2017-02-15 ESC1
ESC Meeting
February 15, 2017
8:15 a.m.
Present: Commissioner Fund and Commissioner Jackson as well as various electeds, directors, and
county employees
Recorder: Rieva Lester
Commissioner Fund called the meeting to order.
Steve Wohld made a motion to approve the January minutes. Sheila Gray seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
Commissioner Fund gave an overview of a WSAC’s Washington Communities in Crisis handout.
Sheriff Rob Snaza discussed his recent state Legislature testimony regarding the 1 percent cap. He said
he has asked to have the cap increased to meet inflation. He said more testimony would be presented
Feb. 16.
Assessor Dianne Dorey discussed what would be needed to increase the funds available.
Commissioner Fund said the Legislative Steering Committee would attend the Feb. 16 meeting. She said
various topics, such as public disclosure, are being reviewed. She said “any and all” requests are
targeting all parts of the county. She said state lawmakers are exempt from those requests.
Commissioner Fund said testimony can be submitted electronically.
Arny Davis discussed Treasurer-related items going before the state Legislature. He also discussed a
possible housing shortage on the horizon.
Dianne said the Assessor’s Office has had a hard time when more sales come in than the office can
handle.
Steve Wohld introduced Megan Sibbert and gave an overview of Project Leap. He said the technology
will affect all county employees. He directed the group to LewisCountyLeap.com, which offers
information such as FAQs, etc.
Steve Wohld said a kick-off meeting for Leap will be held Feb. 23 in the commissioners’ hearing room.
Megan emphasized that Leap will be a transformative project that touches many, if not all, aspects of
the county. Steve Wohld said it would streamline many of the county’s processes. He asked the group to
examine their own operations, such as who has email, who may need it, and whether kiosks may be
needed.
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Commissioner Jackson thanked Dianne Dorey for bringing Strategic Planning to the forefront. He
discussed using previous Strategic Plans as a template for a future version. He said he worked with
Becky Butler to identify Strategic Plans used in the past. He said those can be modified, rather than
starting from scratch. He identified new topics that should be considered, such as Discover Lewis County
and the marijuana moratorium.
Dianne Dorey said the committees were set up to give everyone a chance to have their voices heard.
She said she fears that if it’s done in isolation, it could get hijacked. She said that’s why those
committees are important.
Commissioner Jackson said each department could submit its specific plan into the Strategic Plan. He
discussed using Comp plans, etc.
He said the goal was to keep it as simple as possible due to limited resources, etc.
Dianne discussed the need to identify funding in the budget.
Becky Butler said she agreed with Dianne’s budget concerns. She said the effort would be to come up
with a timeline similar to the budget process. She said the hope would be to have committees meet,
possibly after ESC meetings.
Dianne said all of the departments need to be in this together.
Commissioner Jackson said this is the idea phase, the kickoff point. He said the commissioners’ goal is to
make it as easy as possible, taking into consideration the lack of finances, resources and manpower.
Becky Butler discussed how much time the new finance system will take. She discussed the need for
internal and external input.
Commissioner Jackson said the county would use the Internet to ask for the public’s input.
Commissioner Jackson said his goal is to work on it diligently over the next few months.
Dianne left at 8:58 a.m.
Commissioner Fund said she’d like to use this as a way to create a dependable email list. She also
discussed the need for formatting to be used throughout.
Steve Wohld said the county has been using Facebook for job recruitment for the last month or so. He
said those posts have increased the county’s ability for outreach. He urged the group to consider using
IT to post job openings, etc.
Sheriff Snaza asked whether law enforcement could use that tool. He said Facebook offers a great way
to attract local talent.
Suzette Smith asked if those posts could have PDR implications. Megan Sibbert said she didn’t think
shared job postings would be subject to PDRs.
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Commissioner Fund discussed the creation of a Public Disclosure Manager using Risk funds. Daleyn
Coleman said the position is in the process of being scored.
Becky Butler said the position would be in charge of PDRs for the county, not just the BOCC. She said the
person would be in charge of training, as well as setting policies and procedures. She said the county is
in the early stages of considering funding, etc.
Sheriff Snaza said the sheriff’s department has found that having a PDR point person is the right way to
handle the requests. He said many of the requests are legitimate but that others are requests made by
people who are just trying to make money.
Janelle Kambich said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has fielded 135 requests from one person. She
said the county needs to look at having an attorney to go along with the PDR position.
Arny Davis asked whether the state is looking into PDRs.
Sheriff Snaza said the state is not affected by them and therefore has not made it a priority. He said
lawmakers don’t recognize PDRs as a real issue.
Arny Davis discussed the frivolous requests.
Janelle Kambich said charging for the requests would reduce the number the county is forced to field.
Good of the order
Steve Mansfield said storm cleanup has topped $800,000. He urged the audience to sign up for Lewis
County Alert through the county’s website.
Wes Rethwill gave a shout-out to Warren McLeod’s office and complimented Public Works’ response to
emergencies. Erik Martin said the Public Works credit goes to the shops.
Commissioner Stamper commended Larry Grove for the Auditor Office’s work on the Feb. 14 election.
The majority of the audience left at 9:25 a.m., but several directors stayed behind.
Steve Mansfield discussed what items should be included in the Strategic Plan. He said each group
would need to include two or three items that would affect not just the department but the county as a
whole.
Commissioner Jackson said the plan would be to identify high-importance topics. He said his core
thought is to keep it simple. He said the idea would be to talk about the things the county has
accomplished and the things the county wants to accomplish.
Tawni Shepherd asked if there could be a general county plan with links to each office’s specific plans.
Commissioner Jackson talked about revamping the county’s mission statement.
Commissioner Fund suggested crafting a mission statement that’s memorable.
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Erik Martin suggested defining the mission statement as “what we do” and then creating a vision
statement of “where do we want to go.”
Carma Oaksmith asked about the logistics of a citizen survey using Survey Monkey.
Becky Butler stressed the importance of avoiding language the public won’t understand.
The group discussed the ability to do the future survey at a huge savings versus those done in the past.
The group discussed surveying internally before taking the survey to the public. Steve Wohld said he
would work on a draft.
Steve Mansfield said the first effort should be to identify what accomplishments the county wants to see
through the use of the survey.
Commissioner Jackson said he would work with Becky Butler and Steve Wohld to look at what other
counties have done. Commissioner Fund suggested picking Sheila Gray’s brain too.
Meeting ended at 9:52 a.m.