Wahkiakum officials reject proposal to combine counties

A proposal by Clark County elected officials to combine 12 of the state's smallest counties with larger neighbors has met with skepticism from local officials.

Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick, a Republican, and Treasurer Doug Lasher, a Democrat have suggested the idea to state officials and legislators. Using data from the state Office of Financial Management, Lasher and Van Nortwick estimate the proposal will save $90.7 million in the cost of running county government.

They say Wahkiakum County, population 3,978, spends $2,366 per resident to operate county government. By combining Wahkiakum with Cowlitz, the cost per resident would be $964 with an annual savings of $5.5 million.

Further, Pacific County, population 20,920, spends $920 per resident. By combining Pacific with Grays Harbor County, the cost per resident would be $916 with an annual savings of $83,680.

Lasher and Van Nortwick have asked Clark County legislators Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, and Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, to propose legislation to implement the combinations. The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver reported Dec. 27 that Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, said she will introduce a bill to study the impact of merging smaller counties.

Lasher and Van Nortwick are also proposing a constitutional amendment to require counties have a minimum population of 25,000 or be merged with a neighboring county.

Some Wahkiakum County officials have learned of the proposal and expressed concern or outright opposition.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Commissioner Dan Cothren said at the Tuesday meeting of the board of commissioners. "If you combine for reduction of cost of service, you'll lose service.

Cothren added that local services under a past two-county combination were unsatisfactory.

"We're too far away," he said.

"Yeah," said Commissioner Mike Backman. "You'll lose services."

The two commissioners said they haven't heard discussion of the issue in meetings with elected officials from outside Wahkiakum County.

In response to an email from The Eagle, Sheriff Mark Howie expressed concern about the proposal.

"If we were to combine with Cowlitz," he wrote, "I would foresee a huge drop in service to our county especially in the way of public safety.

"Anytime a smaller government is swallowed up by a larger one, the outer lying areas get less attention, and the services we currently provide our Wahkiakum citizens would decrease.

"It is the nature of government to pay the most attention to the areas more populated, and our rural area would not see the local availability or response they currently see. Where the state may (or may not) save in money, we locally would pay the bigger price in lack of services in every way."

Sue Cameron, director of the county Dept. of Health and Human Services, echoed Howie's comments.

"I have heard of it (the proposal), but don't know much about it," she wrote in an email. "I think it would be a travesty for our people here in Wahkiakum County. After spending many hours in meetings with adjoining counties, I know that our county would be slighted.

"I doubt that there would be any increase in funding, most likely a decrease. Many of our funding streams take into account the size of our small county.

"Our department would be subsumed by other larger counties, and I believe that services to people here would be reduced. We have unique services here, tailored to our unique needs, and that would be lost.

"County employees make up 40 percent of the economy, so many people would lose jobs, making less money available to the local businesses.

"I see no advantage for small counties."

Here are the combinations Lasher and Van Nortwick have proposed:

--Combine Wahkiakum with Cowlitz County.

--Combine Pacific with Grays Harbor County.

--Combine Skamania with Clark County.

--Combine Klickitat with Yakima County.

--Combine Columbia with Walla Walla County.

--Combine Garfield and Asotin counties with Whitman County.

--Combine Adams with Franklin County.

--Combine Lincoln with Spokane County.

--Combine Ferry and Pend Oreille counties with Stevens County.

--Combine San Juan with Skagit County.