The Courthouse Journal A Joint Publication of the Washington State Association of Counties & Washington Association of County Officials June 9, 2000 Number 9 WAHKIAKUM COUNTY COMMISSIONERDICK MARSYLA DIES UNEXPECTEDLY Wahkiakum County Commissioner Richard "Dick" Marsyla died suddenly last weekend in New York City. He had just returned from a cruise to Bermuda with his wife Jackie, and his daughter and son-in-law, George and Lisa Trott of Puget Island, when he collapsed. Commissioner Marsyla was elected County Commissioner in 1996 when former Commissioner Mark Doumit was elected to the State House of Representatives. During his term, Marsyla had particularly worked to increase the resources available to the community for recreational and social activities such as the building of an indoor swimming pool, the addition of a community meeting room to the River Street Building, the funding of an alcohol/drug prevention specialist, empowering the local Private Industry Council, and supporting programs that would give high-risk young mothers assistance in developing work skills. Many of his activities were looking toward preventing future costs to the community in criminal justice and unemployment. Commissioner Marsyla was a retired Navy man and had taught at Clackamas Community College as well as owning a local business. He had decided not to run for a second term and he and his wife were looking forward to additional travel time. He will be missed by his fellow commissioners and all in WSAC who have gotten to know him over the last four years. Staff fondly remembers the tales of the many travel adventures. He and his wife have had over the years, plus the joy he expressed in his grandchildren. His son-in-law, George Trott, has indicated he intends to run for the vacant office in the fall as an Independent. The two remaining commissioners, Esther Gregg and Ron Ozment, will appoint a temporary commissioner to fill the seat until the November election. ************************************** BIDS NOW DUE FOR 2003 SUMMER CONVENTION IN EASTERN WASHINGTON Bids for the 2003 Summer Convention will be reviewed by the Board of Directors at their Noon meeting on Tuesday, June 27th in Ocean Shores. Bids must be received in the WSAC office no later than Thursday, June 22nd to be included in the Board packets. Association bylaws direct that the Convention alternate between eastern and western locations. 2003 is an eastern Washington venue. The bid materials are to include a letter of the commissioners' intent to host the meeting and information about the properties that meet the Association requirements. In-person presentations are always welcome. Requirements for the Summer Convention include a MINIMUM of 225 guestrooms and 9 meeting rooms, ranging in capacity from 35 to 300. If you have questions or require further information, please call the WSAC office. ************************************** VEHICLE RENEWAL INTERNET PAYMENT OPTION Over the last few months, we have been reporting about the Department of Licensing (DOL) revising their policy for processing vehicle license renewals over the Internet. The original proposal, which was supported by the counties, allowed for the county auditors and subagents to provide this service to the public. The Internet method of service delivery would be used to enhance the existing system. At the last minute, the auditors and subagents were taken out of the loop creating a situation where counties could potentially lose almost $30,000,000 annually. Members of WACO and WSAC went to the legislature and were able to stop the modified proposal from becoming a reality. THE GOOD NEWS. On June 5, 2000 Fred Stephens met with Bettie Ingham, President of the Washington State Association of Counties, Doug Cochran, President of the Washington State Association of County Auditors, Bob Terwilliger, President-elect of the Washington State Association of County Auditors and Barbara Sandahl, WACO staff, to discuss the Internet vehicle renewal payment option. The department offered the following: 1) The county in which the transaction takes place will retain the three- dollar filing fee collected on each renewal; 2) The Department of Licensing will absorb the applicable credit card fees and; 3) A customer will be able to have the renewal mailed to them after an Internet transaction occurs or the customer may choose to pick up the tab at the County Auditor's office or at a subagent's office. We also understand that the Department of Licensing will provide a Memorandum of Understanding that contains language outlining a business plan that includes the above. Fred Stephens assured the group that the Governor and his executive staff have approved this proposal. The department expects the system to be up and running by July of 2001. DOL will use in-house expertise for the development of the project. ************************************** 2003 LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE BIDS TO BE DELAYED Bids for the 2003 Legislative Conference will not be requested this summer as is customary. The Boards of Directors of WSAC and WACO are initiating joint meetings between the associations to begin in the fall of 2002. The bidding for the 2003 Joint Conference will occur at a joint WSAC/WACO board meeting on October 