Questions and concerns about the new Jefferson County Oath of Office have prompted County Administrator Philip Morley to prepare and distribute a special memorandum detailing the change, but the document fails to address key questions.
Morley’s December 21 memo cited, “questions and misunderstandings about the updated Oath of Office,” and informed county elected officials and officials-elect that the Oath, “has received attention recently with some in the community questioning County motives for changing the oath,” which no longer requires Jefferson County elected officials to affirm their support for federal law. Missing from Morley’s five-page memo is any information on why the oath was changed.
The memo said, “In April 2018, the Auditor’s Office updated the Oath of Office for Jefferson County’s elected officials.” However, Elections Coordinator Betty Johnson said the Auditor’s Office was “directed” to alter the oath and Central Services Director Mark McCauley said Morley himself initiated the change.
Morley’s change followed media reports that cannabis store owner Greg Brotherton was under consideration by county Democrats to be the nominee to fill the open seat on the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners in the 2018 election. Brotherton won the November election with a 68% – 32% margin of victory.
The sale of marijuana, while legal in Washington state, is illegal under federal law, meaning Brotherton would be unable to fulfill the old oath’s pledge to, “support the Constitution and Laws of the United States.” The new oath removes any problems associated with pledging to support federal laws on cannabis that differ from state laws. He is scheduled to be sworn into office December 31.
Morley refused to respond to numerous email and telephone requests for comment, so it is not known what or who prompted him to initiate the change, what discussions were held prior to changing the oath, what public input was sought, or what county resources were utilized in affecting the change. The wording of the new oath, which is consistent with oaths taken elsewhere in Washington state, is not required by any state law or regulation, and elected officials in Clallam and Kitsap Counties continue to swear oaths affirming their support for federal law.
The new oath also makes it easier for officials to seek or implement sanctuary status for illegal immigrants in Jefferson County without violating a pledge to support the laws of the United States. Immigration, whether legal or illegal, is governed by federal law. However, a growing number of states and municipalities have voted in recent years to defy federal law by declaring themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants.
Jefferson County is not a sanctuary locale per se but county commissioners approved a proclamation in February, 2017, saying commissioners will, “strive to make Jefferson County a welcoming place,” for people regardless of, “immigration and citizenship status.”
Morley’s refusal to answer questions about the change to the oath also raises questions about transparency in county government and contradicts the position of at least one of his professional affiliations. Morley’s biography on the county website states that he holds a certificate from the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
The AICP stresses that, “Honesty, integrity, and transparency are key to maintaining professional credibility in the public arena.” An AICP article further promotes the importance of transparency in local government by asking the question, “Want to maintain professional credibility in the public arena? For planners, honesty, integrity, and transparency are the keys.”
The lack of transparency regarding the oath appears to contradict the transparency guidelines of the organization that issued Morley’s certificate. The contradiction also parallels concerns raised in an earlier critique of the American Planning Association (APA), the parent organization of the AICP.
In a February, 2013, analysis of APA by Bent Flyvbjerg, a professor at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, Flyvbjerg found that, “APA escalated its strategy for dealing with uncomfortable knowledge from denial to diversion, diversion being defined as the organizational strategy of establishing a decoy activity that distracts attention from a subject or problem, thus trying to ensure that knowledge about it is not created or shared.”
Morley’s December 21 memo explained that the new oath is similar to other oaths taken by some state and federal officials, provided four pages of background information on oaths taken by others, and acknowledged that some county residents were curious about why the change was made. However, Morley did not explain why he initiated the change in early 2018.
Flyvbjerg, who also chairs the BT Centre for Major Programme Management, concluded in his report, “APA appears to have disregarded and violated its own Code of Ethics on multiple counts. In so doing, APA is potentially placing principles of transparency and democracy at risk.”
Elected officials in Jefferson County, along with all county employees, will no longer swear an oath to support the laws of the United States, according to a recent modification of the oath of office.
Up until this year, county officials pledged in their oath to, “support the Constitution and Laws of the United States, and the Constitution and Laws of the State of Washington.” In the new oath county employees, appointed officials and elected officials affirm only to, “support the Constitution of the United States,” without swearing to support federal law. The oath is scheduled to be administered at the county courthouse in Port Townsend December 31 at 1:00 pm.
The New Oath of Office
Central Services Director Mark McCauley said County Administrator Philip Morley initiated the change, which McCauley characterized as, “a simple tidying-up of an oath.” McCauley said, “there was no event that triggered it,” and the change was adopted in April, 2018, according to Elections Coordinator Betty Johnson.
