1/21 Klickitat County Commissioners meeting

Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media

It was a busy day for government meetings in Klickitat County yesterday. Under the new format, Klickitat County Commissioners hold a workshop session on Tuesday morning, where they can confer with department heads and discuss issues but not take any votes. Then they start the regular meeting after lunch, moving the public comment period to the start of the afternoon session. The advantage is the public can then comment on all the items discussed by the commissioners that morning before they vote on those issues that afternoon. 

The one disadvantage is that meetings that used to conclude at 2 or 3 pm now edge closer to 5 pm.

There was some good news for the county. Public Health Director Erinn Quinn said she had been working with the new jail director and would help him apply for money the state has granted to improve conditions at jails:

“So the state through Medicaid is offering money for jail facilities. The medical providers in jails will be able to bill Medicaid, which will offer some revenue to them. The funding I believe its $2 million dollars. One of the thing is will provide the jail is electronic medical records, and that is very much a needed thing.”

The afternoon session included an update from Todd Jacobsen, who title is Wildlife Conflict Biologist. He works for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. One of the big issues he deals with is the effect the reintroduction of wolves into Washington. But he did have words of reassurance for county ranchers:

“There have been zero confirmed or probable wolf depredations on livestock in Klickitat County. There have been a handful that have been unknown because the carcass was too far gone. On none of the carcasses have we seen evidence of a wolf depredation.” 

He also discussed the on-again, off-again listing and delisting of wolf populations, reminding people that four wolves had been spotted in the county last year, and currently there were none. A total of $20,000 reward is offered for information leading to the person who killed at least one of them.