HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance June 1 20041
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Finance and Administrative Services Committee
June 1, 2004
Committee Chair Sam Crawford called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. in
the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
Present: Absent:
Dan McShane None
Sharon Roy
Also Present:
Barbara Brenner
Seth Fleetwood
Laurie Caskey- Schreiber
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL
1. ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2004 WHATCOM COUNTY BUDGET,
SIXTH REQUEST (AB2004 -214)
Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, read through the list of supplemental
budget requests. The nine items from the Planning Department for the one -stop
shop can be supported by additional revenue from increased capacity. They still
hope to find additional revenue sources to pay for the additional public defender.
Funding so far has come from the extra help item. There are additional unbudgeted
funds from the hotel /motel tax that can go to the triathlon event. They will use the
real estate excise tax (REET) to pay for the partial cost of the purchase of land on
Division Street to construct a jail and other facilities. That requested amount would
be supplemented with the trade of additional County -owned property.
Roy stated she supports the requests for the PDS one -stop shop. It's paying
for itself. There is a crisis in the department in terms of the public's perceptions.
Crawford asked for information about discussion in the past about funding
the public defender position.
John Ostlund, Public Defender, stated last June, he came to the Council
because the felony caseload skyrocketed. He shifted his staff around from the
Juvenile Division. He tried to reduce staff in District Court. That did not work. He
is asking for funding through 2003 to handle the felony caseloads. That was
granted. In 2004, he put in a budget request to continue the position, but
Executive's Office held it back. In November, he indicated that if he can't maintain
the attorney staff, he would have to do something with Superior Court. He would
have to stop taking some cases. The Executive's Office allowed him to continue
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 1
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
that third attorney from extra help funds. At the same time, he proposed raising
the recoupment costs for District Court, Juvenile Court, and Superior Court by triple.
That was done in Superior Court, but all his clients pay on a payment plan. Any
increased revenues from that will come in eventually, but not now. For District
Court, the judges haven't yet approved the increase in the recoupment costs. In
the last six months, District Court caseloads shot up from 1,500 cases to 1,800
cases per attorney. He submitted a letter that explains everything.
McShane stated this has been before the Council in one way or another. He
asked if there is a problem with staff given the lack of certainty of the position.
Ostlund stated he's had problems with turnover given the caseloads. The
temporary nature of the funding for the position has been difficult on the staff
person, who doesn't accrue vacation or seniority.
Roy asked if they don't have any control over the caseload. It's not like the
public defender can decide to not defend anyone. She asked if there are penalties
and if someone evaluates the effectiveness of the defense. Ostlund stated there are
two issues. One issue is if they have too many cases, the chance of mistakes go up
and cases get overturned on appeal. Most important to the attorneys is their ethical
obligation to handle their cases. Cases that are overturned get turned over to the
Bar Association for possible disciplinary action against the attorney. Governments
are always operating on the edge, but he will fight to maintain the upper edge.
Crawford asked if use of a public defender is based on income. Ostlund
stated it is, except in the case of juveniles and mental commitments, who are
statutorily eligible for an attorney.
Roy asked why the administration chose to fund the triathlon over other
events. She asked the process this request went through, and if there are other
tourism events. Desler stated recently, one of the primary organizers of this event
asked the Executive for the request. The Executive felt strongly enough about it to
put the request forward to the Council.
Roy asked the numbers of visitors this event attracts.
Brian Geschwill, Bakers Breakfast Cookies President of Sales and Marketing,
stated this year they won the bid to become the Olympic trials for this event. This
race decides the United States team that will go to Athens for triathlon. They won
the bid based on the performance of the race last year. There is community
support. They housed every athlete in private homes. His hope for this race is to
build this race every year. It will take four to five years to be profitable. He hopes
this race will be a destination race for these professional triathletes. There is no
race of this format in the United States.
Roy asked the location of the race. Geschwill stated he hopes to get 500 to
600 amateur racers and the top 125 racers for each professional woman and men's
category. Once he won the bid, he's been advertising like crazy.
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 2
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
Roy asked what the advertising is for. Geschwill stated he needs amateur
participants who will pay to race, bring their families, visit the area, and watch the
professional races. Also, the race brings in professional athletes from all over the
world, Olympic Committee staff, and media.
