Commissioner Rundell: "The need for a vaccine of any kind should be self-evident"

DAYTON-The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearing addressed many other concerns after fireworks ordinance that failed during the special meeting on September 7.

About 15 people attended in addition to the Commissioners and County Prosecutor Dale Slack. The Commissioners opened up for public comment which started with a request as to the Commissioners' position about the recent vaccine mandates. Another person voiced his choice to get the vaccine because of health concerns but that he is in favor of everyone having a choice. Others present added to this idea that vaccines and masking should be a choice.

Commissioner Charles Amerein replied first to say that the BOCC has a written statement opposing the mandates of any kind including masking and vaccinations by Commissioner Ryan Rundell which hasn't been made public yet. Rundell said they are waiting to see how the mandates play out and later added they plan to send it to the legislature and the governor's office. Amerein also said eastern Washington counties have each agreed they share this position and the Commissioners from each county plan to sign a position paper "asking the Governor to repeal his mandates because of the impacts it might have on local staffing of hospitals and other healthcare workers."

Commissioner Rundell also answered, "I think the need for a vaccine of any kind should be self-evident. I'm not saying it's not self-evident in that COVID is a dangerous disease for some people, but I also observe that with the current surge that we're experiencing, so has the rate of vaccination. It's not obvious and people don't want to do it, they don't get it. It's just been seven months 'selling' it and when people don't 'buy what they're selling', they force it. It's just wrong."

The Commissioners said when faced with employees' request for exemptions, particularly religious exemptions, they will also look at them in terms of a conscientious objection as advised by Columbia County Prosecutor Dale Slack. All mandated entities have to account for the status of everyone employed by them to the State.

"In reference to the guidelines for reviewing exemptions given by the State, "If we have separation of Church and State, the State has no point or purpose in defining religious views, is my view. If we're not being allowed prayer in schools, we shouldn't be trying to define what a person's belief systems and values are," Amerein said. "That's why Mr. Slack came up with a conscientious objection. You might not have a religion but you might also have a conscience which keeps you acting within the boundaries of polite society. And that might be what you base your objection on, but that's not for us to decide."

He specified one of the guiding questions for the objection was whether someone ever had received medical care or a vaccine stating that he found it intrusive. "If you feel it's objectionable, you shouldn't be forced to in America." He went on to say, "I don't feel as a County Commissioner that I'm going to ask someone in the County to do something they don't agree with, but we only have control of what we control." He said he recognized that the hospital, fire, port districts and other elected bodies will have to interpret the guidelines and how they move forward is up to them.

Amerein mentioned concern about following the Governor's mandate and it being later found unconstitutional where counties then have to pay restitution as is the case with the recent ruling of Bake vs. the State of Washington which overturned the drug possession law.

According to Slack, Columbia County is joining other counties to sue the State and the Attorney General's Office for lack of support and guidance including inadequate funding to take care of the repaying fines and fees to those charged for possession under the law. "They are now expecting the counties to cover all of the expense," said Slack. "This lawsuit hopefully will, first of all, get the Attorney General to defend us and second get us more money to fully cover all of the expenses. We were enforcing the State's laws, we were doing what they told us to do and now they are telling us we were wrong to do what we told you to do and also pay the money back." When questioned about if counties were left to pay the money whether it would bankrupt our county, Slack affirmed it would.

Slack also spoke about new law HB 1310 passed by the State legislature that now limits the abilities of the sheriff to act in situations of civil unrest unless approved by the highest elected official in the jurisdiction. "The Constitution says that part of the constitutional duties of the sheriff are to quell riots and civil unrest. It existed prior to the adoption of the Constitution so when we were a territory, it was also part of the sheriff's duties, and so it's basically sacrosanct. The State cannot mess with that unless they amend the Constitution at this point. Even if they amended the Constitution, there are some things in common law that have to stick around. What 1310 did was essentially strip the constitutional authority of the sheriff and, gave it to another elected official which is a violation of the Constitution–separation of powers. And it sets a definition of the highest elected official in the county, who tells the other elected officials what to do. That's not how we're set up. That's not how separation of powers works. There are checks and balances, but it doesn't work that way. This law is unconstitutional, it violates the separation of powers, it establishes a special elected official that does not exist within the Constitution. So, we're asking the courts essentially to find that it is unconstitutional and get rid of it."

Another issue discussed was the request from the Port of Columbia for the County to contribute $100,000 to the matching fund requirement for the broadband project grant they received. Those in attendance felt it was a "want" for the community rather than a need and thought actual needs to be addressed.

The Port has proposed the match money would come from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds for which broadband is permitted, among other things. The Commissioners have not made any decision on the use of ARPA funds for the County but have said the Courthouse HVAC project is the top priority. The County is waiting on the bid for that to determine what the balance looks like before deciding how to use remaining funds.

Amerein told those near the close of the meeting, "We appreciate you all coming out. It's great to see democracy in action–engaged citizenry."