3rd in Kennewick. Additional information will be published in the near future. ************************************** ENVIRONMENT, LAND USE& RESOURCES ************************************** NEW SHORELINES RULES FORMALLY PROPOSED The long-debated and much-discussed revisions to the Department of Ecology WAC regarding development of County and City Shoreline Master Programs were officially published as a proposed rule in the state register on Wednesday, June 7, 2000. The publication begins a 60-day time clock for the public hearing and public comment phase. An electronic version of the proposed rule is posted on Ecology's website and can be obtained from the department. Ecology believes this proposal responds to the various concerns that have been raised since last summer by offering a two-path approach. Path A responds to the comments on the previous draft that requested flexibility for local governments, and Path B responds to the requests for a rule that both NMFS and USFWS support. Counties and cities will be able to choose which path they will follow in updating their Shoreline Master Programs. Ecology will take public testimony on the proposal in late June and early July. Also, the House Local Government Committee is holding a work session and public hearing on the topic at the WSAC Annual Conference in Ocean Shores. The Committee hearing will take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on June 27. Each of the Ecology hearings begins at 7:00 p.m., following an open house discussion of the rule at 5:30 p.m. The public hearing schedule for the proposed rule is as follows: Pasco Tuesday, June 27 Columbia Basin Community College 2600 North 20th, Workforce Training Center, Rm 180 Spokane Wednesday, June 28 Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute 665 North Riverpoint Blvd, Room 201 Wenatchee Thursday, June 29 Chelan County PUD 327 N. Wenatchee Ave. Olympia/Lacey Wednesday, July 5 Department of Ecology Auditorium 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey Raymond Thursday, July 6 Raymond High School Auditorium 825 Commercial Vancouver, WA Monday, July 10 Water Resource Education Center 4600 SE Columbia Way Seattle Tuesday, July 11 Seattle Center, Shaw Room 305 Harrison St. Bellingham Wednesday, July 12 Whatcom County Courthouse Council Chambers 311 Grand Ave. The public comment period on the rule ends on August 7, 2000. For more information on the rule or the hearings, contact Neil Aaland, Section Manager for the Wetlands/Floods/Watershed Section, Washington State Department of Ecology at naal461@ecy.wa.gov or (360) 407-7045. ************************************** STORMWATER TO BE TREATED DIFFERENTLYEAST OF CASCADES Pollution from stormwater runoff in western and eastern Washington is different, and the Department of Ecology has agreed to manage it differently by developing two manuals to help communities control stormwater. Ecology had planned to adopt a technical stormwater manual in June 2000. However, the new schedule is to adopt a manual in December 2000 for western Washington. Then, Ecology plans to continue working with communities to complete a final stormwater manual for eastern Washington by December 2002. Stormwater is polluted runoff - the accumulation of dirt, bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants when it rains or snows. Snow and rain carry the contaminants into streams, lakes, estuaries and ground water and make the water unhealthy for drinking, swimming, boating and fish habitat. For several years Ecology has worked with technical people from local, state and federal governments, businesses, environmental groups and other organizations to revise the manual. It is intended to provide guidance on how to best manage stormwater runoff. Responding to concerns expressed by the public, Ecology's Stormwater Advisory Committee and some eastern Washington government leaders, Ecology decided to develop tailored manuals for eastern and western Washington. "We agree with what we heard from people," said Megan White, Manager of Ecology's Water Quality Program. "The environmental harm caused by stormwater runoff in the rainy, wet and populous western part of our state is very different from the more arid and rural areas in eastern Washington." In western Washington, it is primarily a surface water problem. In eastern Washington, it is primarily a ground-water problem, however, stormwater can also be a surface water problem in areas such as the Palouse highly erosive soils. White said that as growth occurs in eastern Washington, communities need to keep stormwater runoff from contaminating ground water, which is the area's key source of drinking water. In August, Ecology plans to ask for public comments on a final draft of the technical stormwater manual for western Washington. For more information, visit Ecology's home page at www.wa.gov/ecology. ************************************** LAW & JUSTICE ************************************** COURT REFORM PROCESS UNDERWAY Following on failed legislative efforts several years running, with escalating court costs and backlogs, Project 2001 is underway. Initiated by the Board of Judicial Administration, at the request of Chief Justice Richard Guy, Project 2001 is expected to make recommendations this fall to the Legislature