It his second major reorganization of the year, Clark County Manager Mark McCauley announced Friday that he will be consolidating the county manager’s office, the Clark County council and the county’s public information and outreach department.
Peter Silliman, a policy analyst controversially appointed in 2014, will be laid off in the reorganization, McCauley said.
McCauley estimates the total reorganization will save the county about $250,000 a year.
“I needed to cut 10 percent of my budget, and this is how I got there,” McCauley said.
Silliman, a former Clark County freeholder who opposed the charter and one-time Republican legislative candidate, was appointed to the research assistant and policy analyst position about two years ago. Then Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke, Republicans, and Democratic Commissioner Ed Barnes, approved the hire.
Barnes, however, questioned the process, according to Columbian archives. Barnes feared hiring a “libertarian-leaning” former legislative candidate and freeholder would be viewed as an act of political cronyism, though he didn’t call it that himself.
And Barnes’ theory came true, as Silliman has long been criticized for his close relationship to the two councilors.
Silliman’s 2015 salary was $71,388.
The county in recent months has lost three other staff members among the three offices which McCauley said will go unfilled. Senior Policy Analyst Axel Swanson left last year to take a position at the Washington State Association of Counties. Director of Economic Development Jeff Swanson left this year to become Battle Ground’s new city manager. Mary Keltz, director of the county’s public information office, recently retired.
McCauley is, however, recruiting for a newly created chief-of-staff position. The new position will pay between $7,051 and $9,959 a month, and will act as a liaison between the Clark County council and the county manager. They’ll also work with constituents to research their problems, much like previous policy analysts have done, and work with the county’s public information officers.
“I want to be freed up from some tasks so I can be more strategic,” McCauley said.
This is the second time this year McCauley has reorganized a major county department. In May, McCauley dissolved the Department of Environmental Services, laying off five people including Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, who Madore and Mielke controversially appointed to lead that department in 2013.
