I’m glad to provide this brief report for my (almost) six months in office as your County Commissioner:
I’ve been climbing the learning curve, which has been considerable, and enjoying my chance to learn many new things. I’m astounded at the many ways the Federal government spends money on local government issues. I’m struck by the fact that as federal spending levels fall (as they must when we have a president that understands the extreme dangers to our economy posed by massive levels of federal debt) we will have to tighten our belts accordingly – there is simply no money to be had at the local level to provide a backfill. I’ll be spending lots of time in the coming months to close the County’s spending gap, and bring it in line with existing local and State revenues.
I’ve been also spending a lot of time on the water management rule for the Dungeness valley. The preliminary draft of the rule (left over from 2010 when Ecology’s rulemaking effort was suspended) would have – in my view – created a lot of uncertainty and added cost to landowners who had not yet built on their property and put in a well for their own water. I’ve managed to create a different framework for Ecology’s rulemaking which will essentially hold permit-exempt wells harmless as far as added out of pocket costs, which I trust will provide a greater level of certainty for our real estate and construction industries. Much more to follow, since this effort isn’t over yet. Please attend Ecology’s public hearing on the 28th of June at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim and voice your views.
More to follow in a few weeks.
All the best to you,
Jim McEntire
