SEQUIM — Three candidates for the Clallam County District 1 commissioner seat debated water and the distribution of county funds at a League of Women Voters of Clallam County forum.
Incumbent Commissioner Jim McEntire and challengers Mark Ozias and Bryan D. Frazier were questioned by audience members during the Sunday afternoon forum on the controversy surrounding County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis’ refusal to honor funds transfers to other agencies, as well as about water rights and building permits in water-critical areas.
About 100 audience members attended the Clallam County commissioner forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Shipley Center, 921 E. Hammond St.
The office has a six-year term, with a current $70,590 salary for a veteran commissioner, or $67,189 for a first-term commissioner.
Two of the three candidates will be selected in the Aug. 4 primary to move on to the November general election.
All three candidates were asked if the county commissioners were correct in initially allowing warrants for $1.3 million in grants to port and city governments.
Barkhuis rejected them for what she believed to be an insufficient public process. Commissioners have since voided the warrants and started the process over.
McEntire said he believed that he and the other commissioners had acted entirely within the law and within county charter in their initial actions.
“We followed policy to the letter,” he said, and added that government should be efficient, as well as open and transparent.
His challengers disagreed. Both said there should have been more public involvement in the process.
“It could have been handled differently. Barkhuis was looking out for the people,” Frazier said.
Commissioners attempted to re-write the county policies after the fact, he said.
Ozias also said it should have been handled differently.
“It’s about the right thing to do, not just the legal thing to do. The public has a stake in the outcome,” he said.
In response to questions about the availability of water in the Carlsborg area and the suspension of new building permits, McEntire said he believed the Water Resource Inventory Area 18 water rule put into effect by the state Department of Ecology is not necessary, and showed graphs indicating the amount of water available in the region is on a long-term upward trend.
He also noted that water use is controlled by Ecology, not the county.
Ozias said he supports the new Dungeness water rule, saying that it protects existing uses, people, fish against the possibility of future water scarcity.
Frazier said the water rule only makes matters worse by allowing those with the money to pay for water rights to overuse scarce water resources.
McEntire opposed a building permit moratorium based on water availability, while Ozias and Frazier both supported a moratorium.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.