Klickitat County Commissioners met yesterday, and unanimously voted a welcome change in county policy. Commissioner Dan Christopher said that currently the only county department that takes credit cards is the building codes department, and that the rest of the departments should enter the current century:
“Why should we make somebody that has an application to drive over here from White Salmon to pay is ridiculous. So with that, I would like to go on record right now, making a motion that the board of county commissioners sign a resolution advising all of its county departments to set up a process to take credit cards.”
Christopher said he had been advocating this change for three and a half years, and was pleasantly surprised to have it sail through this time.
Robb Van Cleave gave an update on the status of the jail. He said that in response to a request from jail staff for more communication, he got permission from the union to inform jail staff directly, which otherwise is considered an unfair labor practice. That has made things easier, he said.
And he outlined a long list of what he called the mechanics of transferring oversight for the jail from the Sheriff’s Office to a new Department of Corrections that had to be done prior to transfer. That included contracting with headhunters to help find a jail administrator, and finishing the resolution that will officially govern the transfer. But that’s not all:
“Jail policies are with Lexipol. We’re going to need our own Lexipol account. Dispatchers will need new call signs. We need to establish a new credit card for the department. Transfer billing of medical pharmacy. Create a new cell phone account. Firearms and taser training – uniform patches, stationery: they all have to be addressed.”