HomeMy WebLinkAbout062121_cabs01 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley, Interim County Administrator
FROM: Heidi Eisenhour, Commissioner
DATE: June 21, 2021
SUBJECT: Roles and responsibilities of the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control
Program Board and the Washington State University Jefferson County
Extension office
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The purpose of this memo is to clarify the relationship between and roles of the Jefferson County
Noxious Weed Control Program Board (JCNWCPB) and the WSU Jefferson County Extension
office in managing the County's Noxious Weed Control Program (program).
ANALYSIS:
As the legislative authority that established the noxious weed control program, the assessment, and the
coordinator position, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) has the responsibility to ensure that
the program is functioning properly and that public funds collected to operate the program are
carefully managed. The BoCC desire with this policy memo is to resolve the issues that have been
pending for some time.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None anticipated.
RECOMMENDATION:
See memo.
REVIEWED BY:
A1411:Mark McCay, Interim County Ad trator Date
TO: Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Program Board
FROM: Jefferson County Board of Commissioners
DATE: June 18,2021
RE: Roles and responsibilities of the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Program
Board and the Washington State University Jefferson County Extension office
Background:
For some time now,the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Program Board (JCNWCPB) has had
questions regarding its role,and the role of the WSU Jefferson County Extension office, in managing the
County's Noxious Weed Control Program (program).Those questions were posed to the County in a
March 9, 2020 memo from WSU Extension which included 11 supporting documents, some of which
were provided by the JCNWCPB,some by staff of the State Noxious Weed Control Board.The JCNWCPB
raised additional questions and suggested an alternative structure to the way the program is managed in
the document that was briefly displayed during the May 17, 2021 meeting between the Board of County
Commissioners(BoCC)and the State Noxious Weed Control Board.
During that May 17 meeting, it was agreed that a follow-up meeting including JCNWCPB chair,Soozie
Nichols, County Commissioner Eisenhour, Interim County Administrator Mark McCauley,Weed
Coordinator Joost Besijn and WSU Jefferson County Extension Director Cliff Moore would be scheduled.
Subsequently, Ms. Nichols has said she is not available for a meeting and the two other current
JCNWCPB members provided input to the matters at hand in telephone conversations with Mr. Moore.
Commissioner Eisenhour followed up with telephone conversations with Ms. Nichols, Mr. Besijn and
Mary Fee at the State Noxious Weed Control Board,closing that loop.
As the legislative authority that established the noxious weed control program,the assessment, and the
coordinator position,the Board of County Commissioners(BoCC) has the responsibility to ensure that
the program is functioning properly and that public funds collected to operate the program are carefully
managed.
To help develop this response,the County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney thoroughly examined
relevant state law, reviewed the previous memo and supporting documents from Extension, as well as
your May 17 document. He also studied County Department of Human Resources records regarding the
establishment of the program and the coordinator position.As a result,we are confident that an
appropriate level of legal and practical analysis regarding these issues has occurred.
The purpose of this memorandum is to share with the JCNWCPB,and WSU Extension,the County's
findings and to formally convey those findings,as a matter of policy,from the Board of County
Commissioners.
Overview:
The way the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Program is organized, housed, supervised and
managed on a day-to-day basis, under the auspices of WSU Jefferson County Extension, a county
department, is appropriate, legal and in compliance with Chapter 17.10 RCW.The program will continue
in this manner and no Memorandum of Understanding between the JCNWCPB and WSU is necessary.
Regardless of legal and technical determinations,our perspective is that WSU Extension and the
JCNWCPB should continue to operate as critical collaborative partners. The Extension Director is a non-
voting member of the JCNWCPB(per RCW 17.10.050(1) and is functionally a County employee.As such,
in working through the Extension Director,the JCNWCPB is working directly with the County on all
aspects of the program.
Budget Management:
A volunteer board that meets every two months for two hours is not set up to provide adequate budget
development, monitoring and management. Rather,with the technical expertise,staff capacity and
experience,WSU Extension should continue the current practice of working with the coordinator to
prepare a draft annual budget for the JCNWCPB to review, modify as may be necessary and approve so
that it can be submitted in a timely fashion to the BoCC during the County budget adoption process.
This is consistent with RCW 17.10.240(1),which requires the JCNWCPB to submit a budget to the BoCC
for the operating cost of the County's weed program for the next fiscal year. Further,the coordinator
and the Extension Director should continue to present budget updates to the JCNWCB at each meeting.
If quarterly budget adjustments are needed,WSU staff has the expertise and experience to prepare a
request, share it with the JCNWCPB for review and timely recommendation to the BoCC. The BoCC has
final approval authority over the budget, but the JCNWCPB can ask for a hearing if it does not agree with
the budget approved by the BoCC.
Staff Supervision:
The JCNWCPB should be focused on providing overarching guidance and direction to the program and
the coordinator such as setting the annual work plan,specifying specific geographical areas and weed
species for concentrated control efforts,supporting enforcement efforts and developing community
messaging for the program. Again,a volunteer board that meets every two months for two hours is not
set up to provide direct, daily supervision of program staff. Consistent with RCW 17.10.060(1),the
coordinator's County job description states: "General supervision is provided by the Jefferson County
Noxious Weed Control Board and the WSU Jefferson County Extension Director". Thus,oversight of the
coordinator is a shared responsibility. During regular JCNWCPB meetings, both the coordinator and the
Extension Director should be available to report on activities, accomplishments and challenges.
