GOLDENDALE — Klickitat County is changing its form of government. County Commissioners voted unanimously at their Nov. 12 meeting to create a new county administrator position.
The county will be joining 20 of the 39 counties in Washington that currently employ a county administrator. (To be exact, 19 counties have a designated administrator and Spokane County has a chief executive officer who performs the same functions.)
They also named current Human Resources Director Robb Van Cleave to fill the newly created position, effective immediately. He accepted the position, but he made it clear that his involvement with the office would be temporary and transitional.
“If you wanted somebody to do this multiyear, I would not be that person,” he told them. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to look past the beginning of 2027.”
He said he would use 2026 to get the position set up and ready to hand over at the end of the year.
All this came out of the offline commissioners’ workshop session Nov. 6. There was also some discussion of combining that administrator position with the economic development department.
In making the move, Van Cleave suggested that the current Human Resources (HR) Manager KC Sheridan, replace him as HR director, and that an HR analyst position be posted to replace the HR manager position.
There are still a lot of questions to be answered. What’s going to be in the county administrator’s job description? How much will he be paid as administrator? It certainly represents a step up in responsibility, which usually means a raise.
Moving up to the HR director position, Sheridan will also qualify for a raise. That would mean more money for her, but less than Van Cleave was making, a net savings for the county.
He also recommended to backfill her position with an HR analyst versus an HR manager. That one would also save some money, since the new hire would start at a lower pay grade than Sheridan was as HR manager.
The new organization chart would eventually consolidate the Planning, Building, Codes Enforcement and Economic Development departments into a single one-stop shop department.
“The general discussion at the workshop was to combine the functions of those departments,” Van Cleave said, “to put then them all under the same umbrella.”
It would also show all of the departments reporting directly to the new administrator except for Public Works and the Public Health and Behavioral Health Department, which would continue to report directly to the commissioners.
All this came out of the offline commissioners’ workshop session Nov. 5.
The change could mean that commissioners would no longer have to meet every Tuesday for most of the day. Since Wasco County added an administrator in 2010, commissioners only meet twice a month, and are usually able to wrap up by noon.
Commissioners are also contemplating a hiring freeze and possibly reducing commissioner salaries. Commissioner salaries for 2025 are $73,437, up 2.5%, or $1,784. from 2024.
And they pledged to use funding from the 1/10 of one percent sales tax for the criminal justice system to fund a new position in the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office.
Honoring Dana Peck and other business
The memorial plaque will be hung in a prominent location in the county courthouse complex.
Photo courtesy of Dan Spatz
The county took time to honor the late Dana Peck with a plaque and proclamation that reads in part, “Dana’s commitment to collaboration with endless contacts and friends, built bridges between public agencies, private enterprise and community organizations, contributing to the sustained growth and resilience of our local economy.”
In other items, commissioners tentatively scheduled a pair of hearings for the county’s mandates six-year plan for road maintenance and upgrades.There would be an afternoon hearing at their Dec. 2 meeting and an evening hearing from 6-7 p.m. at the Pioneer Center in White Salmon.
It was a busy day for commissioners, who also approved two short plats, four boundary adjustments, and a dozen items on the consent agenda:
• Consolidated contract amendment #9 for Klickitat County Health Department 2025-2027.
• 2026 interlocal funding assistance agreement with Washington Gorge Action Programs for operation of the Bingen/White Salmon Youth Center.
• Inmar Intelligence sponsored mail-back program for the Health Department.
• Approval of a contract with Pacific Northwest Environmental LLC. for asbestos abatement in the Klickitat County Courthouse jury room.
• Approval of a contract with Oliver’s Floor Covering for the Klickitat jury room floor covering Installation.
• Approval of a contract for 2025-26 county parking lots snow removal in Goldendale.
• Approval of a contract for “2025-26 snow removal at the Pioneer Center.
• The appointment of a Board of Health member
• Additional compensation to a foreman who is performing work outside of classification.
• A public meeting for approval of boundary line adjustment BLA 2024-20, Smith/Clifford
• A public meeting for approval of Short Plat Alteration, SPL 2024-16 ALT, Stafford
• Advertisement for the public hearing for the establishment of the Six- Year Transportation Improvement Program for the years 2026-2031.
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