Speaking to a crowd that had gathered in the hearing room at the Public Service Center, Clark County Councilor Julie Olson said that there are 3,069 county governments in the U.S. that trace their origins back to 1600s Virginia. She said that while they all provide vital services to the public, most of what they do is invisible to the public.
But at the 2019 State of the County event held Wednesday evening, at least part of Clark County’s work was on display. During speeches, councilors mentioned recent ordinances on housing, revisions to fireworks code, updated funding for social services and others. The county council and county manager also laid out accomplishments and challenges around permitting, development, budgeting, the jail and more.
Here are a few more notable moments.
Permitting improves
Last year a consultant hired by the county confirmed what many residents already knew: the Permit Center suffers from sluggishness and dysfunction. But Clark County Council Chair Eileen Quiring had some good news about the center. She said that the center, now overseen by Community Development Director Mitch Nickolds, who was appointed last year, has been steadily overhauling its operations.
She said that customer waiting times at the Permit Center have been reduced from an average of 33 minutes to 10 minutes. She said that a customer satisfaction kiosk typically records a 93 percent approval rating of the new counter and workflow arrangement at the Permit Center. She said that building plan examiners have been trained to reduce review times for plans and designs that are prepared and stamped by licensed professional engineers. She also said they were consolidating and coordinating the residential stormwater review and inspection process.
Quiring also said that animal control is now at full staff and services levels after three of five officers and a manager were fired last year for violating county policies. She also praised the department for implementing new financial management and time-keeping systems while also adopting policies to keep it operating in the event of a sustained downturn.
“We need to give kudos to Mitch and his team for accomplishing so much in such a short time,” she said.
Measles vaccinations up
“Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Clark County started the new year with an outbreak of measles,” said Councilor Temple Lentz. “And if you have been living under a rock then you are probably safe from the fact that Clark County started the new year with an outbreak of measles.”
Lentz said that the last count of measles cases was up to 70 and the outbreak has cost Clark County more than $600,000 and the state nearly $750,000 while detracting from other work. She mentioned how U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams visited Clark County earlier that day and gave well-deserved praise to Public Health staff. She also said he encouraged vaccinations as “participation in the social contract that is a crucial part of living in our democratic society.”
“As a positive outcome of this outbreak, our immunization rate is going up,” she said. “We are at four times the level of new immunizations this year than we were at last year and that is largely thanks to the incredible work of our response team.”
179th Street interchange
Last year the county council voted unanimously to remove the urban holding for the N.E. 179th Street/Interstate 5 interchange.
“This is the last project inside the urban growth boundary that’s going to deliver a significant infrastructure and economic development,” said Olson.
The move paves the way for development in the area and Olson said that the county has assembled a stakeholder group that will soon deliver recommendations to fund infrastructure improvements in the area, which she said will include a large contribution from the private sector.
She said that under current zoning there are over 4,000 acres of developable land, 2,000 of which are vacant. She said it was a significant opportunity to provide jobs, housing and development that could generate $23 million to $34 million in ongoing sales tax revenue.
Cooperation valuable
Councilor John Blom said that the county has positive impacts not just on people in unincorporated areas and also works with other agencies. He said that on behalf of the council he serves on the committee overseeing the Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities of Southwest Washington.
He highlighted one of its programs that connects individuals needing a broad range of services with care coordination that results in significant cost savings.
“The amount that this program has saved Medicare and Medicaid in Clark County is in the millions,” he said.
Blom also mentioned his work on the board for C-Tran as a representative of the county. He said that the first year of the Vine, C-Tran’s bus-rapid transit line that serves Fourth Plain from downtown to Vancouver Mall, saw a 45 percent increase in ridership in 2017, its first year, compared to the bus line the previous year. He said it saw another 19 percent increase in 2018 and helped encourage economic development along the line.
Council is getting along
Gary Medvigy, who was appointed to the council last month after Quiring vacated her seat to become chair, said that he had a little trepidation coming to the county after reading about previous turmoil.
“But I want to assure you this council is hitting on all cylinders,” he said.
He said the councilors were bringing their diverse backgrounds together and were working productively. He said that he often has a stack of papers to read on his desk because of people contacting him. He encouraged people to keep it up.
