PORT ANGELES — Stamps, picture frames and employee recognition awards have stirred a debate in the halls of Clallam County government.
The three-member Board of County Commissioners conducted a public hearing Tuesday on proposed changes to policies that the county adopted last December which deal with award recognition, refreshments and miscellaneous reimbursements.
No action was taken on the matter.
The heads of the various county departments had requested the changes to allow for the purchase of letters, notes, certificates and other awards — if the expenses fit within their budgets.
Another proposed change prohibits the use of public funds for refreshments at meetings that are less than two hours long. Another change would allow the approval of an affidavit of expense if a receipt is lost.
County Auditor Patty Rosand submitted two pages of typewritten comments on April 12 arguing that there should be consistency among county departments in how public money is used for non-essential purposes.
She questioned a policy that allows department heads to spend public funds as they see fit. The letter raised the question of how a county employee can prove how much is spent without a receipt.
Should tighten belts
“I would like to point out that in the current economic climate, we should be doing everything we can to show that we are ‘tightening our belts’ and not allowing excess, frivolous or unnecessary spending,” said Rosand, who did not attend the hearing but had her comments read by Chief Accountant Stan Creasey.
“Policies are written to make rules that we all follow,” Rosand said. “I feel that adding statements which are open to loose interpretation defeats the purpose of clear and concise guidelines,”
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict countered the claim that county department should be consistent in the amount spent on awards.
“There is a significant difference between those of us who wear the uniform and go out and are licensed to arrest people and take their freedoms away, and if necessary use deadly force,” Benedict said.
“It’s important that we recognize their achievements.”
He cited a Medal of Valor award given to Deputy Bill Cortani, who was shot by Scott L. Davis at a beach front cabin near Sekiu in January 2009.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to go to Bill Cortani and tell him he has to pay for his own Medal of Valor after being shot twice defending the county,” Benedict said.
Sheriff: Worth the expense
Benedict estimates that the Sheriff’s Office spends $1,000 per year for awards and the yearly awards ceremony.
He said every law enforcement agency in the state uses public money to pay for ribbons, medals and other awards.
Benedict said volunteers in the Sheriff’s Office work tens of thousands of hours for free, saving the county an estimated $700,000.
“And we’re going to sit here and say we can’t afford to spend 50 cents to send them a note saying good job?” Benedict asked.
The commissioners asked County Administrator Jim Jones to confer with the state Auditor’s Office and make a recommendation on the proposed policy changes in two weeks.
The board may consider adopting the changes by resolution on May 4.
Miscellaneous spending policies were originally adopted in 2004 to insure accountability in county government and consistency of the process. They are updated periodically to reflect changes in federal and state and rules.
Public records
In the first of two public hearings, the commissioners postponed a vote on a resolution to change policy for inspection and copying of public records.
Responding to a flood of recent public records requests from citizens, the commissioners appointed their clerk, Trish Holden, to serve as the county’s public records officer.
“We’ve actually been operating in this mode for the last several weeks,” Jones said.
Rosand had previously been in charge of public records requests.
Jones said Rosand doesn’t have the time needed to handle the increased workload.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said in January that the county receives about 1,000 requests per year, which is a “dramatic leap” from before.
Ed Bowen of Lake Ozette told the commissioners that he wasn’t concerned about the responsibilities being transferred. He was concerned about military exemptions in the policy.
“I’m advocating in this public hearing if there’s any chance at all to add the state exemption to public disclosure of military discharge records,” Bowen said.
“This has always been quite a nightmare for veterans.”
He said homeless and indigent veterans need a good place to keep their records safe.
“They don’t have any other place to really keep them,” Bowen said. “There’s also a huge privacy issue.”
Jones said he would investigate the exemptions and bring the matter back to the commissioners in a in a week or two.
“Let’s check this out,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.
Meanwhile, Holden said the county has not received many requests for public records since her role expanded to public records officer.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.