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Diane's Blog
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December 11, 2009
Not only has the air outside been frigid, our negotiations with Seattle City light could be explained the same way. After a full year of wanting to sit down and negotiate with SCL, we have yet to hear anything other than "Our offer stands, perhaps we should go to arbitration." My fellow commissioners & I do not feel this is negotiating in any sense of the word. It has been an exercise in frustration, nothing more.
Balancing the budget has been a difficult task, but worthwhile in that I have learned how much our staff does and that there is little "fluff" in a county budget. We have a loyal, dedicated staff and we have asked them to step up this year and assist each other to eliminate layoffs, by taking eight unpaid (furlough) leave days. It is my sincere hope that they will. As a Board, we will do the same and the salary commission has granted permission to waive the automatic 3% COLA, which all three of us will also do, as well. Now that we have a salary commission as I advocated for, they will meet again next spring to revisit the salary for commissioners. It is important to note that any determination they make does not take effect until the 2010 elections. Again, if it is determined that commissioners should make less, I will abide by that ruling and reduce my salary accordingly. As promised, I have returned at least and possibly more than 15% of my salary this year. I will report on that at tax time.
As a county, we have been told to budget at 2006 levels, meaning we expect far less revenue in 2010, and not to expect significant change until 2012.
On a more positive note, Jamie Wyrobek has been hired by the reconfigured Economic Development Council as our Economic Development Specialist. We look forward to good things from Jamie and her background as a Community Organizer should serve her well in her new role.
Things we know for certain... it will snow and the roads will be plowed by our tremendous Pend Oreille County Road Crew, we will settle with Seattle City Light-eventually, our Public Safety staff will keep us "safe" by responding when they are called, our county staff all stand at the ready to serve our needs, and taxes will come due for all of us... as they always do.
In closing, I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to serving you for another year. I also need to publicly thank my husband and family for all their support in my first year of office.
Di
November 6, 2009
As I near the end of my first year in office and face a budget deficit, it makes me more appreciative of what our senators and representative face in Washington D.C. and after studying every single line item, I have not only learned a lot; I realize I still have more to learn. Our county budget is not a place where there is much fluff! Our staff has been very supportive by budgeting conservatively for 2010 and they are to be commended.
The Community Development Department, which I have oversight of, has operated with a short staff and budget this year, due to the economy, less building, and the reorganization of the department. It is our intention to have a department that is fully staffed, beginning in January 2010. The public will see a new process in the permitting end of things and that, too, should improve service by providing very consistent information and decisions. We remain very excited about how this department will function in the coming years. Most recently, Director Lithgow has served on the interview team involved in hiring the new county Economic Development Specialist. The new specialist will also work closely with Community Development, under the direction of the Economic Development Council. It all ties together~
I have heard from many constituents, especially in my district, about concerns they have with one thing or another and I have returned every phone call and done my best to address the issues. I can only hope they have found me to be fair in my research and decision making.
I will be serving the county as the Legislative Steering Committee representative in Olympia for the 2010 Legislative Session, along with one commissioner from every county in the state. We address common issues as a group and make our recommendations to legislators both personally and through the Washington State Association of Counties. Pend Oreille County is active in both rural and timber county issues and we meet separately to form dialogue in issues common to us, as well. I am very much looking forward to this assignment.
For now, we continue to try to negotiate with Seattle City Light, who is bound by law to compensate us for impacts. It has been a frustrating experience, in that they do not wish to dialogue with us as commissioners, because it then becomes a public meeting. Go figure~
~I am honored to be serving you and encourage you to contact me~
August 18, 2009
We are fast approaching budget time in Pend Oreille. Looking ahead to 2010 is difficult, given that we have not yet settled the impact agreement with Seattle City Light. It has been a difficult task to try to negotiate, as they have not been willing to sit down and truly negotiate. Their last communication with us, received by fax, suggested arbitration. That is not our wish, we wish to sit and discuss the issue, in person. We are committed to doing the best for our constituents and school districts that we can. As it is, Selkirk stands to lose over $300,000.00 this year if an agreement is not reached. That's tough when unemployment in the north end of the county is already in double digits!
On a more positive note, the new Community Development Department, now under the direction of Mike Lithgow, is moving along nicely, They will soon replace one open position with a new Natural Resources person. This is a position that will allow for more streamlining of the ins and outs of permitting in sensitive areas and assist in facilitating, too. A new "Permit Center" will evolve within the department, also designed to streamline building permits, etc. This is all being done within the current budget and with a very committed staff, who deserves public acknowledgment for their efforts during the reorganization. Thanks, CDD Staff!
