Mayor Laura Dubois released the city council’s annual assignments to various boards and committees at the council’s Jan. 5 study session but not everyone was happy about them.

The council sends representatives to the meetings of about 15 or 20 groups to keep the other members apprised of their activities.

They range from the finance and lodging tax advisory committees to the planning commission and solid waste advisory committee.

They also include the homeless task force, Clallam County Economic Development Council and Shiso Sister City Association.

Often the assignments are based upon a member’s experience with an issue – such as Bill Huizinga and affordable housing – or previously expressed interest in it.

But the assignments also can be made at the mayor’s discretion.

Councilor Walt Schubert objected to his assignment as the council’s planning commission liaison, which he received along with the council finance committee and liaison to the citizens park advisory board.

"I don’t want to spend

another evening at a meeting. I’ve been on the council 10 years and for the last seven years I’ve been out every night of the week. I’m not going to do it anymore," Schubert said on Monday afternoon.

"I need to spend more time with my family. If I’m out at night then I’m going to spend it at the Boys & Girls Club," he said.

Schubert said he’s spent his time with the planning commission, admires its members and always looks to their recommendations on land use issues and tries to follow them.

"It has nothing to do with anyone on the commission. My free evenings are going to be spent with the teens trying to keep the teen club going," he said.

Schubert said he requested assignment to the Clallam County Economic Development Council and Boys & Girls Club and also offered to stand in at the chamber of commerce since he’s there anyway as a board member.

"And none of those things came my way," he said.

The mayor also, without consulting anyone, took the Boys & Girls Club off the list of council committee assignments, Schubert said.

The city is giving money to the organization and so should be attending its board meetings, he said.

Reached Monday afternoon, Dubois said, "I don’t think that needs to be a committee, that’s a contractor."

The city also has a contract with the Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic but doesn’t send a representative to its meetings, she said.

"Just because he doesn’t like it – we can’t always do what we want or what we like.

"I took five committee assignments last year because all the old councilors took few or none or took their favorites. I assigned them as fairly and evenly as I could," Dubois said.