and the Supreme Court for changes and law and court rule to improve operation of the state's judicial branch. While the effort and its workgroups are dominated by members of the judiciary, WSAC - along with cities, county officials, members of the bar and legislators - are participating in the overview Project 2001 Committee and its five workgroups. Island County Commissioner and WSAC Vice-President Mike Shelton is representing WSAC on the overall Project 2001 Committee. The Workgroup participants are: Trial Court Administration Mike Shelton, Island County Commissioner Jurisdiction and Portability Larry Gossett, King County Councilman Case Management Diane Oberquell, Thurston County Commissioner Domestic Relations Tim Botkin, Kitsap County Commissioner To learn more about the effort, look for Project 2001 at www.courts.wa.gov. ************************************** TRANSPORTATION ************************************** WSDOT LOOKING FOR RESEARCH IDEAS The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is soliciting topics for the department's ongoing research programs. Among other issue areas, WSDOT is strongly encouraging the submittal of topics relating to counties and cities. Deadline for submittal is September 15, 2000. Submittal forms are available at the WSDOT website www.wsdot.wa.gov/ppsc/research. WSDOT, in cooperation with the University of Washington, Washington State University, and other private and public researchers currently conducts transportation research programs in the following areas: environment and transportation system; bridges and structures; traffic operations and intelligent transportation systems (ITS); multimodal and intermodal transportation; and construction and materials. Potential submitters may contact WSDOT technical staff to gain insight into current research emphasis, and to generate and develop ideas that are fully understood by WSDOT and the submitter. Key technical staff and their areas of expertise are: Keith Anderson (construction, materials, geotechnical, pavements, recycled materials, bridges, seismic effects, design, maintenance) at 360-709-5405 or anderke@wsdot.wa.gov; Jim Schafer (environment, traffic safety, design, hydraulics) at 360-705-7403 or schafej@wsdot.wa.gov; Doug Brodin (urban traffic congestion, ITS, planning, land use, freight movement, rail, air, pedestrians, bicycles, multimodal and intermodal transportation) at 360-705-7972 or brodind@wsdot.wa.gov; Marty Pietz, Director of Transportation Research at 360-705-7974 or pietzm@wsdot.wa.gov. The selection of a topic for funding does not obligate WSDOT to contract with the submitter for conducting the research. A separate process to select investigators, consistent with state law, will be conducted after a program is announced. WSDOT expects to announce a final, prioritized list of research topics in January 2001. ************************************** HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES ************************************** ACHS HOLDS BI-MONTHLY MEETING IN SPOKANE The Association of County Human Services (ACHS) held its bi-monthly meeting in Spokane from May 17-19. On Wednesday, May 17, the Mental Health Section met. Much of the morning was updates on various items that are underway either within the Mental Health Division or at the RSN level. The implementation plans for the mental health legislation that passed during the last session were handed out. The leadership team of the Section had already reviewed these. Susan Lucas, MHD, reviewed the final budget as passed. Mike Lynch, North Central RSN, will be part of a panel along with Greater Columbia at June's Mental Health Conference in Yakima resulting from the System Improvement Group (SIG) II work on reduction of duplication in the RSNs. There was no update on the status of the search for a replacement for Jann Hoppler as Director. However, the two office chief positions (Policy and Programming and Quality Assurance) should be filled by the end of the month. The Superintendent of Western State Hospital has resigned to take a position running the mental health system in Georgia effective 8/1/00. There was a lively discussion on the purpose of the contract review work group. It was clarified that this is a group that is "reviewing" the contract for items that may need to be modified and not the actual "negotiation" work group. There will however be a BARS amendment July 1 although the new contract will not be complete until December. There are other amendments to the contract that will need to be processed including changes in consolidated funds and payment methodology. This discussion generated the need to always clarify the purposes of these various work groups and task forces. For example, the group working on the special needs kids survey for HCFA is not responsible for expanding such a survey to adults. There will be a brief RSN meeting at the state Mental Health Conference in Yakima on Friday, June 16 at the Yakima Doubletree, 1507 North 1st Street. The balance of the meeting in Spokane was some discussion of the continued need to catalogue some of the "good things" that are going are in the individual counties and RSNs in order to be able to present to our legislators. Counties and RSNs were asked to put together a brief summary of the