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06/30/2005: "Miller's Views On Draft Charter: Not Positive"

Two Freeholders recently sat down with Commissioner Rhea Miller to conduct an interview, with the hope that her comments could help them fine tune the draft Charter the Freeholders will be presenting to county voters in the next election. As it stands, the charter would make some very fundamental changes in county government, and it was felt that Miller could provide some insights, and advise on the current content of the Charter.

The Freeholders, Ed Carlberg & David Bayley, were surprised to learn that while the County has for years talked about hiring a County Manager, but has taken little meaningful action toward that end, the BOCC has now "hired an outside independent consultant to study whether a manager is a good idea". (see PREVIOUS STORY on this) It also was revealed that the hiring of the consultant occurred while the Freeholders were in the process of drafting a Charter that was obviously moving toward including a County Manager position.

It is widely believed by observers of county government that much of the support for the passage of a Charter, that will include a new government structure with a County Manager as a "Chief Executive Officer", can be attributed to the public's desire to have a professional running county government. According to the report on the interview, Commissioner Miller "acknowledged that there seemed to be a groundswell of support among voters to hire a County Manager to handle some of the administrative duties now burdening the Commissioners, but she still views this public opinion warily, and without enthusiasm".

On the question of county wide support for the Charter, the Freeholders now have some input back from a questionnaire the public was asked to respond to, and one of the results shows a lack of broad support on Miller's home island of Lopez for what is expected to be included in the Charter. Miller stated " Lopez people are not unhappy with their government and their Commissioner. Darcie Nielson and John Evans were the cause of the public's unhappiness with County Government, and that they authorized the Freeholder activity without her support."

Miller's opinion on the wisdom of going from full time commissioners (i.e. not providing them with "full time pay") was, in her words: "unworkable", because " part-time people who are simultaneously running another business wouldn't have the time to attend such meetings, and would not be able to accomplish the things she (Miller) has been to do".

One of the inclusions in the draft Charter is a provision for the voters to write and place on the ballot grass-roots "legislation" through Initiatives and Referendums. Miller is also against this aspect of the Charter, due to her belief they create a "risk of mischief and unintended consequences".

It is expected that at the next meeting of the Freeholders the report will be discussed in some detail.