WOODLAND — Almost two months after a consulting firm’s assessment of the Woodland city government raised serious questions about its planning, organization and leadership, some city leaders say the report has fallen on deaf ears.
Multiple council members say they believe Mayor Chuck Blum has brushed off the findings of Prothman, an Issaquah-based company. The report cost the city thousands of dollars.
Blum maintains he and his staff are implementing changes, even though he views Prothman’s audit as invalid.
Prothman’s report, which was compiled through reviews of city documents and interviews of city employees and council members, cited numerous areas of Blum’s administration it said are in need of improvement, such as capital planning, annual performance reviews and its relationship with the council. The report also recommended the city hire an administrator.
Blum accuses Prothman of not interviewing him about city business, and thus failing to live up to the contract. But in his report, George Prothman said company representatives spoke with Blum twice.
There is no evidence Prothman’s recommendations will be followed, said council member Benjamin Fredricks.
“Nothing has been reported to the council (such as) here’s what the executive branch of the government is doing to make the necessary changes,” Fredricks said. Council member Marilee McCall, agreed: “No, nothing has changed that has been communicated to us.”
The reason?
“I don’t think Chuck finds any value in the report,” Fredricks said. “He believes it’s a flawed report.”
Council member Al Swindell took a different view.
“He’s taking it seriously, at least on the transportation side,” Swindell said, pointing to the city’s push to start a Transportation Benefit District.
By his own admission, Blum said he believes the report is flawed. But he scoffs at suggestions he has not worked to fix problem areas within Woodland. He noted city officials have responded to concerns. Further, the council has the power to change ordinances and other policies, he added.
During an interview inside his office Tuesday, Blum pointed out the city has purchased land for parks, raised money for road improvements on Sherman Way and reached an interlocal agreement with Cowlitz and Clark counties to take over regulating Horseshoe Lake. Woodland Clerk-Treasurer Mari Ripp took notes of the mayor’s conversation with a reporter.
Most council members have refused his open-door invitation to talk about city affairs, he said.
“If you’ve got something you want to bring forth, bring it forth,” Blum said. “Don’t sit in the weeds and throw rocks.”
Following the Prothman report’s release in March, council members criticized Blum for taking verbal jabs at them in the report.
Blum described Fredricks as being “very full of himself” and McCall as having sent him a stack of the “nastiest, demanding emails.” In the report, he accused council member Aaron Christopherson of asking him to help him falsify a loan — an accusation Christopherson staunchly denied.
McCall said she was ready to move forward, but is still unclear what Blum was referring to.
Blum has refused to say which emails he views as nasty.
“Who cares?” he said. “That’s water under the bridge. We’ve talked about it. It’s not important.”
McCall said she had not spoken to Blum about his comments.
“There’s a disconnect and it’s unfortunate,” McCall said, noting both she and Blum could communicate better.
Following the Prothman report, the Columbian sent a public records request for a year’s worth of email correspondence between McCall and Blum.
The majority of the emails reflect the mundane inner workings of day-to-day city government. A smaller percentage show McCall voicing concerns over Blum’s attempts to obtain the report before the council, the city government’s planning for workshops and other events, and insinuations she was never available to meet with the mayor.
“There’s a really different view how I feel things should be done and how Chuck feels things should be done,” McCall said. “And I think that’s apparent in the volume of the emails.”
On Feb. 6, McCall sent her fellow council members and Blum an email about the importance of Prothman presenting his report. Blum threatened to cancel Prothman’s Feb. 7 presentation if he did not receive the report before the council, emails show. Blum noted he had a verbal agreement with Prothman to see the report before the council.
“Just so that we’re all clear on this: This is about freedom of information and transparency of government process,” McCall wrote in the email. “This isn’t about power or who’s in charge, and it’s never a ‘victory’ when there has to be conflict to get work moving forward.”
Fredricks said he believes Blum mistakes McCall’s directness for rudeness.
“We have a responsibility to the citizens we serve,” Fredricks said. “If that means we need to be direct to get information, then that’s what we need to be.”
Ray Legendre: 360-735-4517, http://www.twitter.com/col_smallcities or ray.legendre@columbian.com.
