SEQUIM — Some of the 15 elected members of the Clallam County Charter Review Commission conducted a town hall event at the Community Meeting Room at KSQM FM (91.5).
The first of several planned gatherings, the purpose was to receive community input.
A Charter Review Commission composed of five representatives from each of the county’s three commissioner districts convenes every five years to consider changes to the county’s charter.
Clallam is one of just seven counties among the state’s 39 counties to have a charter granting them home rule and allowing them to govern themselves distinct from state law.
The commission will determine by August which issues to place on the November general election ballot.
Other possible proposed changes can be placed on the ballot in November 2026, but the Charter Review commissioners’ terms will expire on Dec. 31.
It was noted that some issues determined to be important to residents might not require voter approval and could ultimately be decided by Clallam County’s three commissioners.
Of the 77 people in attendance, about a dozen signed up to speak. They were allotted three minutes to express their views or concerns. Opinions related primarily to county coroner and “water steward” positions, but some touched on other issues, such as whether the county has adequate infrastructure for disaster responses.
In the final minutes of the 90-minute meeting, some expressed displeasure that the commission members who were present did not answer questions or engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with the audience.
Jim Stoffer, who represents District 1 and chairs the commission’s Town Hall Outreach Committee, said the first town hall was intended as an opportunity for commission members to hear from constituents and to gather information. He noted that when the commission convened five years ago, no town halls could be held due to COVID-19.
“We are working this out as we go along,” he explained.
The day after the meeting, Stoffer said in an interview that one of the issues that prevented exchanges between the commission and the audience was that a quorum of the Charter Review Commission was present. Responding to questions would have been equivalent to the commission taking action, which it could not legally do at that meeting, he said.
In addition to Stoffer, other Commission members who were present included chair Susan Fisch (District 1), Mark Hodgson (District 3), Ron Cameron (District 2), Patti Morris (District 2), Christy Holy (District 3), Ron Richards (District 2) and Jeff Tozzer (District 1).
Stoffer noted that other scheduled town halls might involve more of an exchange between commission members and the audience. Meetings are open to all Clallam County residents, regardless of their district of residence.
A second town hall was conducted April 1 at the Fairview Grange in Port Angeles. A third event is set for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at the Crescent Grange in Joyce, 50724 state Highway 112.
Those with comments or questions regarding the Charter Review Commission may contact the clerk of the Charter Review Commission at 360-417-2256 or by email at loni.gores@clallamcountywa.gov.
The Charter Review Commission meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners’ Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles. The meetings are open to the public. Those attending should use the after-hours entrance on Fourth Street. The meetings also can be viewed online.
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Kathy Cruz is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. She can be reached by email at kathy.cruz@sequimgazette.com.
