The following letter was submitted to the Pacific County Commissioners prior to the meeting on Dec. 26.

The recent disclosure that the Pacific County Commissioners’ plan to assume create a department of corrections to operate the jail reveals a very serious problem with county government.

Apparently there has been no discussion with the sheriff regarding the plan nor has there been any discussion among the county commissioners, because there have been no public meetings in which the plan was presented and any private discussion among commissioners would have violated the open meeting laws.

This reveals that the plan was hatched and promoted by staff hired to advise the board since all communications outside of public meetings are between staff and individual board members. The exception to this is executive sessions, which are closed to the public to allow private discussions regarding personnel and legal issues. Clearly, the question as to whether management of corrections should be taken over by the Board of Commissioners is far from privileged communication allowed in executive sessions.

The fact that paid staff would place the commissioners in the position of voting on the proposal without public hearings and an opportunity for board members to discuss the implications of such a dramatic move is compounded by the hubris of thinking that they didn’t need to communicate with the sheriff who was elected to oversee the department.

Sheriff Daniel Garcia has proven to be a problem solver and peacemaker as evidenced by the changes he has made and the strong support he has from those who work with him.

I’ve chaired a number of boards. On the occasion when staff who were hired to advise the board have such poor judgment, the only solution is to remove them. If you take their advice, then you have poor judgment.

One duty executive leadership can’t delegate is the responsibility to remove people who create trouble. In fact, it is the measure of how much they care for and protect the welfare of employees and the public they serve.

JACK SMITH

Naselle