some of the ongoing activities they are proud of and send them to WSAC staff member Jean Wessman, no later than September 1, 2000. On Thursday, May 18, the Chemical Dependency Section met. The Business Meeting/Cross-Section Meeting also took place on Thursday. During the morning, CD had updates from their work groups especially the Legislative Committee. The Legislative Committee is continuing to work on refining a budget proposal for the upcoming legislative session. A draft concept paper was distributed that will be sent to the Governor's Council on Substance Abuse by the Division. It was prepared by their Advisory Committee, but reflects the positions regarding increasing the penetration rate that the CD Section has been discussing. The Legislative Committee will be drafting some short briefing materials over the summer for county coordinators to use in discussing the proposal with their own Boards of Commissioners and Advisory Boards. The Business Meeting broke up the CD Section mid-morning for about an hour. Jeanne Munro, Director, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, was kind enough to come to Spokane and spend some time with us introducing the federal Workforce Investment Act and its current status at the state and local level. Workforce Investment will integrate all of the employment programs including those for persons with disabilities at the local level and require one-stop centers called Work Source Centers. The CD Section resumed in the afternoon. Don McIntyre, Department of Corrections, presented information what DOC is now doing in regard to drug and alcohol assessment and treatment. There are currently 34 branch sites statewide providing intensive outpatient services and handling about 2000 clients/year. The Offender Accountability Act is expected to strain their existing resources and there is some concern about the lack of treatment dollars to meet the need. Fred Garcia delivered a variety of updates from headquarters including information on the implementation of a modified SAFE project in Pierce County. It will be called the enhanced Treatment for Substance Abuse project (ETSA) instead of SAFE. There will be a counselor in each CSO offering treatment on demand using TANF funds. And finally, Florence Bucierka, Clallam County, led the discussion on the client satisfaction survey and the variety of questions remaining on the use of the survey, the instrument, sample size, and coordination with other client satisfaction surveys. On Friday, the Developmental Disabilities Section met. The entire day was devoted to a facilitated discussion on "choice" and "self-determination". Leslie Smith, WISE, facilitated the discussion. Linda Rolfe, Assistant Director, DDD, effective June 1, reviewed the history of our arrival at this point assisted by Joyce Duran, DDD, and Stuart Torgerson, Snohomish, and Lynn Pippard, Spokane, county representatives on the DD Stakeholder Group. Basically, "choice" means the individual with DD and their family has the power to choose their desired service array and directly controls the public funds allotted to meet their need. They are assisted in making their choices through a "personal agent". These personal agents will be a new type of job category. It is proposed that the county train, recruit, and manage the personal agent system. The client may choose either their family or the state case manager to be the personal agent as well. It is eventually planned that the ability to choose your own service array will include residential. However, during the first biennium of a three- biennium process, it is only planned to pilot the county-provided services and family support through the new system. These include day and employment services. Counties would continue to engage in community and resource development as well as local system planning, though there is some discussion about the level and type of resource development especially in the area of supported employment. One area of lively discussion is placement of the function of fiscal agent for the client's individual allotment account. Counties have a valid concern about the separation of administrative responsibility for the substantive funding areas such as employment and day programs from what could be perceived as the less necessary areas of community development, information and education, and administrative costs of managing the personal agent system. There remain huge questions to be resolved including determination of the individual allotments, quality assurance, performance measures and consumer satisfaction, role of the county boards, and data gathering and information systems. Certainly not the least is executive and legislative branch buy- off of what promises to be an enormous system change in how developmental disabilities services are provided in Washington State. The only states that have moved beyond the national discussion into implementation are New Hampshire and Vermont. DDD is hopeful they will have at least consensus from the Stakeholder Group and the counties to move forward if not total agreement on the details sometime this summer. They would ideally like to pilot the new process in one or two counties in mid-Fall. WSAC staff has suggested that presentations on the proposed changes might be on