Crawford asked the cost for the event last year. Geschwill stated they spent
close to $95,000. There is a large prize purse of $40,000 for the professionals. A
logistic company handles all the road closures, transition areas, and such for about
$35,000. There are other extra expenses.
Crawford asked if they are getting other funds. Geschwill stated he applied
to the City of Bellingham last year for $22,000, and got $15,000 to reimburse
expenses already paid. All year, he has been running national ads and partnering
with media sponsors for getting better deals. Comcast is a sponsor in lieu of cash.
He produced postcards that have been handed out at races all over the country.
Brochures have been produced and mailed all over the west coast. Within five
years, this will be the largest triathlon event in the west coast.
Fleetwood asked the company's motivation. Geschwill stated the company
has always been involved in athletic events. His wife founded the company and a
foundation to donate money and product to school systems that have children that
come from underprivileged homes. This athletic event can fund that foundation.
Profit from the event will be donated to those causes. The company doesn't own
the race. The foundation owns the race.
Caskey- Schreiber stated the company has done an outstanding job being a
new business in the community. What they're trying to do in the community is
great. They all benefit.
Crawford stated the last funding request for the supplemental budget
request was to use REET for the jail proposal. The Mayor of Bellingham said he is
moving forward with a proposal to lease rather than purchase. Desler stated the
Executive's Office would like the Council to move forward with the proposal as it is.
The administration's work resulted in four different proposals the County crafted
based on the City's requests. He submitted a summary of the properties they are
proposing to trade. There were also discussions with four City Council members
who support the proposal. The administration was surprised to get the letter from
the mayor that takes a completely different view. The County Council needs to act
on this matter because the fundamental issue they've worked toward is that the
City Council added a condition that the acquisition take place by June 30, 2004 or
the zoning reverts back to its original zone. The administration is finalizing
contracts with an architectural firm for the buildings on this site. He hopes wisdom
and leadership will prevail at city hall.
Crawford stated the Mayor is saying the it's the City Council that wants to do
a lease. Mr. Desler is saying he's had discussion with City Council members who
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 3
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
say otherwise. Desler stated City Council Member Ryan indicated she wanted to
retain the property for light industrial uses. One other council member asked about
it. However, the City Council approved the zoning with the provision that they could
trade, sale, or lease the property. The Executive is not interested in leasing
property to construct County government buildings for core functions of County
government. The County has always indicated that position to the City. The
County also took many steps that involved the cooperation of the City to construct
this trade and sale agreement. It took a number of months to go through the
process. The City selected the appraiser it wanted to use.
Crawford stated this is an eleventh hour thing from the City. Desler agreed.
McShane stated the City will do what it will do. They've discussed the value
of the properties. If the City doesn't want to take the deal, the County will move
on. He supports the request. From the January 15th memo, the last paragraph
discussed sending prisoners to Yakima. The City is interested in making use of this
facility to relieve overcrowding and allow more defendants to serve time. He asked
if they've discussed that approach. Desler stated the administration has talked with
the Sheriff and Jail management staff. There is additional cost above what they
budgeted for jail services to provide that additional capacity. The other county will
charge $50 or $55 per day for a prisoner. The Sheriff is not interested in that
approach because of complications regarding transportation and other issues.
McShane asked if the City is willing to commit inmates to Yakima as an
interim solution to the overcrowding. He's concerned about the cities' financial
abilities to pay for incarceration.
Wendy Jones, Chief of Corrections, stated part of the issue with Yakima is
that many prisoners in the new facility wouldn't be appropriate for Yakima because
they're too short -term. Now, they're diverting potential Yakima inmates through
the jail alternative program. It keeps folks in the community, generates work and
labor, and generates fees. The difficulty now is trouble getting offenders in the
front end. This minimum facility would take care of that trouble. That's also
Bellingham's interest. The Court Clerk for Bellingham feels there's plenty of money
in her budget to pay for the increase that would occur. Now, they are spending
money for continuous court processing. The City of Bellingham is responsible for
42 to 45 percent of the arrests right now.
McShane stated that approach may not be a good deal for the City of
Bellingham. Jones stated there is a tremendous amount of staff time for
coordinating that approach.
McShane moved to recommend approval of the supplemental budget
request to the full Council.
