PORT ANGELES — Incumbent Clallam County Community Development Director John Miller used a candidates forum Monday to eschew his opponent’s claims that he is not accessible to the public.
“I do want to acknowledge that most everybody I talk to says John Miller is very nice, a very congenial person, and I commend [him] for that,” challenger Sheila Roark Miller, no relation, said at the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
“They also complain that they can’t find John. He’s out of the office quite a bit.”
“I think the public wants to come in and see you,” said Roark Miller, a code compliance officer and deputy fire marshal who works in the same department she would oversee with a win in the Nov. 2 general election.
“I think the employees want to see and have access to you. It needs to be a balance with your outside activities and your inside work.”
Delegated tasks
John Miller countered by saying that he delegates certain responsibilities to his division directors.
“I do not need to be involved in everything the department does to have confidence that things are accomplished properly for the public interest,” he told an audience of about 70 at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
“Responsibility is delegated to people who work directly with the public, and I expect that customer service would be our highest priority. I would want to hear from the permit technician or from the planner that I would need to get involved.
“I am accessible.”
The forum was the ninth that the two have attended during their primary and general election campaigns.
Roark Miller had 306 more votes than John Miller in last month’s all-mail primary election.
Ballots for the Nov. 2 general election will be mailed on Oct. 13.
The Department of Community Development director is paid $62,211 to $70,877 per year, administers a budget that in 2010 is $3.44 million and supervises a staff of 32.
Monday’s forum was also the first of six that the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce has scheduled for the run-up to the election.
Next week’s luncheon will feature the two candidates running for Clallam County prosecuting attorney — incumbent Deb Kelly and challenger Larry Freedman — and four candidates for chamber board.
John Miller, former executive director of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, was elected in 2006.
Unique in nation
The nation’s only elected county community development director, Miller also chairs the Peninsula College Board of Trustees and serves as president of the Port Angeles Food Bank board of directors.
Since he took office in 2007, Miller and his staff have worked to bring the county into compliance with the Growth Management Act, he said.
A state hearings board ruled in 2008 that several parts of the county’s comprehensive plan were invalid and noncompliant with the 1990 legislation.
“We are now at the point where all that remains is sewer in Carlsborg,” said Miller, referring to the proposed $15 million sewer and wastewater treatment plant west of Sequim.
John Miller touted the county’s cleanup of 160 tons of waste from one Gales Addition residential lot in early August.
“We’re very proud of our voluntary compliance in code enforcement, and we have had many neighborhood cleanups,” Miller said.
The building division, in which Roark Miller works, has never denied a building permit since John Miller took office, he said.
“To me, that shows that we work very patiently with property owners to get them through regulatory requirements,” he said.
Miller, 61, of Port Angeles, said he hopes to have a comprehensive storm water plan approved by the end of next year.
Roark Miller, 51, of Carlsborg said she would have an open-door policy if elected.
She said her varied background and skills would benefit the public.
“My platform is based on a balanced stewardship — a balance between protecting the environment and allowing development and construction, a balance between long-range planning of environmental ordinances and getting the permit out the door through empowering the employees to make those decisions to get the permits issued,” Miller said.
Fee consistency
If elected, Roark Miller said, she would have consistent fees for roof replacements, backup generators and suspended building permits.
“And no fees and no permit needed for the whole building boat shed and the handicapped ramp,” Roark Miller said.
John Miller said handicapped ramps are regulated by a federal law — the Americans With Disabilities Act — and that he couldn’t shed the permit requirement if he wanted to. He said he took an oath of office in 2006 to uphold U.S. and state laws.
“I really cannot, frankly, figure out how a person who wants to be an official of the county would stand up and say federal law would not be carried out,” John Miller said.
“I have a problem with that.”
Roark Miller said she would welcome complaints, feedback and criticism and apply “the participation strategy of management.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.