the district meeting agendas in early Fall in addition to individual County DD Coordinators beginning discussions with their own commissioners and advisory boards about what this might mean to counties. ************************************** TEMPORARY DIRECTOR IN NORTH SOUND RSN Sharon Lucas has been named the Acting Executive Director for NorthSound RSN following the departure of Merle Adrian. It is expected that Sharon will fill the position for approximately 4 - 6 months while a search is completed for a permanent director. Sharon comes from the world of management consulting. Lucas has most recently been working in the Seattle area with non-profit organizations primarily those who fall under the United Way umbrella. Interestingly enough, she spent some 14 years as a Seafirst Vice-President and officer before returning to human services. She has years of experience with personnel systems in New York and her early work experience includes direct employment in social services. Welcome to the RSN family, even if temporarily. ************************************** SPOKANE MENTAL HEALTH CITED FOR BILKING SPOKANE COUNTY According to an Associated Press article in the June 5th The Olympian, Spokane Mental Health double-billed Spokane County for $64,000 and built a $620,000 reserve from funds intended for treatment, according to a review by the county auditor. The auditor's report says the county paid twice for interest on the agency's debt. One bill, according to the report, was "buried in the cost of administration." Auditor Vickie Dalton also flagged more than a dozen other problems discovered during a review of Spokane Mental Health's January bills to the county. Agency officials dispute nearly every claim made in the report, and say the auditor's staff misunderstood the agency's accounting practices. Spokane Mental Health is the county's largest single subcontractor, earning more than $22 million a biennium to provide treatment to thousands of chronically mentally ill county residents too poor to pay for their own counseling. But questions about the agency's bills have prompted county officials to withhold about $200,000 a month in payments. David Panken, CEO of Spokane Mental Health, said the agency has had more staff vacancies than expected and the $620,000 reserve is a result of savings in salary. ************************************** PROGRAMS TURN AROUND LIVES OF TROUBLED YOUTHS Two Washington programs are being honored at a national juvenile justice summit June 6 and 7 in Washington, DC. TeamChild and the Young Women's Support Project, the King County-based programs, will be honored at the Juvenile Court Centennial Initiative's Juvenile Justice Summit. The two programs are being recognized for strengthening juvenile courts and helping reduce youth violence and crime. "We felt that both of these programs were really exemplary in promoting the health, well-being and rights of youth," said Liz Ryan, national field director for the Initiative. "There aren't that many programs that do this, so it was extraordinary to find two from Washington State. They're helping a huge number of youth and we want their models to spread out around the country." TeamChild is a partnership between legal services and public defender organizations, which uses a small team of attorneys and caseworkers to help children gain access to better education, health care, and housing services. Since 1995, the organization has helped more than 2,500 children avoid being recycled through the juvenile justice system, according to statewide Director Elizabeth Calvin. The Young Women's Support Program works with Seattle-King County Public Health and King county Youth Detention. They run workshops, which address issues ranging from interpersonal matters to reproductive health to help young women identify their goals and express themselves in a healthier way. TeamChild also operates in Pierce, Yakima, Snohomish, and Spokane counties. ************************************** METHAMPHETAMINE IS NOT JUST A WEST SIDE PROBLEM The methamphetamine problem in the Spokane area and neighboring northern Idaho has become so acute that public officials describe it like an outbreak of a disease. "It's a full-blown epidemic," said John Grasso, a Spokane county deputy prosecutor who handles mostly meth offenses. Spokane police report their only limitation on arrests is lack of manpower. The meth problem first appeared locally in the mid-1990s and surged in the last half of the decade. The boom has overwhelmed the police, courts and social service agencies. In Spokane County, there were more meth-related arrests last year than for cocaine and heroin combined. Thirty-six manufacturing sites were found last year compared with nine the year before. In the first four months of 2000, 31 have been found. The number of meth addicts treated in publicly funded treatment clinics in Spokane County rose from 22 in 1993 to 503 last year. Waiting lists are weeks long and public funds dry up before many users can get help. Meth addicts frequently become paranoid and police report the violence associated with it is an additional element not seen with other drugs. Meth labs are often found in homes, trailers, storage units, and cars. Unfortunately, children are also found in up to half of the lab