New Elected Position in the County? (14. June 2007, 13:11 by Erik) ~ News from our neighbors
We hear that Pierce County may consider asking voters to approve a new elected position for the county called Environment and Lands Commissioner.
The new Commissioner would oversee Pierce County’s Planning and Land Services Department , the department responsible for planning, permits, code enforcement and environmental protection. Currently those responsibilities are under PALS Director Chuck Kleeberg, a position that would also be overseen by the new Commissioner.
The ordinance was introduced Tuesday and was referred to the Rules Committee for consideration. If it makes it as far as the County Council, they’ll hear it on July 10.
Putting land planning in the hands of an elected official might make them more accountable to voters (the full time position would be up for election every four years). On the other hand, something as sensitive and complex as permitting entering the political sphere could create the opportunity for considerable abuse.
What do you think?
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Erik B,
I think the worry would be that a politician might be tempted to try to kill an unpopular project to get re-elected even if it fit the code. Conversely, a politician in the role could sway the code to let a project pass that otherwise wouldn’t have because s/he’s buddy-buddy with the developer.
It also seems to create an unnecessary position. Isn’t the council’s job already to supervise planning, permitting, land use, etc? Why add another position to do it. Would that restrict the Council’s ability to tighten codes? I’m wary.
As a side note, most of the sprawl is from permits filed pre-Growth Management Act that are just being built now. The building is slowing.
2 | Posted by Erik Hanberg | Jun 14, 04:59 PM
BAD idea. It means non-technical politicols could get elected. You will have candidates from the building industry and candidates representing the environmental community. This position should be non-political.
3 | Posted by Insider | Jun 14, 08:12 PM
Pierce County is by far the slowest jurisdiction in the Puget Sound Region when it comes to permitting.
An elected official running PALS may contribute to sprawl… A good chunk of the county is comprised of conservative residents who typically own large tracts of land. Perhaps they will elect an official who will find clever ways to get around wetland review and maximum densities…
4 | Posted by snoopy | Jun 15, 07:53 AM
“Pierce County is by far the slowest jurisdiction in the Puget Sound Region when it comes to permitting.”
Amen. (though King is right up there)
But let me get this straight, Pierce County Council wants to create a new elected position to oversee someone in an appointed/hired position. If the existing electeds have an issue with the way the current director is doing their job, how does adding another elected solve the problem? (Besides passing the buck from the PC Exec to the new position.)
5 | Posted by MichaelK | Jun 15, 12:48 PM
Oh good grief! Fulltime County Councilmembers and they need ANOTHER elected official to oversee permitting? The ELECTED executive is supposed to do that. And the ELECTED council is supposed to do it too. What’s next to relieve the Council and Executive of the burdens they face? An elected Sewer Utility Director? An elected Landenburg Links Manager? An elected Health Department Director? There are serious problems in the permitting area, but there are enough elected officials who are supposed to be responsible for it now. Perhaps the sponsor of this amendment should just come out and admit that he or she hasn’t got a clue of how to fix the problems. At least that would be honest.
6 | Posted by Siwel | Jun 17, 07:43 PM
There’s a little update on the TNT’s site that says this proposal is pretty much dead. (Thank goodness.)
Link: http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/oped?p=11758&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more11758
8 | Posted by DavidS | Jun 25, 01:15 PM
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