Stevens County Commissioners Merrill Ott (left), Malcolm Friedman (center) and Stevens County Auditor Tim Gray (right) converse before Monday afternoon’s public hearing concerning the 2010 county budget.

Extension and fairgrounds avoid chopping block, but hard times are still ahead for Stevens County

BY SOPHIA ALDOUS

S-E Staff Reporter

   Monday’s 2010 Stevens County budget hearing was one of reason, cooperation and a somber approach to the financial future of the county.

   The Board of Commission­ers took testimony from a small gathering of concerned members of the public, who voiced their sup­port for the Northeast Wash­ington Fair­grounds, Stevens County Ag. Trade Center, and Washington State Univer­sity Stevens County Exten­sion, as well as the tough choices the com­missioners themselves were faced with.

   “Before we start the public comment portion of this hearing, I would like to clear up some misconceptions and inaccuracies reported in the media,” said Commissioner Malcolm Friedman. “We have worked on these two budgets (fairgrounds and WSU Exten­sion) and have found a solu­tion to keep both programs operating. These two pro­grams have missed the chop­ping block.”

   Friedman added that he was upset by an editorial that ap­peared in last week’s newspa­per saying the Stevens County Commissioners were planning to shut down both the fair­grounds and extension, though he did not cite the author or the name of the pe­riodical the editorial appeared in. 

   “I was disappointed that the editorial that came out last week created an upheaval that was unnecessary,” stated Friedman. “All it would have taken was a phone call and that problem wouldn’t have developed. It created a lot of unhappy people in the com­munity. I don’t think it was necessary, and that’s my edi­torial.”

   The 2010 budget has been a difficult one to balance, and Friedman said all county funds are under inspection and scrutiny in order to find ways for the county to fill the budget shortfall.

   “We started out with a budget that was $921,800 short,” said Stevens County Auditor Tim Gray, who was present at the meeting. “We assuaged some numbers and made decisions about trans­ferring some funds to balance things out. As of right now, we are still $151,000 short of a balanced budget.”

Crossing our fingers

   The county will hold one more public hearing concern­ing the 2010 budget before the end of the year, but the end-of-the-month deadline is fast approaching.

   “We have a few more or­anges to squeeze and we will,” said Gray. “We’re going to cross our fingers and hope for no disasters in the next 12 months.”

   According to Friedman, the budget crisis has forced com­missioners in counties across the state to look at saving core functions and mandatory services while extraneous items have been cut.

   “After working at this job for over eight years, I do see the extension and fairgrounds as core functions,” Friedman said. “But we still have to ask those questions. I apologize if someone picked up the indi­cation that commissioners don’t care about those pro­grams, because we do.”

   Commissioner Larry Gun­ther added that the fair­grounds and Ag. Trade Center bring in around 53,000 people annually, 23,000 of which are from outside the area.

   WSU Extension Director De­bra Kollock addressed the audience and thanked both the commissioners and the public for their support of the program.

   “I also want to say every county in the state is having the same conversation with their county commissioners and constituents, because it’s not just this board or this county, it’s the whole state because we’re in a terrible cri­sis,” Kollock explained. “We’ve looked very critically at the budget and have been able to move some funding into eco­nomic development to support the extension program.”

‘We’re just going to have to tough it out…’

   Barbara Cartwright of Hunt­ers conceded that counties are currently faced with tough fi­nancial choices because of the state’s $2.6 billion deficit that isn’t expected to be mitigated any­time soon.

   “I’m so glad I don’t sit be­hind that desk, because this is so much bigger than just the WSU Extension or fair­grounds,” said Cartwright of the Stevens County Commis­sioners’ positions. “But I also feel like if we don’t get up and talk, or show our support, then there’s that question of does it really matter? Do peo­ple care? I want the public to understand it; I want it to get in the newspaper, because a lot of people don’t come to these meetings. They don’t know what’s going on here, or what you  (commissioners) do, or what WSU or the fair­grounds do.”

   Cartwright commented that both programs support area youth, and she figured the combined $217,000 spent on the Ag. Trade Center, fair­grounds and extension is, “less expensive than what the county has to pay for the ju­venile department each year.”

   Commissioner Merril Ott said he agreed with a previous statement by Colville Cham­ber of Commerce President John Smith that productivity is the key to restoring the economy.

   “Trust me, if anyone has suggestions, I’m all ears,” stated Ott. “There will be re­duced services, and until we get there, we’re just going to have to tough it out. This is not an issue of the county working against the city, or the county working against the people. We want to work together, because it’s not go­ing to be an easy road.”