sites. Methamphetamine abuse is just one of the issues to be covered in the panel at the WSAC Summer Convention entitled "Getting to Healthy Communities: The 78% Solution" on Wednesday afternoon, June 28. The title refers to the estimated amount of unmet need for substance abuse treatment. Currently, some 22.6 % of the need are served. Panel members include Ken Stark, Director, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, DSHS, who will provide the audience with the broad facts on what we are currently doing to treat substance abuse in Washington State and what we should be doing if we want to really make a difference in not only personal and societal costs but our very own criminal justice costs. Senator Julia Patterson will discuss some of the legislature's thoughts on combating substance abuse including some of her own initiatives such as expanded methadone treatment and attention to drug-impaired babies. Commissioner Diane Oberquell, Thurston County, will discuss some of the issues surrounding methamphetamine, the growing number of labs in Thurston County, the cost to the county and actions taken by the Thurston County Health Department to deal with the innocent victims, the children, found at some of the manufacturing sites. The panel will be moderated by Commissioner Bill Hinkle, Kittitas, who has had personal experience as an Emergency Services Medical Technician in dealing with the unfortunate effects of uncontrolled substance abuse. ************************************** MEETINGS & CONFERENCES ************************************** GETTING CONNECTED Telecommunications summit, "Linking Our Small Communities to the World through Advanced Telecommunications", chaired by Senator Patty Murray, was held June 1 and 2 at the Spokane Center, Spokane. The summit was attended by 330 people from around the region, many of whom were elected officials from Ports, PUD's, cities, and counties. There were eight panels over the day and a half summit covering a large range of perspectives. Senator Murray opened the summit by telling of the great need for the rural areas to have broad bandwidth for more and faster connections. She said if we get the telecommunications to the rural areas we can then keep our young people at home and not export them to the urban centers to find jobs. Governor Gary Locke was the luncheon speaker the first day and he spoke about the disparity of wages across our state and the need to have the telecommunications all over the state for a "One Washington". He also cited several success stories that have already made a difference in Grays Harbor County and in the town of Forks. Chelan County commissioner John Hunter was at the Summit and he said "this was very worthwhile to be here as a lot of information was shared." Senator Murray ended by saying, "This is just the beginning." ************************************** COUNTY NEWS ************************************** PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF RETIRING Pierce County Sheriff Mark French has announced that he will retire on June 30, after three years at the helm of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. He will end his 30-year career in law enforcement the same day he will be swearing in a new group of deputies. French joined the sheriff's office in 1970 as a 21-year old, the youngest of 31 patrol officers hired in the largest hire of deputies in county history. Eight, including French, remain with the department. Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland will appoint an interim sheriff in the next few weeks, but will let the next county executive hire French's replacement the beginning of next year. Sutherland is running for state lands commissioner. ************************************** MEDICO-LEGAL EXAM SET IN TACOMA The American Board of Medico-legal Death Investigators certification examination will be held in Tacoma on Saturday, July 29. Washoe County (Nevada) Coroner Vernon McCarty will proctor the test, which will begin at 8:30 a.m., at the Pierce County Medical Examiner's office, 3618 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma. Interested parties are asked to contact the Board's headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri (attn: Julie) at (314) 268-5970, as well as Ed Duke, in Pierce County, (253) 798-6494, to confirm attendance. ************************************** RETIREMENT RECEPTION PLANNED FORSKAGIT COUNTY TREASURER JUDY MENISH The staff of the Skagit County Treasurer's office would like to invite friends and colleagues of Skagit County Treasurer Judy Menish to a reception to wish Judy well in her upcoming retirement. Judy announced her retirement, set for June 30, earlier this year. The open house will be held on Friday, June 30, from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m., in Hearing Room C at the Skagit County Courthouse, in Mount Vernon. Those who can stay longer are invited to a social hour at Judy's house, with a dinner being planned at the Hope Island Inn. Please RSVP to Katie by June 16, at (360) 336- 9350, if you are planning on attending. ************************************** JOBS ************************************** PLANNING DIRECTOR. WALLA WALLA COUNTY/REGIONAL PLANNING DEPARTMENT has a job opening for a Planning