McCauley could not say what prompted the re-writing of the oath but the revision coincides with media reports in mid-March that Greg Brotherton was being courted by Democrats to run for an open seat on the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners. Brotherton went on to win election in November with 68% of the vote.
Brotherton owns the Sea Change Cannabis store in Discovery Bay. The sale of marijuana is illegal under federal law, resulting in Brotherton being unable to uphold the old oath’s provision to support the, “Laws of the United States,” without divesting himself of his cannabis business. The wording of the new oath removes any conflict for Brotherton to support federal law while operating a cannabis shop.
According to McCauley, the county’s new oath is taken from the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC), a non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides policy implementation and other consulting services for local governments in Washington state. The MRSC provides a template for what it calls a “commonly used,” oath but also informs that no particular language is mandated for local oaths, giving counties the latitude to change their oaths as they see fit.
“We like MRSC,” said McCauley. “They’re a pretty good source on how to run local governments.” McCauley also noted that Washington state officials who are sworn into office do not take an oath to support the laws of the United States.
Jefferson County’s decision to omit support of federal law from its oath differs from surrounding counties that require elected officials to affirm their support for the laws of the United States. The oaths of office in Kitsap and Clallam Counties include language to support the Constitution and laws of the United States, while in Grays Harbor County, officials swear an oath to support the federal and state constitutions and to, “perform and discharge the duties of the office… according to law.”
Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs says officials there swear an oath to support the laws of the United Sates adding, “the oath of office was sent to the (county) prosecutor for review.” Grays Harbor County Auditor Joe MacLean said there are numerous federal laws that affect county governments in Washington state. “There are laws involving federal grants and federal laws regarding voting, federal voting assistance programs and ballots for people overseas,” said MacLean. “Federally, we’re required to provide ballots to service members overseas.”
The new Jefferson County oath does not prohibit supporting federal laws, and Jefferson County Sheriff-elect Joe Nole said the new oath would likely not have a significant impact on local law enforcement. Nole said the sheriff’s department would continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement agencies as appropriate and on a case-by-case basis.
Nole pointed out that county sheriff’s are not ordinarily tasked with enforcing federal law, but said he believes the new oath better reflects the sometimes contradictory nature of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, in which there is a difference between state and federal law on specific matters, including cannabis use and sales. “I think it’s a more accurate idea because we don’t actually enforce federal regulations as such,” said Nole.
The 10th Amendment reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The amendment has been increasingly invoked as states move to legalize or deregulate marijuana use and sale. Marijuana is illegal under federal law but the Constitution is silent on the issue, and cannabis supporters argue the 10th Amendment gives states the right to legalize the drug.
On matters involving illegal immigration, primarily a federal issue, Nole drew a distinction between the administrative and law enforcement aspects of dealing with people suspected of being in the United States illegally. “If (federal agencies) had some kind of federal warrant, like a murder in Tennessee, of course we would hold them,” said Nole. However, Nole said his department would not likely hold a suspect for an extended period of time based solely on a request by a federal agency to do so, saying the federal government has an obligation to take custody of suspects in a timely manner.
[Editor’s Note: Compare the oath office taken by incumbent Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan, in which he swore to uphold federal laws. That oath is reproduced as the featured image for this story.]
Jefferson County Commissioner-elect Greg Brotherton said Thursday, “our codes are standing in the way,” of economic growth and promised regulatory reform by reducing the size of the county’s Unified Development Code (UDC) upon taking his seat on the Board of County Commissioners at the end of the month.
“I want to find money in the budget to look at the UDC and the codes that we have. I think our codes are standing in the way. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Brotherton said following a December 6 meeting of the Port Ludlow Village Council Board of Directors.
Thursday’s meeting was the first time Brotherton appeared before the council since the campaign for District Three commissioner. Brotherton carried Port Ludlow in the November 6 election and told the council that he sees the election results as call to action.
“The mandate I really feel, especially from my District Three voters, is to remove the impediments of growth and development, for everyone from the homeowner to the small business owner like me to the larger developer,” said Brotherton. “I think we can work on our permit process in our critical areas to encourage development.”
