Petition calls for ousting Tri-Cities health officer, claiming she has too much power

More than 400 people have signed an online petition, calling for the Tri-Cities area public health officer to step down and be replaced by a committee.

“The decisions affecting thousands of businesses and thousands of school age children in our community is way too important to be decided upon by one person,” the petition said, referring to health officer Dr. Amy Person.

“We need health experts from across the community to bring their knowledge and research in for sound discussion that is not political and not fear-based, but rather based on science and real data in our community,” says the petition posted on change.org.

The proposed panel would be made up of local scientists, doctors and other health officers, according to the petition.

The petition is planned to be presented to the Benton Franklin Health District Board, made up of the six Benton and Franklin county commissioners. It requests that the commission call a special meeting next week and open up the nomination process for a Benton Franklin Health District Emergency Advisory Panel.

Dr. Person’s hiring was approved by the commissioners.

Contrary to what the petition says, school boards have the full authority to decide whether public school students learn online or in classrooms, according to local public health officials.

With the Tri-Cities area now in Phase 2 of reopening, Dr. Amy Person still makes a recommendation on whether schools can safely reopen from a public health standpoint, but her recommendation does not need to be approved by the school board.

And rules for reopening businesses are set by Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, with Dr. Person having no control over them, said Rick Dawson, a senior manager at the Benton Franklin Health District.

Dr. Person and other health district staff members do hold regular meetings with Tri-Cities area officials, with meetings currently held over the internet.

‘Doing fantastic’

She is meeting every other week with the Municipal Advisory Council, which is made of community leaders who include mayors, county commissioners and business leaders, including from the Tri-City Development Council. Until recently those meetings were weekly.

She also meets at least weekly with Tri-Cities area superintendents and attends school board meetings when they request it.

She has the full support of Jason Zaccaria, the Benton Franklin Health District administrator, who said he believes she is the best county health officer in the state.

“I think she is doing fantastic,” Zaccaria told the Herald. “Her resiliency and breadth of knowledge, specifically with regard to COVID, has been exemplary.”

“She speaks from a scientific, best-practice for public health perspective, and is not influenced by political pressure,” he said.

The health district staff rely on her compassion for the community and her dedication, Dawson said.

He pointed out that she is hired on just a part-time basis to serve as health officer for both Benton and Franklin counties, but is on call 24-hours a day for a work schedule that stretches to seven days a week.

Petition comments

The petition calling for Dr. Person’s replacement with a committee has been signed by both people wanting schools to reopen and also those who want students to continue to stay home.

“There is no science behind keeping students out of school and no science behind students wearing masks,” said a post by Emily Hansen on the petition website. “Stop following political propaganda, stop fear mongering and counting COVID cases while our hospitals are virtually empty of COVID and death counts are near zero!”

As of Thursday, 191 residents of Benton and Franklin counties had died of complications of COVID-19, with four deaths announced by the Benton Franklin Health District since mid October.

Jennifer Collins, who also signed the petition, posted, “It’s not safe to reopen schools with our numbers skyrocketing!”

“We need a group of more knowledgeable professionals to work on decisions regarding school starting,” posted Emilee Davis.

Regional health officer turmoil

The petition comes as Yakima and Spokane counties each may be looking for a new health officer.

Dr. Teresa Everson, the Yakima County health officer, announced on Tuesday that Nov. 20 would be her last day.

“Unfortunately, my family and I can no longer sustain the costs of this position,” she said in a statement.

Last week the administrator for the Spokane Regional Health District forced out Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz.

The Spokesman-Review reported that she fired him based on personnel and performance issues, but a health board meeting was called for Thursday because of questions about whether she had the authority to fire him.

Lutz is suing, according to The Spokesman-Review.