Director. This is a responsible supervisory, administrative and professional planning position, providing policy guidance and recommendations to the Walla Walla County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners in the development, modification and implementation of comprehensive plans, building and development codes, environmental regulations and other projects of the Planning Department. This position is responsible for the oversight of the Planning, Building, Emergency Management, Recycling, Waste Management, and E911 Addressing divisions of the department, as well as special projects. The candidate should possess a Bachelors degree in planning, geography or an associated field and five years of supervisory experience. Preference is given to applicants with Washington State experience. AICP certification preferred. An application form and job description is available at the office of the Walla County Commissioners, Walla county Courthouse, 315 W. Main, PO Box 1506, Walla, WA 99362, (509) 527-3200. Salary range $4,105-$5,501/month. Application deadline is June 26, 2000. Walla County is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all ADA requirements. ******** SAFETY OFFICER. LEWIS COUNTY RISK MANAGEMENT seeks an individual to be responsible for planning, organizing and assisting the coordination of operational activities and administration of the County's risk management programs. Works at the direction of the Risk Manager to include the management of self-insurance programs, insurance procurement proposals, worker's compensation programs and claims-lawsuits. Administers and coordinates work relative to safety, loss prevention and control programs to reduce risk of loss by exposure to property, liability and personnel perils. Work is performed through frequent communication and collaboration with all County offices and departments and all levels of operations. Must have strong PC skills with ability to set up systems when necessary. Salary range: $15.97 - $19.06/hr. Pick up an application packet at the Lewis County Courthouse, County Administration Office, 360 NW North Street, Chehalis, WA, 98532 or call (360) 740-1419. Application deadline is June 23, 2000. ASSOCIATE PLANNER. Island County (Coupeville, WA) Community Development Division has a FT position. Review and prepare recommendations and decisions on land use proposals, incl. subdivisions, site plans, shoreline permits, and minor land use apps. Ensure compliance with County Comp. Plan, Zoning Ord., SEPA, and Shoreline Mgmt. & Master Prg. Make presentations to hearing bodies. Provide public information on codes and land use policies. Assist in long range planning activities including code amendments. Req. BS or BA in planning or Geography and 2 yrs related work expr., basic knowledge of planning, zoning, subdivision, land use law, WA GMA, SEPA, shoreline laws. Island County application for employment required. Closes 6/23/2000. Call (360) 679-7372. EOE. ************************************** COMING EVENTS ************************************** JUNE 2000 11-14 Government Finance Officers' Association Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois. 11-15 International Association of Coroners' and Medical Examiners' Annual Conference, Mundelein, Illinois. 13-16 Washington State Association of County Auditors' Annual Conference, Silverdale on the Bay Hotel, Silverdale. 14 County Auditors' Licensing Conference, Silverdale on the Bay Hotel, Silverdale. 14-16 Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys' (WAPA) Summer Training Program, Campbell's Lodge, Chelan. 17-21 National Sheriffs' Association Annual Conference, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio. 18-20 Washington Association of Coroners' and Medical Examiners' Summer Training, Double Tree Inn, Tukwila. 19-23 Washington State Association of County Clerks' Annual Conference, Quality Inn, Clarkston. 19-23 Washington State Association of County Treasurers' Annual Conference, Friday Harbor Inn, Friday Harbor. 19-23 Washington State Association of County Assessors' Annual June Conference, Yakima. 19-23 Association of Washington Cities' (AWC) Annual Conference, Spokane. 27-30 Washington State Association of Counties' (WSAC) Annual Conference, Shilo Inn, Ocean Shores. 27 WCIF Board of Trustees meeting, in conjunction with WSAC Summer Convention, 7:00 pm, Shilo Inn, Ocean Shores 29 1999 Foreign Protection Full Faith and Credit Act Training, sponsored by the Prosecuting Attorneys' and Sheriffs' and Police Chiefs' Associations, Clark Regional Communications Center, Vancouver, 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Four C.L.E. credits. (360) 753-2175 30 1999 Foreign Protection Full Faith and Credit Act Training, sponsored by the Prosecuting Attorneys' and Sheriffs' and Police Chiefs' Associations, Thurston County Courthouse, Olympia, 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Four C.L.E. credits. (360) 753-2175 JULY 2000 14-19 National Association of Counties' (NACo) Annual Conference, Charlotte, N.C. 19-21 ACHS Meeting, Ocean Shores 20-21 CRABoard Meeting, CRAB Office, Olympia 20-21 Risk Pool Summer Workshop & Annual Board Meeting, Enzian, Leavenworth 23-27 National District Attorneys' Association (NDAA) Annual Summer Conference, Spokane. **** END ****