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Laura's Blog
Click here to email Laura, please put "blog post" in the reference line to have your comments posted
March 9, 2010 latest union contract ratified
Last week the Pend Oreille County management team met with PERC (public employees relations commission) and the Information Technology Services Department and came to agreement on a 3year contract. This department is under the Commissioners and serves the technology needs for the whole County.
March 1, 2010 Spring is just around the corner
Greetings, its been awhile since I have posted. I thought no one really looked at these, yet there were comments in a blog posting about the Seattle City Light issue referring to one of my blog posts. So I will say that I have greatly appreciated the support of our citizens and Representatives of the 7th District as we have traveled this crazy road. It has been an education and an experience. We have made progress and have actual negotiations occurring. I will keep you posted, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
December 22, 2009 Merry Christmas
It has been a very busy end of the year-so much to wrap up and close out. Reflecting on the year there has been much to celebrate and also to mourn. Wishing all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
November 17, 2009 Think positive!
I get that line from the recent Pend Oreille Players youth production of "Willie Wonka", it was a great show! The thought rings true whether you are hoping for the golden ticket, or dealing with economic difficulties. I find having a positive attitude goes a long ways towards making it easier to handle what life tosses at you. I've heard it said that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% attitude :)
I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, Laura
October 8, 2009 Wow it's Fall
Greetings everyone, hope you all had a great summer! I can hardly believe it's fall, then I see all the kids playing sports and feel the nip in the air at the Friday night football games and know its true. Thank you to the many citizens that have gotten involved in the commissions and boards the county has, your contribution helps us serve all citizens better! Enjoy the beautiful fall weather, the rustling leaves and the great new roads in our area.
August 5, 2009 It's Road work season
The dog days of summer are in full swing and kids are getting restless :). As you can tell-if you have been on the roads, the stimulus money is hitting the ground. For the Pend Oreille County Road crew, they are putting over $6 million dollars in projects on our roads, along with the Washington Department of Transportation putting around $8 million into Highway 2. Remember that the detours and stops are inconvenient now, yet the results are worth it. Thanks Road Crew for all your hard work!
July 26, 2009 The Heat is on!
Wow I can't believe it's almost August! It's been a busy month. We are still heavily involved in negotiations with Seattle City Light over the Boundary Dam impact agreement, we have our County teams working on our goals, and we are in the beginning phases of a software change for almost all of our operating functions. We have spent the last year and a half planning and researching what we need to replace and what is out there for counties. Our operating systems for the Assessor, Treasurer, Auditor and Planning are very old, DOS based systems that will not be serviced by anyone starting in 2010. In August the Assessor-Treasurer, property valuation piece will begin switch over to a new system, and we are very close to choosing the Auditor-Treasurer financial piece. It will be of great benefit to everyone working on the new systems and for our citizens when we can serve them faster and smoother. This process will take us approximately two years to be completely up and running solo, so please bear with us.
July 4, 2009 Independence Day
Today our Country celebrates Independence Day, thank you to all who fought for our freedom then, and those who continue to fight for freedom today! I wish you all a safe and fun holiday.
June 22, 2009 Seattle
This last week I visited Seattle to bring to the forefront our negotiations with Seattle City Light for the impact of Boundary Dam. I attended a City Council meeting and also the meeting for the Energy and Technology sub committee. I had personal meetings with Council members Jean Goddard who sits on the budget and the energy committees, and Bruce Harrell who is the Chair of the energy committee. Our consultant Bob Royer was with me and we were able to educate both members of our negotiation process with Seattle City Light and that since our proposal on April 28th, we have not heard back from them. I also met with Chris Endresen, the State Director for Senator Maria Cantwell to keep them up to date on the issue. We hope to have Diane and John visit also through the summer to keep Pend Oreille County in the forefront of their minds.
May 27, 2009 Action Teams formed
Not only have we finished our "adventures in administration" with consultant Stan McNutt, we have also finished our leadership pilot program with the Pacific Institute. With the grant we received (valued at over $17,000) we had 35 county staff participate in a 2 day training, and 5 follow up coaching sessions in small groups. At our final small group meeting we took our core beliefs, or goals that we had created in this process and formed four action teams. These four teams will include citizens and staff focusing on one goal each and how to implement action to reach our goals. We are all excited about these TEAM groups that will be addressing; Facilities, Budget, Communication, and Excellence in Service. If you are interested in being on a TEAM, or would like more information, please email me.
