|
Auditor’s report: roads better,
sheriff slower, park growth better,
mental health service declines
Clark County auditor
Greg Kimsey today issued a four-year
report on county government achievements that showed improvement through 2004 in
two of four categories audited.
Kimsey said that during the four year
period, the county has significantly increased the proportion of its roadways in
satisfactory or better condition. By the end of 2004, 82 percent of county roads
were in good condition, according to a county pavement rating system.
During the four-year-period county
sheriff officer response times for priority 1 calls slipped from 5.8 minutes to
6.8 minutes. Response times for priority 2 calls also increased. The number of
arrests increased from 5,798 in 2000 to 7,272 in 2004.
According to the Kimsey report, there
has been a 12 percent growth in parks since 2000, tracking closely to the
county’s 11 percent population increase.
Kimsey says a change in funding source
restrictions caused the Regional Support Network to serve only Medicaid eligible
individuals, which has decreased the total number served by 11 percent.
The Service Efforts and
Accomplishments report is significantly different from a financial report and
does not constitute an audit, according to Kimsey.
The complete report, along with a
citizen survey conducted earlier in the year, is available by going to
www.clark.wa.gov/auditor/documents/
audit/ServiceEffortandAccomRPT
_05-01.pdf.
Commissioners make information
available
during process that may expand growth plan
It is likely that Clark County
commissioners, by a split vote this fall, will expand the controversial county
20-year Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. But they won’t do it without
seeking as much public participation as possible.
Commissioners are unanimous in seeking
public input. Comments can be made at public hearings during the process of
revisiting the growth plan. And comments and questions can be sent to the
commissioners by email,
boardcom@clark.wa.gov, and by mail,
Board of Clark County Commissioners, P.O. Box 5000, Vancouver, WA 98666.
Additional information is available at
the commissioner’s website,
www.clark.wa.gov/
longrangeplan/review/index.html.
Those interested in the process may
also ask to be placed on a mailing list for further information.
The growth management plan was adopted
last year, but has since come under attack from those on every side of the
growth question. More than a dozen appeals have been taken by the regional
growth management appeals organization.
Bravo! contest winners will
qualify for tickets to “Out of Africa”
Daily
Insider readers who correctly answer the following question will be
eligible for a pair of free tickets to the Bravo! Vancouver concert “Out of
Africa,” being presented in St. Joseph Catholic Church at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15:
Name the famous one-word spiritual
that Jester Hairston composed for the
1960s movie Lilies of the Field starring
Sidney Poitier. The name of Jester's song was also a TV show in the 1980s, in
which Hairston played the role of "Rollie Forbes."
Email answers to
Michael Kissinger,
mkissinger@pacifier.com.
Clark County Chamber hosting
business roundtable discussion
The Clark County Chamber of Commerce
is holding its semi-annual Business Roundtable from 7 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 17,
in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay.
The event is open to the public and
there is no admission fee, according to Michael
Golden, spokesperson for the county chamber of commerce. For
reservations, call 258-1181.
News briefs
The annual Ridgefield Development
Council meeting is scheduled with today’s 6 p.m. meeting of the Port of
Ridgefield commissioners in the port office, 111 W Division Street.
g The annual Clark
County Sammy Awards for contributions to salmon recovery will be presented
during a program from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 12, in the Water Resources
Education Center.
Headlines at home and from around the world:
(Click on the headlines below for the rest of the story)
Two of three
Clark County commissioners may amend the 20-year growth management plan by
adding 30 square miles--Columbian, Erin Middlewood
Local Lewis and
Clark organizers focusing on legacy, education--Columbian, Dean Baker
Columbian
planning six-story plant south of Esther Short Park--Columbian, Julia
Anderson
Port of
Vancouver's Gateway industrial site, that could provide 500 acres of industrial
sites, inching along through maze of bureaucracy, still five years
away--Columbian, Jonathan Nelson
Michael Allen Harrison and Peter Yarrow plan concerts for Vancouver's Rebecca
Recht--Oregonian--Holley Gilbert
C-TRAN decides TriMet bus route better than C-TRAN shuttle to MAX
line--Oregonian, Bill Stewart
Light plane prompts evacuation of White House and Capitol, pilot and passenger
arrested--New York Times, David Stout
At least 79 are killed in new round of attacks in Iraq--New York Times, John
F. Burns
Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam
[updates every five minutes]--USDA Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument |
MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
