Charter Review Commission Survey

Charter Review Commission Survey

Due to the current pandemic, the Clallam County Charter Review Commission has temporarily suspended its meetings and cannot hold public hearings.  With this survey, the Commission invites you to give us input on ten (10) issues related to our County Charter.

Clallam County is one (1) of seven (7) counties (out of 39 counties in the state) to have a Home Rule Charter. Our Home Rule Charter allows local citizens to vote on how our county government should be structured.  The Charter Review Commission (CRC) considers possible amendments to our Home Rule Charter. You then vote on each amendment in a general election.

Please fill out this survey to help us in our discussions when we reconvene.
1.The County Prosecutor is currently an elected partisan (a declared party affiliation) position.

Should the County Prosecutor be a non-partisan position?
2.Clallam County currently elects three (3) county commissioners.

How many commissioners would you like to have elected?
3.Clallam County Director of the Department of Community Development (DCD) is elected and is the only elected DCD in the nation.

Should the Director of DCD be elected by the voters or appointed by the County Commissioners?
4.Other charter counties in our state meet every ten years. Our CRC has met 7 times in 39 years.

How frequently should the Charter Review Commission be elected?
5.Currently County Commissioners are selected and elected by district. Prior to 2015 they were selected by district and elected county wide.

How should County Commissioners be elected?
6.Current Charter language relieves elected officials from being responsible to county policies, personnel rules and regulations.

Should the elected officials comply with such rules and policies?
7.The charter is unclear as to the authority of the Director of DCD and County Commissioners as it relates to land use planning.

Should the Charter Commission propose language to resolve these differences?
8.Repeal of our Charter requires signatures of 35% of ballots cast in the most recent gubernatorial election (for example in 2016 - 35% = 13,811 and 20% = 7892). Other charters require between 3% and 20%.

How many signatures should be required to place, on the ballot, repeal of our charter?
9.The Clallam County Charter addresses the structure of county government.

Should it address issues, such as, public health and climate change?
10.Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages Clallam County Trust lands with a mandate to return revenue to the county and junior taxing districts.

Should Clallam County increase their monitoring of DNR management by hiring a forester? 
11.In what County Commissioner district do you reside?

District #1 - East of Port Angeles to Jefferson County Line
District #2 - Area around and including Port Angeles
District #3 - Western part of Port Angeles to western county line (including Forks, Neah Bay, Clallam Bay)

Which County Commissioner District do you live in?