May 4, 2008 Seattle City Light Proposal
On April 28, 2009 the entire Board of County Commissioners, Prosecutor Tom Metzger and consultant Bob Royer presented our counter proposal to Seattle City Light. To see a copy of the letter, click here
April 24, 2009 Newport School Superintendent search
The Newport School District is hiring a new Superintendent and will host a community night on Monday April 27th at Stratton Elementary School at 6:30pm to invite citizens to meet and talk with the candidates for the position.
April 10, 2009 new ITS department
This week the Board of County Commissioners created the new Information Technology Services Department and appointed a director, Chad Goodhue. This department is now under the commissioners and serves all departments in the County and interfaces with many associate entities and the citizens in many unseen ways. We are excited about the advances in technology and are looking at ways to serve people better and make it easier for you to access services, information and participate in open government.
April 2, 2009 blog post discussions with citizen Derrick Knowles about Federal Land Acts(latest date on top)
3.31.09
Laura,
Thanks for the quick reply and for taking the time to look into the details regarding environmental initiatives from D.C. and Olympia like the Yellowstone to Yukon (y2y) and Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) bills that are often seen by locals as top-down, outsider ideas. While some suspicion may be justified about such initiatives, it's important to get the facts and separate conspiracy from reality. Thank you for taking the time to do that.
As a life-long E-WA resident, hunter, outdoorsman, and conservationist, I'm glad to work for a conservation group that's working on the ground locally to protect wildlife and communities. Conservation NW focuses our wildlife and forest conservation efforts on local, collaborative problem solving to find common ground with other groups, individuals, and businesses-like timber companies, recreation advocates, ranchers, elected officials, and others. While we support working with local communities to find ways to protect our local timber jobs and way of life and wildlife habitat and wilderness, we have not been actively involved in the NREPA for the same reason we opposed the Washington State y2y bill this session, because that bill and its sponsors in the WA Legislature didn't't involve and engage local communities or listen to their concerns.
There will always be legislation proposed by individuals and special interests in D.C. on just about any issue imaginable. But I think the best long-term solutions to local conservation and land management problems come when local communities are actively engaged and supportive, which is what Conservation Northwest is trying to do. For the past six years, local timber interests, conservationists, and other businesses and community leaders have been working together to protect habitat, create jobs in the woods, maintain our mill infrastructure, and improve the timber harvest practices on the Colville National Forest. More information on that effort is available on the NE WA Forestry Coalition web site at: http://www.newforestrycoalition.org/
I firmly believe we can find a way to maintain our special places and healthy wildlife populations for future generations AND have active timber management and a thriving economy.
Thanks again for the conversation on this topic. Derrick Knowles, Conservation Northwest
3.27.09
Derrick,
Thank you for your email, I appreciate your involvement. I think local involvement would be a great place to educate people on the purposes and consequences of both this act, and another federal act called the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Act. We will do our best to keep the citizens informed of the movement of the bills and if there is a process created for education and involvement,
Thanks again, Laura
3.25.09
Hello Laura,
I wanted to respond to your blog post about the y2y bill in the WA legislature and let you know that Conservation Northwest submitted a letter to legislators earlier this year opposing the legislation because there was no attempt to get local input from the communities in NE WA that would have been affected. Apparently the bill died again this year, and hopefully won't come up again next year, as efforts like this only stir up unnecessary controversy and conspiracy.
Best, Derrick Knowles Conservation Northwest
March 29, 2009 Economic Development and Tourism
Pend Oreille County is looking at Economic Development and Tourism. We have an opportunity to make changes to the function of Economic Development, our relationship with the Tri County Economic Development District and how it can partner with PORTA, the Pend Oreille County Visitors Bureau. Changes in our natural resource based economy and changes in our national economy make it vitally important for us to focus on Tourism and Business recruitment and retention. As we work through this process I would love to hear your comments, please email me. The next EDC meeting is April 15th at 8:30am in the Ione Library.
