Kitsap Caucus

Last week I received an e-mail from the county commissioners’ staff advising me and others about the commissioners’ schedule for this week.

The first item appeared interesting. The commissioners were to be meeting with representatives from the State Legislature about the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority. I put it on my schedule.

After commissioners Steve Bauer and Josh Brown arrived this morning, Bauer asked commissioner Jan Angel into the other room. There they were for a few minutes. Bauer returned and asked for me to meet with him in the other room, where he explained the dilemma they were in.

The commissioners were gone last week and didn’t see how the event was publicized. The meeting wasn’t intended to be public. He said there were two choices. One, the meeting gets canceled for Angel and Bauer (and me), leaving Brown to meet with the people from the Legislature by himself. Second, we could all stay as long as I agreed that whatever is discussed was off the record.

Bauer was understanding that this was putting me, and others, in an awkward situation. As much as I’d love to be in on the inside of information about what the county might want from Olympia in terms of help, I couldn’t give them permission to hold what would have been a de facto executive session that hadn’t been advertised. In fact, even if the meeting had been public, I don’t see evidence anywhere that it was advertised. That in itself would be improper.

So I chose to let them cancel the meeting. Bauer, Angel and I left.

Brown later called and told me what happened. He apologized. From my understanding Angel and Bauer were not supposed to be invited to the meeting, either. It was to be part of the housing authority’s individual board members’ follow-up work in regards to the authority’s financial situation. In addition to Brown, Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola was there. He, as another member of the housing authority board, remained in the meeting.

The legislative representives in attendance were from staffs, not the electeds themselves. Additionally, the county’s lobbyist attended. Brown described the meeting as more or less brainstorming about what kind of help the state can offer. Perhaps there’s money from the state’s housing trust fund. Finding a way to extend credit from that fund would involve overcoming state constitutional prohibitions, but could be an avenue. Also, the state could dedicate part of some fees as insurance for when housing authorities are troubled.

Kim Abel, when she was running against Angel for the 26th District legislative seat, said she had met with House Speaker Frank Chopp and others to address possible solutions.

Brown said housing authorities elsewhere are struggling right now, as well.

The state currently has a program where portions of recording fees are used for new affordable housing. Brown said it might be time for the state to put a higher priority on affordable housing that already exists.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 4:42 pm by Steven Gardner and is filed under County, Legislature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.