Departing Clallam County administrator hailed by Port Angeles chamber members

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, June 13, 2006

PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s in good shape, soon-to-retire County Administrator Dan Engelbertson said Monday.

What he didn’t say was that the situation in no small part was his doing.

Engelbertson will leave public service June 30 after five years as the county’s top executive and 25 years as a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy and undersheriff. He previously was a dispatcher in Longview and a Skamania County deputy.

He spoke to the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, whose members gave him a standing ovation at a luncheon at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.

Engelbertson outlined some of the goals he’d set for himself and Clallam County commissioners.

Among the objectives was giving his bosses the best advice he could — including what they may not have wanted to hear.

Day-to-day activities

He also decided to establish comprehensive written policies for the county’s day-to-day activities. Previous managers had issued memos to fix problems.

The trouble was, Engelbertson said, “the people who were at work that day got the memo. Those who weren’t at work didn’t get it.”

The county also needed to live within its means despite shrinking timber tax revenues and property taxes that cannot increase more than 1 percent a year.

Since Engelbertson took the administrator’s post, the county general fund budget has dropped from $30 million to $25 million, he said. That called for some tough decisions.