March 21, 2009 Commissioner designation of departments
In an effort to get the best efficiency administratively without having a county administrator, the Board has designated the three Commissioners to have some executive authority over some named departments. I will be over Information Services and Human Resources, Diane will be over Planning and Counseling and John will be over Public Works and Extension. We want to have better communication and accountability by having a specific point of contact.
March 13, 2009 Transportation Stimulus
Pend Oreille County has been notified that we will receive $471,000.00 dollars from the Federal Stimulus transportation dollars that have to go through the State Department. We submitted several "shovel ready projects" that had to meet State requirements, and we were advised that we will receive the $471,000.00 for a Deer Valley project that we will commence this summer. We have not heard anything on the Usk Bridge, and bridge money was separated from transportation money, so we are still contacting our State and Federal Legislators about the bridge, stay tuned.
March 7, 2009 Leadership Training
Pend Oreille County was awarded a grant for a Leadership Training program with the Pacific Institute! We had two instructors on site for two days with 35 County Elected Officials and staff in attendance. The focus was on personal leadership and accountability. It was great training that brought many people from different departments together to talk about what Pend Oreille County should look like and how we will set goals to get there. The grant, valued at over $15,000.00 is for the on site training and four Coaching follow up meetings with the attendees in a small group setting to implement what we learned and keep the excitement of the possibilities going.
February 20, 2009 Forest Service Stimulus
Federal Stimulus monies going to the Forest Service can benefit you. There will be projects put on the ground and contracts will be open for bid if you have a federal contractors registration number. Go to http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/contracting/ccr/ccr_general_info.pdf and follow the instructions listed to get on the federal registry. Then you will be prepared when this heads our way.
February 17, 2009 Wellness Program
Pend Oreille County is getting in the groove! In an effort to do our part to combat the rising cost of healthcare in our nation and our region, Pend Oreille County employees are enrolling in "Log to Live" our local Wellness Program designed to create a healthy workforce, happier employees and reduce our medical premiums by having better medical experience. We are also a part of a regional Wellness Program with "Alere", a company helping individuals deal with common diseases such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, High blood pressure and others. Working with health coaches to learn how to manage and control these diseases.
February 02, 2009 Yukon to Yellowstone
The Washington State Senate will again look at the Yukon to Yellowstone bill (SB 5064) that may greatly impact our County. Go to www.leg.wa.gov to look up the bill and the Senators on the Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation Committee who will hear the bill. You can write these Senators to let them know how you feel about the bill and any concerns you may have. This is a Federal level initiative that the State of Washington is connecting to, or piggybacking onto, go to www.y2y.net to read about the organization. I would also like to hear how you feel about the bill, click the link at the top of the page to email me.
January 28, 2009 first post
The first month of a new year is almost over and life in Pend Oreille County is moving along at it's normal fast speed. Many are looking forward to spring, myself included, and are cheered by the sight of the first Robin in the trees. Thankfully the daily falling of large amounts of snow has tapered off and now we just have to learn to drive in the ice "potholes".
In an effort to have more open communication and easier access to information the County has a new website and I am glad you have visited it. Please take a moment to look through the different pages and see the links to just about everything you may want to know. If there is something missing, please let us know so that we can add it.
Check back often to see news updates, calendar changes and to visit the Commissioners Blog for "just thought you might want to know" type of extras. Also our FAQ (frequently asked questions) page will have some website use tips.
Greetings and thank you for visiting my blog
For 2009 I have been appointed by the President of WSAC (Washington State Association of Counties) to sit on the Legislative Steering Committee that will meet twice a month during Legislative Session to track and support or oppose bills and also to visit and lobby the Legislature on our Countys behalf. I am also on the Eastern District Board of Directors of WSAC that focus on the unique needs of Rural Eastern Washington. I am also on the Board of Directors for our Juvenile Facility, Martin Hall, the Economic Development Council and the Tri-County Economic Development District Board. I represent Pend Oreille County on the Rural Resources Community Action Board and the Washington Counties Insurance Fund. I am honored to represent the people of Pend Oreille County, please always feel free to contact me.
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