Unlike the JCNWCPB,the Extension director is a full time manager. Daily supervision, including but not
limited to, approving schedules, leave and travel requests, supporting the development and approval of
program MOUs, and other routine matters is the responsibility of the Extension Director. The
coordinator,with day-to-day oversight from the Extension Director, provides guidance and direction to
the assistant coordinator.Supervision, including the preparation of an annual performance reviews,
must be consistent with the County's personnel administration manual.
County Human Resources records clearly establish that the fact that the coordinator is a County
employee.This is authorized by RCW 17.10.060(1),which states in part:
Each activated county noxious weed control board shall employ or otherwise provide a weed
coordinator whose duties are fixed by the board but which shall include inspecting land to determine
the presence of noxious weeds, offering technical assistance and education, and developing a program
to achieve compliance with the weed law.The weed coordinator may be employed full time, part time,
or seasonally by the county noxious weed control board. County weed board employment practices
shall comply with county personnel policies.
The coordinator was made a County employee, in part,to reduce program overhead expenses and
ensure compliance with County personnel policies.When the current coordinator was hired by the
County, he was given a copy of the County's personnel administration manual and agreed to comply
with it. With the coordinator being a County employee, County supervision was required, which also
complies with the requirement in RCW 17.10.060(1).
To ensure that the JCNWCPB is fully apprised of program activities, both the coordinator and the
Extension Director should be available to report on activities, accomplishments and challenges at all
JCNWCPB meetings.
Annual Performance reviews of the Coordinator:
Annual performance review of the coordinator should also be a shared exercise.The process should
begin with an Executive Session of the JCNWCPB.After the Executive Session, using the County
approved form,the Extension Director should prepare a draft of the performance review that reflects
the majority opinion of the board.The draft should be shared and finalized in Executive Session. Once
the review has been finalized,the JCNWCPB Chair and the Extension Director should meet with the
coordinator to review the document. In addition to evaluating accomplishments and areas of needed
improvement,the annual performance review should also be used to discuss new areas of emphasis,
professional development possibilities,obstacles to fully realizing the requirements of the position and
possible remedies for those obstacles.
Any member of the JCNWCPB, including the Extension Director,as an ex-officio member, has the right to
submit a minority opinion to accompany the final review.The coordinator also has an opportunity to
provide a written response to the review that will be included with the final document.
Office Space:
The program currently has a large office in Suite 131 of the Extension office which is shared by the
coordinator and the assistant coordinator.To ensure both programmatic efficacy and cost-effective
operation,the program will continue to be housed with WSU Jefferson County Extension,a county
department.On an annual basis, Fund 109 (Noxious Weed)will pay Fund 108(Extension Operations)the
County indirect rate of 14.62%or as adjusted by the County Auditor's Office.This indirect rate will cover
not just office space and utilities, but supplies, accounts receivable and payable,copying, internet
connection, reception and administrative support as well. If, at some point in the future,the program
acquires additional equipment that cannot be safely stored at the Extension office,the program may
either explore storage options with another County facility(such as the Public Works yard in Port
Hadlock—very near the Extension office)or rent a small storage unit.
Should the Extension office move to a different location in the future,when evaluating potential space,
Extension will be expected to include the needs of the program in its decision-making process.
Unfilled JCNWCPB Positions:
During the process of reviewing these matters,we were reminded that two of the five positions on the
JCNWCPB(Districts 4 and 5) are vacant and have been so for a long period of time. In addition,there are
two members whose terms have expired and they are continuing to serve as allowed by RCW.
17.10.050(2).As long as they consent to do so,the two members whose terms have expired may serve
until new members are appointed or they are re-appointed.We greatly appreciate this service.
We are aware of the recent recruitment efforts by current JCNWCPB members,the coordinator and
WSU Extension.Those efforts should continue and as a Commission,we will also work to identify
community members for this important role.We hope that with a redoubled effort,we will be able to
identify individuals interested in serving. Hopefully this task will be somewhat easier now that the
legislature has changed the number of JCNWCPB members who must be involved in agriculture from 4
to 3.
As you know, RCW 17.10.050(1) requires individuals wishing to serve on the JCNWCPB to submit a
written application, including the signatures of ten registered voters residing in within the weed district
they wish to represent,to the JCNWCPB for consideration.This includes members with recently expired
terms who wish to be re-appointed.The state Weed Board has recently confirmed that electronic
signatures or email attestations are acceptable in meeting this requirement.When candidates are
identified,the JCNWCPB is then required to hold an open public hearing to allow applicants the
opportunity to present their credentials and the reasons they wish to serve.At the conclusion of the
hearing,the JCNWCPB sends the all the applications to the BoCC,along with the JCNWCPB
recommendations of who they see as the most qualified candidates.The JCNWCPB review and
recommendations will help inform the BoCC decision of whom to appoint.
Conclusion:
It is the hope of the BoCC that this policy memo will resolve the issues that have been pending for some
time. We thank you for your service to Jefferson County and for your time and attention to these
matters.As we move through the growing season and into fall,we would appreciate it if the JCNWCPB
would schedule time on one of our Monday agendas to provide an update on control activities,
successes and challenges that the program is facing.
If you have further questions or comments, please route them through the Extension Director to our
Interim County Administrator.
CC: Mark McCauley, Interim County Administrator
Philip Hunsucker,Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Cliff Moore,WSU Jefferson County Extension
William Agosta, Chair,Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board
Mary Fee, Executive Secretary, Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board
BoCC-Weed Board Memo June 2021 v4