The county commissioners are two months away from changing how they do business.
And while commissioners have yet to publicly discuss the apparent passage of a home rule charter Tuesday night, two of the three have expressed vastly different views on what the vote to change county government means.
Commissioner David Madore — who actively campaigned against the charter’s passage by contributing money to the anti-charter efforts and creating a website to oppose it — took to Facebook to acknowledge the effects of the charter.
While he was among the most vocal elected officials to oppose the charter’s efforts to revamp county government, he said Wednesday that he respected the choice voters made.
“As elected representatives, our job is to honor, respect, and accept the will of the people as conveyed in this election as in past elections,” he wrote.
In his written message, Madore answered one of the more pressing questions to be posed in the brief aftermath of the election: Who would be picked for the new county manager position? Madore said county commissioners would likely promote County Administrator Mark McCauley to that job at the end of the year.
The charter goes into effect on Jan. 1.
Commissioner Ed Barnes agreed with Madore’s assessment that McCauley would be the clear choice to become county manager.
And while Barnes, an appointed commissioner, nears the end of his brief tenure, he reflected on the “important changes” to county government that will be made next year.
Unlike Madore, Barnes supported the charter.
“I think it’s fantastic for the community,” he said.
Adding more voices to the board could improve the diversity of opinion expressed by local leaders, he said.
“I think minorities in the community will have better representation,” he said.
Following a contentious election in which both sides of the issue sparred over what exactly the charter would do, voters approved it by a roughly 8,700-vote margin, according to the latest returns.
Even with ballots left to be counted, Auditor Greg Kimsey, who oversees elections, said the margin is likely insurmountable.
Among the changes the charter will enact: Hiring a county manager to oversee executive duties, such as directing department heads; renaming the commissioners councilors; adding two members to the board, including a chairperson; decreasing the councilors’ pay to $53,000 a year, with the exception of the chairperson, who will receive $63,000; having four of the councilors be elected by district in the general election, while the chairperson will be elected countywide; and enacting an initiative and referendum process.
Clark County will join six other Washington counties that have forms of government that differ from what’s prescribed in the state constitution. Home rule charters are written by an elected board, known as freeholders, before being passed along to voters.
