PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has budgeted $30,000 next year for the Economic Development Council, but officials say they won’t renew the contact until the EDC charts a new course.
Current EDC Executive Director Linda Rotmark announced last month that she will step down at the end of this year after 8½ years at the helm of the Port Angles-based nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that has been assisting business development in Clallam County since 1985.
EDC received $147,000 for 2013 — $50,000 from the state; $30,000 from the county; $25,000 from the Port of Port Angeles; $15,000 each from the city of Port Angeles and Olympic Medical Center; $5,000 from city of Sequim; and $7,000 from city of Forks.
County Commissioner and EDC board member Jim McEntire said the future of the EDC will be discussed at the next board meeting Dec. 19.
“I know there’s going to be an extensive discussion about who it should be and what are the attributes of the next executive director,” McEntire said at Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting.
“Prior to that, I think we need kind of an extensive sit-down amongst all the members of the EDC to recast, recalibrate, affirm, deny, whatever it is that the EDC is to do, how it’s to do it and how it’s structured.”
At the direction of the three commissioners, county Administrator Jim Jones said he informed the EDC that “while we have the funding allocated in the budget, we’re not signing the contract until the end result of the discussion occurs.”
McEntire added: “We need to know who we’re signing the contract with.”
Clallam County has contributed $30,000 annually to the EDC in each of the past eight years.
Two-thirds of that comes from a $32 million general fund, and the rest comes out of an Opportunity Fund for economic development.
Sequim city officials
Sequim officials also questioned the value of the EDC during Monday night’s City Council session.
Included in the $55.3 million budget for 2014 was $5,000 for membership in the EDC.
City Manager Steve Burkett suggested the council approve the budget item but said the city should review the value it receives from the EDC before signing a contract.
The money could be spent if the city renews its contract but wouldn’t have to be if the city opts out.
“It’s a small item in the scheme of things, but I think it makes a statement that we need to take a look at what we’re getting for our money,” Burkett said.
Burkett said the city wants a better picture of what is going to happen with the EDC’s leadership,
“Before we enter into a contract for next year, we want to be involved in a discussion about what is the mission of the EDC,” he said.
Port Angeles officials have said they need to re-examine the city’s economic development contracts.
The city has $15,000 available for the EDC in its economic development fund. The contract expires at the end of this year, and no 2014 contract has been signed.
City Manager Dan McKeen did not make a specific recommendation regarding changes to the city’s contract with the EDC at a council meeting earlier this month but later said the council will need to make a decision whether it wants to take $15,000 out of the city economic development fund to commit to fund the EDC in 2014.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz contributed to this report.