Commissioners' Report

During Tuesday's meeting of the Wahkiakum County Commissioners, Public Works Director Chuck Beyer requested a call for bids for two roadside mowings in 2026. According to Tuesday's packet, $70,000 was budgeted in the Road Fund for 2026. The commissioners unanimously approved Beyer's request. Wahkiakum County Department of Emergency Management Coordinator Austin Smith presented before the commissioners for the approval of an interlocal agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for a virtual coordination center. No cost is associated with this agreement, as it is "a free service." The commissioners unanimously approved the interlocal agreement.

The majority of Tuesday's meeting involved a work session to discuss various themes. The first topic discussed was work from home/telecommuting policies. Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services Director Chris Bischoff noted with respect to software and apps being opened at home, union rules require "they have to pay them." Bischoff also hinted at overtime becoming "problematic" as a result of this, especially at the end of a pay period. In response, Payroll and Benefits Coordinator Austyn Getman said, "It does come down to department heads and elected officials. They have to hold firm." Getman then deferred to Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow, who said, "Each elected official has their own employees and is responsible, thanks to the voters, for the management of their own offices. It's going to come down to whether the department heads have their own policy, agree with this policy, and decide to adopt it or have another policy. As long as you know what you're doing, you can adopt whatever policy you like and you're the boss of your own employees." Bigelow then referred to Covid-19 and the amount of remote work that resulted during that time and has continued today. "We've got to have some sort of remote working policy because remote work is not going away," said Bigelow.

The work session then turned to budget discussions, beginning with the hiring pause. County Commissioner and Chair Dan Cothren said, "I want to make sure that if we have something in the budget, we're going to be able to pay for it all through the budget and not hamstring the offices that we're looking at." In response, Chief Civil Deputy and 911 Coordinator Joannie Kuhlmeyer announced the sheriff's department was losing a deputy and will be working with only the sheriff, under sheriff, and another deputy. Kuhlmeyer also stressed the amount of time it takes to hire. Responding, Cothren said, "We robbed from Public Works to balance this budget." Referring to Beyer, Cothren added, "He's taking a hit. He got hit hard." Mentioning there were two timber sales coming up - one this year and another the next year - Cothren said "We need to find another timber sale," but also hinted that won't be happening until the summer. Asking everyone to "hold on," Cothren said, "We're just trying to survive." Regarding the possible timber sale, Cothren added, "I may not be that great on the finance part of it, but I do go out and try to get the revenue. I will work to get the revenue."

Giving his report during the budget discussion, Commissioner Lee Tischer described a recent survey on 2026 fiscal health that was conducted through the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC). Of 39 counties, 37 replied, according to Tischer. Of these 37 counties, 31 "have a hiring freeze or extended vacancies," 20 counties "chime in that they've had training reductions, 23 counties replied with "position eliminations through attrition or extended vacancies and significant layoffs across multiple departments," and only nine counties surveyed "had no reductions."

When the discussion turned to solid waste, Cothren said, "We've been hammering this since budget time. It costs us a lot of money. I know it's a service, but we're at a point right now where the road fund is getting hurt." Beyer noted money is being taken from the Cumulative Reserve Fund every year and asked when that is gone, "where are we going to steal money from to cover solid waste?" Cothren added, "This is something we really have to look at seriously, and I know it's going to really hit the west end."

During his report, Commissioner Mark Letham noted he was dealing with the risk-management group and orientation and also discussed the effect of the rising prices of propane. Finally, Cothren, discussed the current issue with accessing public lands and said the County "needs some help from the state." Cothren said, "My goal is to get it opened up for everybody and not just a select few. I don't like it. It's not our history and it's not our lifestyle."