Caskey- Schreiber stated she's disappointed that the City is throwing a
wrench in the proposal at this late hour. If this is the demise of the proposal, she's
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 4
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
very disappointed. If they can't work with the Port or City, the County will have to
come up with plan C. She encourages the Finance Committee to go forward with
the money and property proposal and let the City Council take it's vote once and for
all. The County put together a proposal that it thought would make the City happy.
For this to happen now is a slap in the face and shows the City never intended to
work with the County. It doesn't matter whether it is seven years or 20 years.
They've invested a lot of money putting together a plan for that facility. If the City
was serious, it should have included numbers in it's latest proposal.
Fleetwood stated the object has been to reduce crowding in the jail. He
asked why the formal owner of the facility matters, as long as they are dealing with
the problem from a community perspective. Desler stated the County is required to
operate a jail. The more parties that they have to involve in the planning and
construction of something they want to finish quickly, the more a delay will occur.
He's concerned about the potential for delays. The City has the option of building
its own jail. The County has enough expertise to get this done effectively. The City
doesn't have any expertise or experience to do this.
Crawford stated the Council decided several years ago with a private
organization that the County should own any jail facility. Anytime they want to do
anything, they would have to get approval from the City Council and City
administration. That's another level of bureaucracy required for every decision.
Brenner stated that if the County is going to do all the work, it must be in
charge of the facility. This letter makes her not trust the Mayor. It doesn't make
sense to consider a last minute option when they've been working so hard putting
together a deal. She doesn't think the City wants to do this, and is trying to make
the County the bad guy. Move forward and let the City say no, if it wants to say no.
McShane stated this deal will work for the County. The City will decide what
it does. The County can't control it.
Motion carried unanimously.
2. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A
CONTRACT AGREEMENT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND DFM
ASSOCIATES FOR PURCHASE OF A VOTER REGISTRATION AND
ELECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IN THE AMOUNT OF $99,074
(AB2004 -203)
Rich Griffith, Chief Deputy Auditor, stated he met with the citizens group
Whatcom Fair Voting.
(Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
Griffith continued to state that the group agreed with proceeding with the
contract as soon as possible so they can get through the conversion,
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 5
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
implementation, and training before the election cycle starts. Filing week starts in
July. The Auditor's Office resolved the group's issues. All parties agree this is the
best time to do this conversion.
Crawford stated he received an email from the organization's members
saying they've met and agreed.
Roy stated she also received information from the League of Women Voter's,
which changed its position and now supports the purchase. Everyone commented
on how willing people were to work together and complimented County staff.
Brenner stated she got a call from a representative of Whatcom Fair Voting,
who said the same thing. They appreciated the Auditor's Office working with them
the way it did. She also appreciates it.
Crawford stated Whatcom Fair Voting and other voting parties act as a
bridge between the major electorate in the community and the Council. The
Council is trying to make the best decisions it can and explain why it delayed this
item. The Council respects the staff's hard work on this issue. Unfortunately, it is
a political decision that sometimes spills into the practical world.
Roy moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
COUNCIL "CONSENT AGENDA" ITEM
1. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY
AND LARRY STEELE & ASSOCIATES FOR THE 2004 SURVEY
MONUMENTATION PROJECT, IN THE AMOUNT OF $100,000 (AB2004-
217)
McShane moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
2. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A
CONTRACT AGREEMENT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND NORSTAN
COMMUNICATIONS, INC. FOR INSTALLATION OF MD110 PHONE
SYSTEM AT WHATCOM COUNTY PARKS MAIN OFFICE, IN THE
AMOUNT OF $16,510.12 (AB2004 -218)
Roy moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 6
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
3. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A
BID AWARD WITH THE BELLINGHAM HERALD TO BE DESIGNATED AS
WHATCOM COUNTY'S OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER AND AUTHORIZE THE
EXECUTIVE TO SIGN THE CONTRACT WITH THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
(AB2004 -219)
McShane moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
4. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO AWARD BID #04-
49 TO THE LOWEST BIDDER, BRIM TRACTOR, FOR A ROADSIDE
MOWING TRACTOR, IN THE AMOUNT OF $81,568.73 (AB2004 -220)
McShane moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
ATTEST:
Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Sam Crawford, Committee Chair
Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 6/1/2004, Page 7