Opera House Society, Fire Protection District 6, contentious city council meeting

HOHS

The Harrington Opera House Society met January 6 for its annual meeting in the Art Room with the following in attendance: Ellen Evans, Billie and Gordon Herron, Ed and Bunny Haugan, Mark and Sheryl Stedman, Dan and Cindy Hino, Becky Moeller, Karen Robertson, Marge Womach and Linda Wagner.

The arrival of the emergency chair for stairway exit was announced. A by-laws change was made to remove “engineer” as a position. Discussion was held regarding the membership drive and annual newsletter.

The Society received a letter from Tim Tipton on the Country Backroads and Small Town Treasure map, a project by the Chamber of Commerce, with artwork done by Les LePere. The letter stated that the maps had sold out and that it will be re-done at a cost of $250. HOHS members voted to provide the $250 for the Society’s portion of the map.

Regarding prior events, the Santa pictures event went very well. The Harrington school program had a great turnout, and comments regarding the event were all positive. The next meeting will be held February 3 at 7 p.m.

Fire District

An open informational meeting on Proposition 1 was held at Harrington City Hall on January 8 led by Ron Mielke and Mayor Justin Slack with the following present: Dusty Oestreich, Nathan Luck, Peter Davenport, Dave Buddrius, Denisa Holling, Janice Cepeda, Cherie MacClellan, Billie Herron, Scott McGowan, Mike Cronrath, Marge Womach and Geoff Talkington. Proposition 1 will appear on the February 11 special election ballot for residents of both the City of Harrington and Lincoln County Fire Protection District No. 6 (LCFPD6), and asks the following question: “Shall the City of Harrington be annexed to and become part of Lincoln County Fire Protection District No. 6? Yes or No? Residents in LCFPD6 will see no change in their current fire levy rate, which will remain at 78 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. In 2020, City of Harrington residents will see no change in their current tax rate; however in 2021 Harrington residents will pay the same fire district levy rate of 78 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation as LCFPD6 residents. This tax revenue will add approximately $13,500 to the LCFPD6 tax revenue of approximately $97,000 for a total operating budget of $110,500. If the proposition is approved by both the City residents and the LCFPD6 residents, the annexation will become effective the day the election is certified. If Proposition 1 fails, LCFPD6 will continue to provide mutual aid services for fire and EMS to the City of Harrington, as they have in the past, but negotiations for a new contract between the City and LCFPD6 will take place for continued service.

City Council

The Harrington City Council meeting was held Wednesday evening, Jan. 8 and began shortly after 7 p.m. due to the Proposition 1 meeting running over the allotted time. Those present were Justin Slack, council members Cherie MacClellan, Tim Tipton, Peter Davenport, Nathan Luck and Levi Schenk, Clerk Janice Cepeda, Scott McGowan (maintenance), Treasurer Mike Cronrath and visitors Dave Buddrius, Denisa Holling, Geoff Talkington, Chris Meats, Billie Herron, Jesse Silhan, Marge Womach and Dick Derr.

The council voted its approval of Mayor Slack’s appointment of Janice Cepeda as the new city clerk. The clerk then swore in the newly elected city council (Slack, Davenport, MacClellan and Luck) and City Treasurer Mike Cronrath. With a very brief discussion and no tentative applicants, the appointment of a mayor was tabled, Slack stating that he would not continue on as Mayor and that the council has three months to find and appoint a mayor before the county commissioners would intervene and make an appointment. MacClellan was approved as the mayor pro-tem. It was stated that MacClellan would be both mayor pro-tem and a voting member of the council. Slack offered MacClellan the opportunity to chair the rest of the meeting, but she declined, since he had set the agenda. The process of using committees was discussed briefly and deemed a time-saver for the council meetings and would continue into the next year.

The council briefly discussed the Okanogan County Transportation and Nutrition (OCTN) rental agreement of Memorial Hall for senior meals. The council approved continuation of the lease agreement by a unanimous vote, 5-0.

The council spoke at length of the DOE’s current city fine of $5,000 payable to the state attorney general’s office. Davenport was determined to know whose responsibility it was that the citizens were having to foot the bill for what seemed to be possible negligence on the part of one or more individuals. Council discussed the origin of Harrington being put on probation for then Mayor Haas’ failure to turn in the required Discharge Monitoring Report forms. When the original fine of $6,000 levied against the City, Haas argued his case in person with the State Attorney General’s Office, and the City received a $5,000 reprieve, leaving it with a $1,000 fine and putting it on probation for two years. Additional violations occurred during this official time period, as the City of Harrington received 9 or 10 infractions, culminating in the remaining $5,000 fine being reinstated when a DOE Discharge Monitoring Report was not filed late in 2019. The report form should have been filed by Casie Monge, the certified Level 2 operator who has worked for the City under her license since September 2017. In October 2019, she was notified that the on-line reporting form that she completed and submitted had changed and she would need to make some adjustments. She was out of town and not available to do so by the 15th deadline. Davenport wants the City to go to AWC with full details and see if this fine can be rolled back. Some comments were made regarding the citizens having voted the council in and “we need to prevent these expenses.” This topic was finally “sent to committee” and discussion ceased.

Davenport then gave an update on the sewer sample delivery process, which included an informational handout of how the other towns in Lincoln County manage their delivery process of samples. In Davenport’s estimation, it would not be feasible to try to coordinate with them. He recommended that the City continue to investigate the cost of utilizing UPS or USPS to determine if there would be savings over sending an employee while on the clock. It was also noted that once a month McGowan needs to deliver the sample with the report forms to Cheney himself.

