By Mark Ozias

County Commissioner, District 1

One thing I have learned about county government is that it requires active participation from county residents in order to work well. The good news is, there are numerous ways to be involved! It hardly matters what your interest is, or how much or little time you may have as there is almost surely a match for your passion or expertise.

More than any other level of government, county government requires active participation by people willing to serve as elected officials to help provide leadership, guidance and oversight to a wide variety of basic county functions. For example, every four years we elect an Assessor who among other things is charged with accurately valuing property for the purpose of taxation. Every four years we elect an Auditor whose broad scope of responsibility includes managing elections, licensing and auditing county expenditures. Every four years we elect a Treasurer whose responsibility is to collect property taxes and to effectively and actively manage public dollars.

Of course, we also elect a Sheriff and a Prosecuting Attorney. In Clallam County we even elect our lead land use official, the Director of Community Development. Like all small and mid-sized counties we also elect three commissioners who serve as the legislative and executive branches of county government.

While we have prioritized funding the salaries of these elected officials in such a way as to make these jobs a realistic possibility for anybody (and not just the realm of the comfortably retired or independently wealthy) it still takes a certain dedication to file for office, run a successful campaign and then to take on the significant responsibility that comes with each of these elected offices.

Most people who wish to become more deeply engaged look to service on one of the many advisory boards that focus on a specific area or function. If outdoor recreation is your interest you may look to the Parks Advisory Board or the Trails Advisory Committee. If you are interested in setting priorities and making spending recommendations related to behavioral health or homelessness in our community then you may gravitate toward the Behavioral Health Advisory Board or the Homelessness Task Force.

The Heritage Advisory Board helps to support historic preservation efforts around the county; the Conservation Futures Program Advisory Board looks for opportunities to work with community partners to preserve working farmland; and the Fair Advisory Board helps to ensure that our county fair is a success each and every year.

We are currently looking for people to help fill positions on 27 different boards and committees, so you are sure to find the right match for your interest. While each group is different, most are comprised of some proscribed members (representing a specific expertise, function or office) and other regional or at-large members. If these kinds of opportunities sound like they might be the right fit for you, please take a look at the “Boards, Committees and Commissions” page at clallamcountywa.gov for additional information, including how to apply.

If a committee or advisory board doesn’t feel like the right fit, we welcome your attendance at our weekly Commissioners’ meetings – or, any of the open public meetings that are held by any of these boards or committees. Each meeting has at least one opportunity for public comment, sometimes more.

We have worked hard to improve access to all aspects of county government throughout the past decade. First came video-recording meetings so they could be accessed and viewed any time. Next, we invested in technology that makes our complex budget easy to review and reference via our website. When the pandemic arrived we pivoted toward hybrid meetings, and the opportunity to attend and make comment virtually has greatly expanded people’s ability to participate in a meaningful way.

Detailed information on how to join meetings, how to make application to serve on the more than two dozen advisory boards currently seeking members, how to dig into our budget, and of course how to access county services and programs may all be found at clallamcountywa.gov. We hope to see you soon!