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DAYTON-Columbia County Health System’s CEO Shane McGuire reported just over 2,200 vaccines have been administered, and just under half of that are fully vaccinated at the Columbia County Commissioners’ meeting March 3.

Receiving vaccinations from the State continues to be an issue. Whitman County has been regularly providing Columbia County with an allocation of its Pfizer vaccines. “There is continued volatility in direction and guidance coming out of the State, especially when it comes to supply and which manufacturer you’re positioned to receive,” McGuire said. “We’re actually thinking about switching to Pfizer from our State allocations because we do have the ability to store it here. But what we heard recently is that maybe the Governor is considering rerouting the vaccines through local public health.”

McGuire said having a local health officer to advocate for our health district for various needs, including vaccines, would be helpful. Presently, Columbia County is working on the possibility of using someone local to the area and has been specifically talking with Lewis Neace, D.O.

Budget amendments were presented by Auditor Anne Higgins. The Current Expense has a cash increase of $713,000. The capital budget received a payment of $25,000 for software. Other modifications include an increase to the Planning Department for $2,000 for repairs and maintenance – an item that “didn’t make it into the original budget” according to Higgins. Two new deputies require a salary increase to start at Step 1 of $3,700. The largest adjustment was for Parks and Recreation for an additional $28,000 from Current Expense for the fairgrounds and the golf course, to cover expenses including new hires and benefits, fuel, professional services, rents for buildings and equipment to be paid to Emergency Rental and Revolving Fund, repairs and maintenance. The addition to Parks and Recreation had been approved by the Commissioners. The budget amendments were approved.

Another topic of discussion was presented by County Prosecutor Dale Slack about pursuing a local ordinance to replace the statute that was recently stricken in State vs. Black because it was ruled unconstitutional for punishing violators who possessed controlled substances regardless of whether they knew or not. The ordinance would make illegal knowingly possessing controlled substances in the County.

According to Slack, the ordinance would include the word “knowingly” to possession, but clarified that the ordinance could only charge for a misdemeanor or a gross misdemeanor, not a felony, because the charges under the local ordinance would have a better chance of not being challenged.

Also, those charged in the past can still file to vacate their record and be refunded any related fines. Slack said it is good middle ground, rather than allowing the decriminalization of possession and would allow the County to intervene to get help for those charged. Slack said he will research what has to be done, but the financial questions of who pays the restitution for fines paid for past charges remains. Once an ordinance is drafted, a public hearing will be advertised.

Currently, there are three other entities in the State pursuing local ordinances outlawing the intent to possess controlled substances including the City of Marysville who already passed theirs Monday March 8 and Snohomish and Lewis Counties. Columbia County Sheriff’s Department and the Commissioners are in favor of this.

Commissioner Charles Amerein suggested the County consider pursuing another ordinance at the same time for an anti-discriminatory law to protect people from being discriminated against by businesses based on their political viewpoints or social media posts. This would be similar to the law passed by the City of Seattle. The other commissioners and Slack were agreeable to this.

Commissioner Ryan Rundell spoke about the interlocal agreement that was passed by the City of Dayton for contracting with the County for law enforcement, dispatch and municipal court services. They began negotiations back in 2019 when the outdated contract expired and the County realized the costs for providing the services had been going up and the payment would need to be increased. He said the process took almost two years. It started with several meetings over a few months when the City told Rundell that they were going to contact a lawyer. The County presented data the City requested, but the City felt it was incomplete. The process then became stretched out and included unreturned phone calls and missed meetings which ultimately led to mediation.

Rundell specifically wanted to answer several of the Council members’ complaints made during the Council meeting earlier this month and in particular one of the councilman’s claims that the County was using “strong-arm tactics” with the City by mentioning arbitration in the recent letter from the County’s Attorney if the City did not accept the terms of the contract which had been already approved by both parties following mediation. Rundell said that the City successfully delayed the increased cost of services they would have been paying all along during these months and in his opinion have been handling the City with “kid gloves.”

Also, Rundell wanted to say to their plan to “shop around” for lower cost law enforcement services, that they are getting a “bargain price” for the services from the County Sheriff’s Department.

Commissioners Amerein and Hall thanked Rundell for his work with the City on the contract. Rundell answered, “I don’t see this as a great achievement” and went on to commend Slack, Sheriff Helm, Ashley Strickland from Emergency Management and Auditor Higgins for their work.

Slack commented later “I’m very hopeful that we can move forward now and start to work together. Nothing tears apart a family like money, and the City and County should be a family.”

The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) have been holding meetings by Zoom these last months since the first COVID-19 lockdown. Mainly, the three commissioners have met in office with those on the meeting’s agenda who preferred to come into the office. The sound quality of hearing the in-person attendees by those on Zoom has been an issue.

Clerk Leanne Peters has pursued the purchase of a new sound system for better capability for Zoom meetings and now that it is installed, she has been working out the glitches. At the start of the meeting on March 15, commissioners could not hear those on Zoom, and vice-versa. Because of that, the regular department head meeting was postponed until Monday, March 22 in hopes the system issues would be worked out. After the decision, issues were resolved and the meeting resumed.