Brotherton said he wants to, “make some significant cuts,” to the UDC, the voluminous and often arcane plan for property and land management within the county. The scope of the UDC states that, “no building, structure, or land use activity shall be engaged, erected, demolished, remodeled, reconstructed, altered, enlarged, or relocated, and no building, structure or premises shall be used in Jefferson County except in compliance with the provisions of this code and then only after securing all required permits and licenses,” and has been criticized for limiting growth and new development in the county.
Brotherton’s pledge to make cuts the UDC comes as Jefferson County commissioners grapple with the need for new revenues which have not always kept pace with spending. The new General Fund budget proposal is expected to run a 3.6% deficit for 2019 and is estimated to draw-down the county’s Unreserved Fund by approximately 10%.
According to county Central Services Director Mark McCauley, the 2019 deficit budget plan is estimated to slow the rate of decrease in the Unreserved Fund, draining is by 77% over the next five years. Last year, it was projected the fund would be reduced by about 87% over the same time frame.
The rate of new development was also an issue in the 2019 budget proposal. County Administrator Philip Morley noted in his December 3 budget memorandum to the BOCC that, “The value of new construction is added to the tax base, which, for the last eight years in Jefferson County has averaged 0.8% per year.”
When asked whether streamlining the UDC could effectively raise the value of new construction in the county and broaden the tax base in the process, Brotherton could not commit to a specific level of growth through regulatory reform but made clear, “That’s where I want to start.”
Given the statutory limits on how much government can raise property taxes in any given year, the issue of growing the tax base has become more critical in recent years. During the campaign, Brotherton expressed support for the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort in Brinnon, which was approved by the county earlier this year only to face legal challenges by a group of people who are opposed to the development.
While no firm figures are available on how much the Brinnon resort would add to the county’s tax base, the project is reckoned to generate millions of dollars in property tax revenue once fully developed.
The Jefferson County General Fund budget is projected to operate at a deficit in 2019, with spending to be 3.6% greater than revenue, according to the draft budget proposal from County Administrator Philip Morley’s office.
The 2019 budget blueprint earmarks $20.37 million for spending, which is about 1.4% higher than 2018. However, projected revenues for next year are $19.66 million, a figure that is nearly five percent below projected 2018 revenues, accounting for much of the deficit.
Under the new plan, proposed spending for 2019 will have risen nearly 10% since 2016, while revenues are projected to rise just 1.9% over the same period. The deficit in the proposal is also expected to burn through 10% of the county’s Unreserved Fund, reflecting a warning from last year’s budget presentation which estimated that continued deficit spending would drain 87% of the county’s Unreserved Fund by early next decade.
Central Services Director Mark McCauley said the 2019 deficit budget plan would slow the rate of decrease in the Unreserved Fund so that only 77% would be taken away over the next five years. When asked if spending increases of 9.7% over three years coupled with revenue growth of 1.9% over the same period is sustainable, McCauley said, “No it’s not,” but noted that over the past decade, half of the county budgets ran a deficit while the others produced surpluses. McCauley also stressed that county planners tend to be conservative in estimating revenues for the coming year.
County Administrator Philip Morley’s November 29 memorandum to the Board of County Commissioners bemoans various problems in raising revenue.Morley singled out the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature for criticism writing, “Washington State’s funding model for county government, especially for rural counties like ours, remains broken.”
Morley also described as “arbitrary,” the state law that prohibits counties from raising property taxes by more than one percent per year without voters having a say. “In 2007, the State Legislature reinstated Tim Eyman’s I-747, which had been ruled invalid by the state Supreme Court. State law arbitrarily constrains revenue growth in property taxes to an arbitrary 1 percent limit annually (excluding new construction) without a vote of the people,” wrote Morley.
Aside from limits on government raising property taxes, Morley also noted that the value of new construction in Jefferson County has averaged less than one percent per year for the past eight years. The Morley memorandum promotes planned improvements in computer technology to speed the permitting process and mentions efforts to, “make our regulations more understandable and efficient for citizens to comply with,” but did not address any changes to regulations or ordinances that might encourage more new development.
Morley’s memorandum explained how principal and interest payments on the county’s $6.29 million in debt are decreasing and are expected to decline in the coming years. However, Morley cautioned that the county would not be able to assume new debt through, “additional capital bonding capacity,” until 2022.
Revenues from property tax, sales taxes and other tax-based revenue sources in 2019 are projected to be 9.2% higher than three years ago, but funds from other sources are not keeping pace. Revenue from fees and other sources including PUD taxes, the marijuana tax, investment income, the liquor excise tax and other sources, is estimated at $3 million for 2019, down nearly 28% from last year.
