical dependency.

Judy Bright, director of the county Department of Health and Human Services, said she and members of her staff are participating in the project so that the county has a voice in what happens. Locally, the department is already working with providers to present integrated services.

Marsyla reported that she and county officials had met with officials from the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Washington State Department of Transportation to discuss an erosion threat to the Steamboat Slough Dike Road on the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge.

She said Fish and Wildlife might be able to find funding if they owned the entire dike, including the road. Commissioners agreed they would give up ownership of the road only with a written guarantee that the agency would never close the road to vehicles.

"This is totally preliminary, so we can think about it," she said.

Also at the meeting, a consulting engineering firm outlined possible solutions to the problem. The group will consider further action at a meeting in November.

The commission also adopted proclamations recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month and supporting the goals of the proclamations' sponsors.