We have withdrawn the state Dept. of Commerce monies we designated to Tri County Economic Development District and are working with our local Economic Development Council to assure that the monies will be utilized the best they can be in and for Pend Oreille County. It is reassuring to know that we now have "local control" after several years of dysfunction. I see our first and foremost responsibility, to retain the businesses currently here, before we begin to recruit from outside. To that end, the new Community Development Director will attend EDC meetings and work with the EDC to chart that course.
Fall is just around the corner... or was it here earlier this week? Enjoy the warm days we have left~
I am very pleased to be serving you and encourage you to call or email me... anytime!
May 7, 2009 - Much is happening in our county with the onset of spring. Our Administrative Consultant, Stan McNutt, is getting ready to return to his St. Maries home and will leave us with a new direction in several departments. His expertise will be missed by all of us who have come to know him.
As you may have read, we have split Public Works into two distinctly different departments, Public Works and Community Development. To date, we have accomplished with existing personnel and are very excited about how we continue to reorganize down the road.
I oversee the new Community Development Department, with limited administrative oversight of the director, who has full administrative power of the department and its staff. The Acting Director is former Senior Planner, Mike Lithgow. Mike has served Pend Oreille in this role before and we are grateful to him for offering to do that again.
I also oversee Couseling Services and Director Annabelle Payne. THis is a new area for me and funding here has been greatly reduced, yet the services provided are so critical to our most vulnerable citizens. We continue to search for creative ways to serve them.
We continue to negotiate with Seattle City Light over the long term Boundary Dam impact to the county. We are committed to seeing that Pend Oreille County continues to receive fair impact fees from this lost natural resource.
We are following the wilderness projects both locally and nationally and receive updates on both fronts. As commissioners we have not taken positions, but are looking for indicators that the needs of all types of recreation are met.
We recently committed to a one year contract with Tri County Economic Development District, to see if we can work out some of the hurdles that have popped up over the last several years. The EDC has committed to this process, as well and we all agree that tourism must be equally recognized as an economic driver, as bricks/mortar business recruitment and retention. They go hand-in-hand.
The state budget has passed and although many will feel the loss of revenue, small rural and distressed counties were not overlooked and our losses will not be as great. Thank you to WSAC, who represents us so well, and to our state legislators for lobbying on our behalf.
Pend Oreille's budget is on track and we are beginning to look at the second half revenues/expenditures. The horror stories we hear from other counties about layoffs, furloughs, etc. has been avoided here… to date. We are watching spending very carefully and requesting departments to monitor their own budgets with a critical eye.
Four months has passed since taking office and I no longer feel newly elected. I continue to enjoy serving you and have met many new faces in the first quarter of the year. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
March 23, 2009 As a Board, we recently designated the Pend Oreille River Tourism Alliance (PORTA) as Pend Oreille County's Official Visitor's Bureau. This enables us to begin a push for tourism, a much needed 'puzzle piece' to our infrastructure and key component for economic development.
We submitted 2010 appropriation requests for both broadband and the Usk Bridge.
As promised, we will soon be coming to your neighborhood with our regular meetings... via the internet or cable.
With cutbacks at the state level, we stand to lose some counseling services for our most vulnerable citizens. Decisions in this arena require very tough choices and we are committed to looking at all options before making any recommendations to our representatives, i.e. cutting services or raising sales tax.
I would like to say "Thank You" to the citizens who responded to our call for action and who stepped forward by offering to serve on boards/commissions. We value your service much more than words can express. This is truly the meaning of GRASSROOTS. We still have a few openings... Parks & Rec Board, Weed Board, and Long Range Facilities Planning. The Facilities Planning Committee is a new committee and we are excited about it. Thank you for considering it.
I represent you on the following committees/boards for 2009: Aging & Long Term Care of EW, EW Council of Governments, Legislative Steering Committee (alternate), LEOFF-1, Local Emergency Planning Committee (alternate), NE Tri-County Health, North Central WA Regional Support Network, Regional Transportation Planning Organization, Rural Resources-Community Action (alternate), Tri-Co Economic Development District (TEDD), Upper Columbia RC&D (alternate), WA Counties Risk Pool, Wildfire Plan Board, and the EW Workforce Development Board.
Please let me know if there is a local meeting you'd like me to attend. Those meetings are where I get the best information and it always helps with decision-making!
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