PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has hired Gene Unger, a former county engineer, as lead districting master.
The districting master is responsible for recommending new boundaries for the county’s three districts based on decennial Census information.
The county charter requires that the districts be divided by population with boundaries that run from north to south. The largest district cannot exceed the population of the smallest district by more than 5 percent.
The five-member districting commission interviewed three candidates March 14 and voted unanimously to hire the team of Unger and Don Corson — who are partners in Camaraderie Cellars winery — with Unger acting as the lead.
$8,500 contract
County commissioners approved a $8,500 contract for the districting master Tuesday. The contract amount was recommended by the districting commission.
It was unclear Tuesday how the money would be divided between Unger and Corson.
Neither Unger nor Corson could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Unger chairs the county’s Permit Advisory Board and runs his own engineering firm.
Corson started Camaraderie Cellars in 1992.
His partners are his wife, Vicki, president of the North Sound Winery Association; Unger; and Unger’s wife, Mary Ann, who is an assistant principal at Port Angeles High School.
County charter requires the districting master to submit a draft proposal for the new districts to the commission by June 30.
Public forums
Unger will present his proposal at public forums in Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks.
The districting commission will make a final recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners.
John Marrs, a retired college journalism instructor, was appointed to the districting commission by the Clallam County Democratic Party. He is the chairman of the commission.
Eric Foth is the secretary. Foth, who is retired from a lumber yard and lives east of Port Angeles, was appointed by the Clallam County Republican Party chairman, Dick Pilling.
He was a member of the campaign team for Jim McEntire in his failed bid for a 24th District seat in November, Pilling said. McEntire is a Port of Port Angeles commissioner.
Commissioner Mike Chapman appointed Paul Martin for District No. 2.
Chapman said Foth and Martin, a retiree, were the only applicants for District No. 2. He said Martin is a longtime community volunteer and had worked in Pennsylvania.
Commissioner Steve Tharinger appointed Earl Archer, a state committeeman for the Clallam County Democratic Party, as District No. 1 representative.
Archer, an attorney, is a retiree from California, Tharinger said.
Commissioner Mike Doherty appointed Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon for District No. 3.
No one had applied for the position of districting master as of March 6.
Jeff Well, owner of Rite Bros. Aviation Inc. in Port Angeles, was the county’s districting mater in 1991 and 2001. Well said he had already made arrangements to compete in the World Beard and Mustache Championships in May.
Land acquisition
In other action from Tuesday’s business meeting, county commissioners approved a $75,000 land acquisition in Clallam Bay to provide beach access to the public.
Storm erosion at nearby Clallam Bay Spit County Park blocked public access to the spit in 2009.
Commissioners also reappointed Gordon Gibbs to the Board of Equalization, reappointed Ed Bowlby and Nathan West to the Marine Resources Committee and appointed Andrew Stevenson to the Marine Resources Committee.
“We continue to get good people,” Doherty said.
“Andrew Stevenson is a retired [U.S. Geological Survey] geologist.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.