County board hears economics, other business

Wahkiakum County commissioners handled a variety of business at their Tuesday meeting, with topics ranging from vacancies on various boards to a report on the county's economics.

Puget Island resident Sylvia Costich addressed Commissioners Blair Brady and Mike Backman (Commissioner Dan Cothren was in Olympia at a meeting of the state Board of Natural Resources), commenting that it would help their decision making to become aware of the county's demographics and economics.

"Many of your agenda item discussions address the welfare of the citizens and our county government," she said. "However, in many cases, these discussions do not reference data used to determine how decisions made are expected to produce positive results."

Referring to US Census and Washington Employment Security Department economist reports, Costich noted characteristics such as:

--According to the Census Bureau’s On The Map program, over three-fourths of the county’s employed residents worked outside the county in 2014, mostly in Cowlitz, Clark, Pacific, Multnomah (OR) and Clatsop (OR) counties. Slightly more than half of the people who worked in Wahkiakum lived outside the county, with Cowlitz and Pacific being home to half of those cross-county commuters. [Wahkiakum County Profile, Scott Bailey, ESD regional labor economist, Sept. 2016]

--The median hourly wage for non-federal jobs in Wahkiakum County was $20.32 in 2015, well below the median for the entire state but higher than the rest of the state if King County was excluded. Wahkiakum matched the state median back in 1998, but wages have stagnated since then. The average annual wage ($34,148 in 2015) declined steadily from 1999 to 2008 but has trended up since then, because most of the jobs lost in the recession were low-wage jobs. [Bailey, Sept. 2016]

--In 2014, county per capita income was $35,534. That was 28 percent below the state average and 23 percent below the national average. The gap between the county and the state and nation has been widening steadily for 40 years. Wahkiakum residents are much more dependent upon investment income and transfer payments like Social Security and Medicare than most areas. [Bailey, Sept. 2016]

--Wahkiakum’s population was estimated at 4,042 in 2015, with little change since 2008. Over the past decade, population has grown by 0.2 percent a year on average, about a quarter of the national rate and a sixth of the state rate.

--Wahkiakum’s population is much older than the state and nation. In 2016:

8 percent of the county was below the age of 20, versus 26 percent statewide.

15 percent was aged 20 to 39, versus 28 percent statewide.

25 percent was aged 40 to 59, almost the same as the state’s 27 percent.

41 percent was aged 60 or older, double the state average of 21 percent.

The county is also less diverse: In 2015, 93 percent of the population was white and non-Hispanic. [Bailey, Sept. 2016]

"My point," Costich said, "You can try to create jobs in Wahkiakum County, but if we don't address the underlying constraints, we're not addressing the whole issue."

Moving on, Longview businessman Greg Cronk informed the board that he is thinking about opening a recreational marijuana retail shop in the Cathlamet area. He is in the process of purchasing land for a shop, he said.

Commission Chair Blair Brady commented that the state Cannabis and Liquor Control Board will make the final decision on whether or not a retail marijuana shop would be permitted. As with liquor permits, the board has only the choice of approving or disapproving of an application.

"If it's within the legal guidelines, I would okay a permit," Brady said.

Commissioners and Clerk of the Board Beth Johnson discussed difficulties in filling positions on county boards. Johnson said the vacancies have been advertised, but no one has applied.

Vacancies include:

--County planning commission, district 2;

--Wahkiakum County Fair Board, at-large position;

--County real property rights advisory board, two at-large positions;

--County Noxious Weed Control Board, very western end and Elochoman Valley/East End.

Commissioner Backman said he had a candidate for the weed board who lives in Grays River but owns land off Miller Point Road and would serve as the far Westend representative.

Johnson said the candidate could apply through the formal process needed to fill weed board vacancies.

Meanwhile, the weed control supervisor will have a temporary office in the WSU Cooperative Extension office in the River Street Building.

The county has been working with the Wahkiakum Conservation District to rent office space for the supervisor, but that arrangement is still being developed, Backman and Johnson said.