Commish's Corner

The Board of Lincoln County Commissioners recently adopted Resolution 16-21, setting a policy that union employee contract negotiations will be conducted in open public meetings. This resolution has huge, broad, local and state support. Every major newspaper editorial board in the state has advocated for this, and many articles published recently have praised what we have done here in Lincoln County to bring better transparency to government.

By opening our contract negotiations to the public, we believe it will better help everyone understand our financial situation, especially since we are appealing to the public this November (in Proposition #1, three-tenths of one percent sales tax increase for public safety funding) and asking you to open your wallets and give us more of your hard-earned money. It is incumbent upon us, now more than ever, to make sure that the taxpayers, as well as employees, know how they are being represented during collective bargaining negotiations, which are among the most expensive contracts negotiated by the county. It is imperative that we continue to maintain the highest possible level of trust with you, the people of Lincoln County, because at the end of the day, it is the public’s money.

Everyone we have come in contact with thinks negotiating in public is a great idea and has gone out of their way to thank and congratulate us. That is, everyone other than the union leaders in Spokane and throughout Washington. Their stated rationale for opposing transparent negotiations is that it “has real implications for our internal bargaining process” and that “open negotiations are very foreign to us” and “people who implement policies like this are just out to harm the working folks and break up unions.” We are not trying to call out employees for asking for higher salaries or benefits or anything of the like. And we are most certainly not out to harm the working folks! No matter what anyone says, that is simply not the case. These talking points perpetuated by union leadership are simply ridiculous. Many other states have passed state laws to negotiate in public, such as our neighbors Idaho and Oregon. So the concept shouldn’t be too foreign. Under Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act, counties are allowed to bar the public from the negotiation process but are not mandated to do so.

Even though the public may be present, they will not be allowed to comment or participate in any way. But the unions still don’t like it. Some law firms that negotiate for local governments don’t like it either. Why? Because “that’s not the way we’ve always done it.” It’s all about the “process.” If the process changes, everyone stands to make less money negotiating.

Former Washington state attorney general Rob McKenna, in a recent article praising Lincoln County for our efforts, stated the union’s opposition to open negotiations quite well, “let’s be clear about what they’re (the unions) opposing: They’re against the public being able to watch public officials bargain with public employee unions over spending the public’s money. That’s what they want to keep behind closed doors.” My question remains: What does anyone have to hide from the public we all serve? The answer should be absolutely nothing.