Is Franklin Commission split hostile or healthy? Rift shouldn’t divide county | Editorial

While it’s been a stressful time for Franklin County, it appears some good may have come from last week’s surprise move to fire the county administrator.

The issue brought to the surface underlying concerns that two of the three Franklin Commissioners have felt purposely left out of the loop by Administrator Keith Johnson.

Now that the issue has been discussed openly — and Johnson still has his job — we hope communication efforts on all sides will improve so that board members, despite their differences, can start trusting each other more and working together for the good of the county.

Such a fix is needed to bridge a divide on the board and a growing one in the community.

Many Franklin County residents who commented at Tuesday’s commission meeting were appalled at how Johnson was blindsided April 6 when Commissioner Rocky Mullen moved to fire him and Commissioner Clint Didier seconded the motion. Other citizens, however, clearly want Johnson gone.

One resident upset with Didier accused him of creating a hostile work environment, while another citizen later countered that the environment isn’t hostile and she appreciates fierce and healthy debate by her elected officials.

It appears that part of the misunderstanding is that newly-elected Commissioner Mullen and Commissioner Didier — who is in his first term — have been under the impression that they should passively sit back and wait for information to come to them from Johnson.

That isn’t necessary and it isn’t recommended, and we hope they now understand that. There is no reason they can’t be more driven in getting the information they want.

That realization should have hit home when Didier complained near the end of Tuesday’s meeting about information Commissioner Brad Peck had regarding a Port of Pasco project.

Here’s a telling back-and-forth from their conversation:

Didier: This is the kind of information that would really help a commissioner make a decision if I was informed

Peck: And I would refer you to the Port of Pasco.

Didier: The Port of Pasco?

Peck: Yep. It’s their project.

Didier: Are they the ones who reached out to you and told you about all this because I have no idea what you’re talking about?

Peck: Yes. They did.

Didier: This is privy information that the commissioners — How can we make good rational decisions when we don’t even know what is going on?

Peck: I’m doing what I’m allowed to do. I’m referring you to the Port of Pasco.

Didier: I would hope the Port of Pasco would reach out to us, the other commissioners

Peck: There seems to be a presumption that information is just fed to commissioners. My experience is you have to go out and actively look for it and I do that. Maybe I run into information that not everybody sees.

Didier: Maybe you should share that information with the administrator so he can share it with us.

Communication issues are always tricky, especially when it comes to a three-member governing board like the Franklin County Commission. State open meeting laws prohibit the commissioners from talking with each other, and Johnson even has to be careful to avoid group email threads when passing information along to the board.

Mullen said he was feeling kept in the dark and that is why he made the motion to fire Johnson. To his credit, he pulled that motion this week and it appears he and the county administrator have reached an agreement that will help keep Mullen abreast of pertinent county business.

There is no reason it has to end there, however. Mullen can reach out to other county staff members and other agencies — like the Port of Pasco and the city of Pasco — and build connections.

Didier can do that too.

And Johnson is obviously going to have to make sure his commissioners have no reason to think that one of them is getting information the others aren’t. Peck, in the same spirit, can also pass on information to Johnson so that everyone is on the same page.

If they all do their part and become more proactive, there’s no reason they can’t become a stronger commission and put this current, ugly situation behind them.

This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 11:55 AM.