McGowan spoke briefly of the city plan for public works. The most noted project would be patching performed on Fifth Street. The policy has been for McGowan to determine the priority and for the mayor and clerk to feed in details based on comments from citizens and recognition of apparent problems.

Former mayor Slack addressed his late December refusal to pay two City employees their vacation time compensation. He stated that he did not want to discuss the personnel issue in an open meeting, and if Council had need of additional information he could call for another executive session for personnel matters (RCW 42.30.110 (1g). MacClellan stated that that would not give her the needed information to give to the citizen who had asked for the details. McGowan stated that he wanted the topic discussed, and Slack stated that vacation pay is up to the mayor’s discretion and he had decided against it because at the time he made the initial decision he did not think that there was money in the budget. When he learned that there was money available, he had already made his decision and wasn’t going to change it. Since the decision was at the mayor’s discretion, Tipton asked Slack, “Will expressing an opinion now change anything?” Slack replied, “No.”

Davenport noticed a truck leaking oil onto the roadway where it was parked. MacClellan said she would report it to DOT. Light poles that are not working were also added to the agenda and were discussed. Mention was made of the community forum on January 14. Comment was made that there should be prior approval for all purchases in the future by Public Works. Council approved a motion for the City to go forward with and accept the mutual aid agreement in which the agreeing cities will assist one another if any participating city sustains damage to its water or wastewater system.

When the public comments section of the agenda was opened, Herron asked, “Wasn’t there an RCW or equivalent that states that a precedent had been set, since Bunny and Scott had always received their vacation pay at the end of the year?” Slack said that he didn’t know. When she asked how many hours they were talking about, he also said, “I don’t know.” Herron spoke of her concern that the out-going “clerk was denied her vacation hours on the last day of the calendar year and had no option to receive compensation for those hours.” She also said, “If Bunny and Scott had taken their vacation time, their phones would be ringing off the hook by the city, due to lack of personnel to cover their positions while they were gone.”

When it was mentioned that extra hours were put in by Bunny Haugan and that she almost always stayed late, Slack said he knew that and added that sometimes she would even take the large ledgers home to work on. Herron again stated that she thought it was unfair that Bunny and Scott were treated this way. When Councilman Davenport asked if this could be re-addressed, Slack stated, “No, it is a done deal.”

That response sounded defensive, and he stated that he told Haugan to take three weeks off in October but she only took three days off. Womach said Cepeda could confirm that after Bunny had taken three days off she was called back in, since Cepeda would not be able to fill the clerk’s position for two days due to training that she intended on taking. Cepeda was also off sick during that time period. “There’s obviously more than one side to this story.”

Others asked how many hours were being discussed. McGowan said he was due more than 105 hours, and Womach said Haugan was due nearly as much. During this discussion, Slack said McGowan left on his vacation during a time when his co-worker was also not available. McGowan stated that as far as he knew Stai (the other maintenance man) was intending on working during McGowan’s vacation. On this line of discussion, Slack sounded as though he was punishing McGowan for an issue that was out of his control, since his vacation had been approved. Most of the citizens’ comments sought justification for cutting the vacation compensation for two highly dedicated civil servants, with much admiration and appreciation for the work they have done. At the end of the public comments, Council voted unanimously to adjourn.

Comments by citizens in the days following the meeting were expressive of dismay, and the decision was what many called a “raw deal” or “a lapse in judgment.” The facts of the issue as presented: Mayor Justin Slack knew before the end of the year that the city had budgeted the money for the vacation pay and it was available for the city clerk, Bunny Haugan, who is retiring after 40 years of service, and for Scott McGowan, the maintenance man for more than 35 years. Slack refused to change his mind because he had decided, and it was up to his discretion. Haugan had attempted to comply with the Mayor’s desire for her to take vacation time, but was not willing to leave the City without adequate staff since the end of the month was quickly approaching. Haugan was not told that this issue would jeopardize her vacation pay. This city clerk for more than two years has saved the city the expense of janitorial services by taking care of those duties herself. She also did not receive compensation for the many hours in which city work was done on personal time. Similarly, McGowan was being punished for not being clairvoyant enough to realize that Stai was not going to work when McGowan left for a vacation. McGowan does not receive additional pay for being on-call 24/7 all year, although he does receive overtime for those hours that he works on personal time. He is not recompensed for the inconvenience. The precedent had been set for at least 40 years that vacation pay was given by each of the various mayors. The only exception was when the vacation time was used by the employee so there were no hours left to be compensated. No advance warning was given the two employees.

How is this issue now viewed by those who are on the council? “Slack did not ask our opinion.” One member said, “If the funding was there, I’d have allowed them their vacation pay. They are shit out of luck with the way it came down. They were entitled to the time off or to the pay.” Another member said, “I did not agree with his reasons for his decision.” Another commented, “All employees have the right and availability to take the vacation time during the year regardless of what may be said otherwise. They chose not to use this time in a proper manner. The choice to not take the vacation time was on each person themselves.” Another comment was: “If we (the council) knew that the funds were available, then yes, I would have liked for the vacation time to be paid, but in my opinion only one of the two employees deserved this extra benefit.”

A few community responses were gathered. One former city employee stated, “This is not an issue that should be tried in the court of public opinion. It is an issue between two city employees and the city. I think it should be based on facts, not on what has been done in the past.” Another observer felt that the situation was fraudulent, allowing the employees to expect vacation compensation, denying them their due in late December, and what happened to that money which was actually in the budget?” A final community member’s response was, “It is terribly sad to see the financial irresponsibility of Harrington’s last two mayors. They have both failed to be stewards of the city’s monies. Their actions or lack thereof have caused hardships for its employees, and real costs in dollars to the city. They have no problem paying a large fine directly due to incompetency of a mayor, and yet denied employees compensation due them.”