The Clark County council on Tuesday signaled the end of the blanket fee waiver program, triggering a warning clause to tell developers the program could be killed or substantially changed by year’s end.
By a vote of 3 to 2 along its now familiar battle lines, the council approved an updated fee waiver resolution that gives developers until Dec. 31 to take advantage of the program, which waives all traffic impact fees and application fees for all non-residential development in Clark County.
After that, developers will be subject to fees or to a new version of the program, according to the resolution. The council also approved the creation of a task force to revisit the program and offer alternatives.
The vote came at the end of a series of events that made it a tough day for Councilor David Madore.
The tone was set before the meeting began, as Madore, all smiles, walked into the council hearing room only to be served a subpoena demanding he release documents connected to Community Planning Director Oliver Orjiako’s ongoing lawsuit against the county.
The drama continued as the council accepted and declared factual a report by Seattle attorney Rebecca Dean, who was hired to investigate Madore’s allegations against Orjiako and county prosecutors, as well as Orjiako’s whistleblower and harassment complaints against Madore.
Dean found Madore’s allegations false “in all material respects.”
Visibly frustrated, Madore closed the meeting with a short, impromptu speech, speaking over a woman in the audience who shouted at him not to campaign from the dais.
“Good government is honest government, open government, transparent government and accountable government,” Madore said. “And I will always insist that that be the standard that will not be compromised. If we have a problem with that, I will fight.”
“This means war!” a man called out as the meeting closed — earlier he had defended Madore’s policies.
Fee waiver
The Clark County council’s decision to declare Dec. 31 the likely end for the current fee waiver program overturns a portion of a December version of the fee waiver program that requested the council to give a 250-day notice prior to removing the program.
The resolution notes that provision is not binding on future boards, and indeed, Clark County’s motion shortens that notice period to about 163 days.
The program is a favorite of Madore. The councilor recalled the economic turmoil of the Great Recession and said he “stepped up” to try to help the county recover by proposing the policy.
“Business-friendly policies do matter,” he said. “We adopted it right here.”
But multiple studies have called into question whether the program is truly driving economic development in unincorporated Clark County. There are also questions about the sustainability of the program, and whether Clark County will see a return on its investment in a lifetime. A recent report by Clark County Community Development estimates that for some projects, it will take more than a century for Clark County to collect enough sales and property taxes to recoup the costs of the fees it waived.
As the county faces a $20 million shortfall in its general fund, council Chair Marc Boldt, no political preference, and Republican Councilors Julie Olson and Jeanne Stewart have all called for changes in the program.
Boldt has been perhaps the biggest critic of the program, calling it illegal that the county is giving waivers to nonresidential developers but not to residential developers. The county should not be picking winners and losers with taxpayer dollars, he said.
“It is our fairness to everyone,” he said.
He also shared concerns that without collecting traffic impact fees from commercial businesses, the county will be unable to leverage matching funds to the Legislature in order to receive funding for significant road upgrades, such as the Interstate 5 interchange at 179th Street.
“The only comment from (state officials) to us is ‘Are you collecting all you can collect?’ ” Boldt said. “We had to say no.”
Madore served
Earlier, Vancouver attorney Greg Ferguson used a process server to deliver the Republican councilor a subpoena demanding he turn over text messages, billing statements and call logs from his cellphones in connection with Orjiako’s lawsuit against the county.
That suit, filed in April, alleges that Clark County failed to adequately respond to a March public records request for Madore’s text messages in connection with the whistleblower and harassment complaint Orjiako filed earlier this year.
Ferguson requested all text messages to and from Madore since he took office in 2013, and requested all follow-up communication regarding his request. Madore turned over 20 conversations, but did not sign an affidavit declaring he had turned over all responsive text message records. Ferguson remained skeptical that Madore had turned over all records, and indeed, within three hours of the subpoena being served, the attorney received a DVD full of documentation from the councilor, he said.
“It’s been nearly four months since the request for his text messages was made,” Ferguson said. “At some point, enough is enough.”
Ferguson and Orjiako offered to accept a $75,000 settlement to end the suit in June, but the council refused the deal. As it stands, Ferguson and Orjiako are asking $100 per day per withheld text, and $100 per day for each day Madore delays signing and submitting an affidavit declaring he’s turned all records over.
The subpoena gives Madore until 1 p.m. on Aug. 2 — primary election day — to turn all records over to Ferguson’s office.
Dean report
As if to add to the blow of being served, the Clark County council also accepted by a vote of 3 to 2 the findings of Dean’s report. The resolution also ordered all councilors to adhere to the county’s code of ethics, and that future violations could be subject to censure by the board.
Stewart, Olson and Boldt voted to adopt the report. Madore and Republican Tom Mielke, however, rejected it.
Dean, a Seattle attorney, was hired by County Manager Mark McCauley in March to investigate Madore’s allegations that staff in the Community Planning Department and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office lied about the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan update in order to promote a political agenda. Dean found Madore’s allegations to be false.
The report also affirms allegations made in a whistle- blower complaint by Orjiako and a complaint by public-sector union AFSCME that Madore interfered with community planning’s work. She did not, however, find evidence that Madore attacked Orjiako because of the Nigerian-United States dual citizen’s race or national origin.
Madore, his voice shaking, read a letter written by his attorney, Friday Harbor-based Nick Power, in protest of the resolution that called Dean biased, condescending and dismissive of the Republican councilor. He asked that the council wait for Madore to offer a full response before adopting the report.
“Ms. Dean has produced a report that was bought and paid for by Councilors Boldt, Stewart and Olson to advance their political agendas,” Madore read from Power’s letter.
Madore also accused his fellow councilors of illegally hiring Dean in the first place, bypassing county process and adopting the contract in a secret meeting. McCauley, who per the county charter is responsible for executing contracts, has denied that. He said in an executive session the council “indicated we should proceed with an investigation.”
A county ordinance does require that contracts be posted on a county webpage. The Dean contract was not, though McCauley has defended that action due to the sensitive subject matter.
Olson, meanwhile, dismissed Madore’s allegations.
“I’ll just repeat Rebecca Dean, she said. “Councilor Madore’s accusations are false.”
