Our Voice: County leaders must focus on cooperation, not past slights

Benton and Franklin county commissioners are at a critical juncture in their tenuous relationship.

Their behavior from now on likely will make or break the future of several bicounty programs, which will in turn strengthen or weaken the Tri-City community.

In order to get through this turmoil, both sides will have to leave behind past frustrations and commit to moving forward in a spirit of cooperation. It’s not the river that’s dividing them. It’s the undercurrent of mistrust and stubbornness.

An encouraging sign came last week that we hope leads to better communication between the two governing bodies: Franklin County commissioners publicly announced their intent to send a letter inviting Benton County to a joint meeting in March to talk about their tense relationship.

Benton County commissioners reportedly have been trying to discuss their concerns with Franklin County for months, so this is welcome progress.

And it is certainly an improvement over the situation that has Benton County officials believing they must send certified letters to each Franklin County commissioner to ensure their messages get through.

The relationship among the county commissioners has been strained for a long time, but it snapped a few weeks ago when word got out that Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin asked Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, to sponsor a bill that would split the bicounty Superior Court.

The two counties have shared responsibility for the court for 65 years and it only can be separated by the Legislature. Hewitt wouldn’t sponsor a bill unless four of the six bicounty commissioners agreed, and since no Franklin County commissioner would, the issue is moot for now.

But this behind-the-scenes move triggered a shock wave through the community.

The seven judges of the Benton-Franklin Superior Court apparently were blindsided. They sent a letter to Benton County commissioners lamenting the disintegrating relationship between the two commissions, the apparent move to unravel multiple bicounty agencies and the attempted dissolution of the bicounty court system.

Benton County commissioners should have taken those concerns to heart, but instead blasted the judges for voicing an opinion — even though the judges would know better than anyone how important it is to keep a joint court system.

This kind of volatile response to criticism has got to stop.

We understand Benton County’s contention that it is paying the lion’s share for bicounty agencies, and that Franklin County has not been responsive to those concerns.

But there were no hard numbers to back that claim up until public pressure forced Benton County commissioners to quantify what they believe Franklin County should be paying.

Now that Benton County has come forward with a firm financial discrepancy, Franklin County wants to take its own look at the books and has suggested a third party get involved.

That’s not a bad idea. It is likely the two sides won’t be able to agree on a fair financial split without outside help.

The key will be whether Benton and Franklin county commissioners can set aside their hard feelings and move on for the good of the community.

Continuing to lay blame isn’t helpful. What’s needed now is a fresh attitude from both camps and a desire to work together.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Our Voice: County leaders must focus on cooperation, not past slights."