The projected deficit for 2019 isn’t stopping the county from hiring more people. The budget proposal for next year calls for an increase in Full Time Equivalent (FTE) hiring of 6.91 persons, the largest year-over-year hiring increase in nearly a decade. While FTEs are spread across 39 different county departments and offices, the largest hiring increases are planned for the county assessor, the prosecutor’s office, public health and community development.
McCauley said some of the new hires are temporary or short-term jobs. “The increase in the Assessors Office is to handle a workload surge,” said McCauley. Additional staffing for the prosecutor’s office is also expected to be short term, McCauley said.
Funding for the Board of County Commissioners, which has been flat for the past two budget cycles, is proposed to rise 2.9% compared with last year. However, proposed 2019 spending for the commissioners this year is nearly 21% higher than three years ago.
The BOCC has scheduled a public hearing on the budget for Monday, December 3 at 10:00 am.
The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners has a simple but huge problem. The government is spending more than it takes in. Beginning in January we’ll see whether the board, with its newest member, is up to the challenge.
Between 2011 and 2016, general fund revenues were essentially in line with expenditures. The budget was balanced. But beginning in 2017, commissioners fell into the trap of deficit spending. It continued into the current budget year and the trend line indicates chronic deficit spending through 2022. To make up the difference, the county must tap the unreserved fund.
With projected 2018 general fund expenditures of $19.46 million and projected revenues of just $18.6 million – and no improvement in these trends in the foreseeable future – a real problem emerges. The county freely admitted this in its 2018 budget presentation, noting that, “over the next 5 years without new revenues, and even before a recession, we expect to need to use most of the unreserved fund balance to maintain existing service levels,” estimating that the fund would be drained by 87% within five years.
To its credit, the BoCC took a step to solve the problem by green-lighting the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort in Brinnon, ushering in new potential revenue streams of millions of dollars as the MPR is built out. But even this modest effort to grow the tax base and invigorate the local economy is being challenged by a small minority that has taken the board’s decision to court to block through litigation what they failed to stop through the legislative process.
The county’s budget problems extend beyond squabbles over the Brinnon resort. While the population of Jefferson County has grown more than 18% since 2000, the number of kids in school has dropped across large areas of the county. Port Townsend school enrollment ticked-up this year, but Chimacum and Quilcene schools have seen declines. Without a workable plan for economic development in these parts of the county we can’t expect to see a lot of young families moving in, bringing with them the kind of growth we need.
Some have claimed that expanded Internet service will do the trick, while others say sewer infrastructure is the answer. Both are good ideas, but determining which to prioritize is a thornier exercise. One is less expensive, but cost ought not be the sole factor. We need to look at solutions that yield the greatest return on investment.
Absent any meaningful economic growth, the county is left with two choices. We can either reduce spending or increase taxes. One part of the budget ripe for cutting is salaries and benefits for county employees, which account for 55% of all general fund expenditures for 2018. The fact 55% of the general fund is spent determining how to spend the remaining 45% is symptomatic of bloated government. The biggest single general fund line item in the 2018 budget is law enforcement. The expenditure of $6.11 million for the sheriff’s office is six-times that of the next largest expenditure, but nobody wants to see cuts in public safety.
As for finding additional revenues, anything other than raising the property or sales tax is tinkering around the edges. Of the $18.5 million in revenue projected for the 2018 budget, nearly $11 million comes in the form of taxes on homes and retail sales. People will tolerate a certain level of higher taxation, whether by higher tax rates or inflated assessments on real estate, but eventually, people will begin to vote with their feet and leave.
Many Jefferson County residents currently do just that, in a manner of speaking, by spending their retail dollars in Clallam or Kitsap Counties. Both counties encourage the sort of retail development that, unlike Jefferson County, reflects the demands of 21st century consumers. Wooden toys, handmade soap and scented candles are fine as far as they go. But when a family on a budget needs to get household products in bulk, buy back-to-school clothes or do their Christmas shopping, many are driving out of the county and taking sales tax revenue with them.
Every family in Jefferson County knows they have to live within their means. When they don’t have enough money, they either work harder and earn more or they spend less. They have to balance their household budget. Taxpayers should expect the same from local government without surrendering more of their hard-earned money.
Failure to attract new business to Jefferson County is not an option. The status quo is unsustainable. Our commissioners know this and they need to fix the problem.
