PORT ANGELES — Four candidates for Clallam County community development director jockeyed for position at a voters forum this week, focusing on how each would best serve the public in the only elected office of its kind in Washington state — and possibly the country.
The forum Monday evening in the Port Angeles City Council chambers at City Hall was hosted by the League of Women Voters of Clallam County.
Incumbent John Miller, 61, is seeking re-election to a second term to the nonpartisan position also being sought by four others.
Alan Barnard, 65, an associate real estate broker-owner; Sheila Roark Miller, 51, a county code compliance officer-fire marshall who works for the department of community development — and who is not related to John Miller — Timothy Woolett, 54, a former Clallam County senior land-use planner; and Sean Ryan, 48, a small- business owner and Clallam County Fire District 3 volunteer firefighter will be on the Aug. 17 ballot for the post.
Ryan didn’t attend forum
Ryan did not attend the forum. He said he was busy with a fire drill.
“I just have a lot of stuff going on in my life,” he said Tuesday.
Ryan also was the only candidate who did not attend a DCD forum at the Port Angeles Business Association breakfast on July 20.
Miller said the $64,211-$70,877-a-year position, which oversees a budget that in 2010 is $3.44 million with 32 employees, is the only elected DCD director position in Washington state and probably the only one in the United States.
In opening statements, Barnard said he gained insight into “what works and what doesn’t work with the department, at least through a customer perspective” by helping real estate clients through the permitting process for 20 years.
He said if elected he would turn in his Realtor’s license and become part-owner of RE/MAX Performance Team in Port Angeles to avoid any conflicts of interest.
“There needs to be a change in culture of the department, wherein employees rate success on the basis of positive outcomes for the customer,” he said.
“It’s a complicated, frustrating process. Information is incorrect, inconsistent or options are not explored.”
Building permit
John Miller said since 2007, DCD has removed 4,000 junk vehicles and in 3 ½ years, “we have not denied one building permit in this county”
The incumbent said Tuesday he would look into Roark Miller’s assertion at the forum that a permit was denied.
Saying she was running on a platform of “balanced stewardship,” Roark Miller noted she was the county’s first female building inspector.
She pledged to keep regular office hours, adding, “If nothing else, I will get someone down there to answer the phone.”
‘The other side’
Woolett, a project planning and management coordinator for Green Crow timber products company until January, when he was laid off, said he “learned the other side” of the planning process while working for the Port Angeles company.
If elected, he would recuse himself from handling any Green Crow-related permits, he said.
“I know the inconsistencies,” Woolett said of the permit system.
“There were times when it was agonizing to go in there and get a permit.”
He said every six months, he and his staff would have a “how-are-we-doing” meeting.
John Miller said that coordination between environmental health, planning, public works and roads could be improved.
Barnard said the director “needs to be out there, ahead of the issues.”
Roark Miller said the agency website should be easier to use and have more information on general turnaround time and other frequently asked questions, and there should be more cross-training of employees so new employees aren’t training newer employees.
Asked if there are problems with service to the public or relations among employees, Woolett said there should be a better working environment.
Roark Miller allowed that overall, the staff gets along.
“They are tight quarters,” she said. “Turf wars happen. It’s a good place.”
John Miller compared his position of director to a coach.
“I do my best to make sure we have resources, but I don’t get to go on the field that often,” he said.
Barnard said he couldn’t speak to the staff’s internal workings but said it includes “a lot of good people.”
“I’m suggesting we tune up what we have, tweak the culture and make it more effective,” he said, adding he represents “the entrepreneurial side, the private sector side” in distinguishing himself from the other candidates.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.