Outgoing Pacific County Commissioner Steve Rogers said he'd been reinvigorated by a recent vacation when the Herald caught up with him in his office on the afternoon of Nov. 30.
"My wife was very clever," Rogers explained. "She scheduled a vacation for us right after the election, so I had a couple weeks in Hawaii to nurse my wounds. I came back very refreshed and energetic and ready to move on with the next chapter of my life."
Rogers, who was defeated after his first four-year term in last month's General Election by long-time county employee Lisa Olsen, said he was still doing everything he'd normally do as a commissioner and didn't really have too many loose ends to tie up. He was preparing for the transition, however, saying he wants to leave as much information for Olsen as he can.
In answer to the Herald's questions, he shared some of his thoughts in regard to his time spent as a commissioner and on the challenges facing the county going forward.
Taking up the office in December of 2012, Rogers said he was surprised by the number of entities outside the county with which the commissioners have to be involved.
"One of the important things the commissioners do is represent the county on state and regional boards, by law," he said, noting his work with the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, the Olympic Area Agency on Aging, and the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council, among other entities.
Rogers explained that the commissioners typically get together after the first of the year to divvy up such outside responsibilities, though they may swap responsibilities at other times, depending on circumstances.
"We kind of migrate towards things that interest us and where we think we can do some good," said Rogers, calling serving as a representative of the county on outside boards a good way to establish positive relationships with commissioners in neighboring counties.
In initially taking up work as a commissioner, Rogers said he was benefitted by skills and knowledge he'd picked up during his former career as a high school principal. Having worked to manage schools with sizable staffs and student bodies, Rogers stated systems and budgeting were nothing new to him.
In terms of the office's challenges, Rogers said dealing with issues that predate his term in office have ranked high on the list.
"One of the biggest challenges is how much you inherit, and we inherited quite a few challenges, some that refuse to go away. We just keep chipping away at them," he stated, mentioning by way of example the county's disputes over zoning and other matters with Oysterville Sea Farms. "Although we have given it a try, we haven't made it much better, and that's frustrating."
Public Disclosure Requests, especially the many made in relation to such disputes, can become overwhelming and put a burden on the county's limited resources, according to Rogers.
"If you don't keep up with them then you end up in court," Rogers lamented. "[The courts] are not the least bit forgiving if you don't keep up with them."
"The other issue that will continue for the foreseeable future is the landslide in Naselle," Rogers continued. "The county's not going to fork over millions of dollars to repair something that doesn't have a warranty that it can be repaired. It's two families that are isolated. We have provided them an alternate route to their homes; It's not a great route."
Also continuing to plague the county will be budgetary issues, Rogers predicted. He explained the difficulty of constructing a budget due to the uncertainty from one year to the next of the level of funding provided by the state.
"I've had local legislators tell us that they've been balancing the state on the backs of the counties for the last several sessions, and I anticipate that's going to happen some more," said Rogers, mentioning law enforcement as one of the areas that have suffered most dramatically.
Rogers explained that public safety items, including the sheriff's office, courts, and prosecutor's office, make up about 70 percent of the county's overall budget.
An allowed one-percent overall annual property tax increase is insufficient to make up for inflation, much less keep up with costs, he stated.
The state legislature, Rogers said, needs to find ways to address the budget issue, though he said he is pessimistic about the prospects that they will proactively endeavor do so. Rogers also noted the lack of political clout wielded by less-populated rural counties, such as Pacific County.
Among other perennial issues is the maintenance of the 60 bridges and about 350 miles of paved road within the county, Rogers indicated.
A more immediate matter of concern is the appointment of a judge to the South District Court to replace Doug Goelz, who gained election to the Superior Court position. The appointee will hold office for two years before standing for election. Rogers noted the county had received expressions of interest from three persons at the time he spoke with the Herald.
Rogers noted that while the commissioners had endeavored to educate the public on matters facing the county in the first few years of his term by holding public meetings around the county in order to field residents' questions, he said he believed the commissioners could do a better job of informing the public as to what they do and why.
"People are pretty ignorant about the way county government works, and I don't mean that in a pejorative manner," Rogers stated.
"We have absolutely no say in how another elected official does their business," Rogers continued. "Yes, we do have budget authority, but we've never said to an elected official, 'If you don't do what we want you to do, we're not going to give you any money'. I think that's probably done in some circles, but it isn't done here."
"We have supervision responsibility over the departments of Public Works, Health, Department of Community Development, Weed Control. Beyond that it's very, very limited as to where our authority lies," Rogers went on.
Rogers mentioned that one boon to the commissioners is their staff members, who are often able to resolve public concerns and complaints.
"They're often ahead of the curve. But there are some things that just somehow, sometimes get intractable, and that's very frustrating," he stated.
Still, Rogers said that he doesn't think being a commissioner is a particularly difficult job, even as he admitted it does require a prodigious amount of driving. He likened it to attending graduate school, saying he's learned something new every day, including many details about subjects he'd never dreamed he'd ever have occasion to look into.
As to what advise he might give to those aspiring to hold a commissioner's seat, Rogers said he isn't sure he is the best one to dispense such advice given that he'd failed to gain reelection. Rogers speculated he may have simply been caught up in the county's voters' pivot away from the Democrats this year, the party for which they've historically tended to vote. Still, Rogers indicated that he doesn't believe that in actual practice the office of county commissioner is a particularly partisan one, at least locally.
"You can't do any good if you're not elected," he quipped.
Yet Rogers did have more serious advice to offer those interested in public office.
"I think that's a really critical part of the job," he said, "being able to keep your mouth shut and listen. Listen proactively. Make sure you're paying attention to what people are saying. Under promise and over deliver. Don't say you're going to do something that you can't do. I wouldn't discourage anybody from doing it.
I think we need people to serve. I think it's important - at every level."
Rogers further cautioned that while those holding office naturally do make some mistakes, the public is generally not very forgiving.
At age 71, Rogers said he has no future political plans other than to hopefully remain involved with South Bend's school board, where he's in his third term, and to continue with some of his other community endeavors. He's president of the local Kiwanis, announces home basketball games at Willapa Valley, where his son coaches, and operates a small bed and breakfast with his wife. Other interests include kayaking, homebrewing, gardening, and carpentry.
"I think it's important to be busy, and I think it's important to give back to the community as much as you can," he said, adding of his time as a commissioner, "I don't regret any of it. I really enjoyed it. I would have liked to have been reelected."
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