[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",5976948,"mediaKeyId","5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769","parentId",5834482,"title","County to pilot job-shadow program for high school students with auditor and community development","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",1552000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769&start=1552&end=1552","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769/thumbnail_1552000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/5976948/Mason-County/Washington/County-to-pilot-job-shadow-program-for-high-school-students-with-auditor-and-community-development","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5976948-cc0bf91f94ce868bf8ad1aa978512580/orig.mp4?Expires=1773598042&Signature=MItgcjvlTGRYxgGI7cdLJd2~tQ8QCtwkAgmtYIhD20Vl7sTaQhQCj82cAcQkR49VuwpQrEAL91DnQUSQHdCrEO3bE1a-TVqeMF~bWgSCqSiZu0UX8AYDDcaUg64a8PbgV~9Ut~FajYhcAcY8xXJPDjYAk6bX2aOP5mxrcvLiGVf-leDWuNcKNFFd2XOPN7tt5huOxW089Z32XKdi5VFukL~H2nMSlSliiU9c9LpeicPMVy79dnsuRBp~Ah86ZFc6WfF5Wp-k5jt9B0MCbcQgGRsIRy6kS58K~UeluOD8xT9zdveC0otDN~lTsdMJAS0efU5LVlHmoxzV~XLjkyQdnQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Mason County, WA","date","2025-09-23T00:00:00Z","article","County staff described a job-shadow pilot program for high school students that they plan to launch on Oct. 14, with participants rotating through the auditor’s office and community development to learn county operations.
A county staff member said the auditor’s office will host two students for projects such as young-voter outreach and financial services, while community development will take six students to work on planning projects, public hearings and building-permit processes. The presenter said the regular schedule will be Tuesdays and Thursdays in the mornings and that the pilot will conclude with student briefings to the commissioners and a short celebration in the chambers on Oct. 30: “we hope to be able to bring them, up here to brief you all on what they learned... We'll have cookies and lemonade and have the kids here to tell staff, and community members who'd like to come by and learn what they learned.”
Staff described careful coordination with school administrators and risk management to confirm indemnification, supervision and logistics. The presenter said the county is keeping the first pilot small and expects to expand to other departments in future cycles; one local superintendent expressed interest in participating in future iterations.
Commissioners praised the program as an opportunity for students to learn local government operations and noted the county would leverage the pilot to scale later. No formal vote was recorded; staff asked commissioners to note the schedule and to expect a follow-up briefing at the end of the pilot.
The pilot is intended to expose students to county career paths and civic processes and to strengthen ties between schools and county government.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Mason County Commission Briefings Sept. 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Mason County staff proposed a job-shadow pilot beginning Oct. 14 with three departments hosting high-school students to learn county functions; program will include end-of-program briefings and a chamber celebration.","taxTitle","Mason County, Washington","taxId",56702,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},5976954,"County staff outline homeless-services contract changes, monitoring plans and emergency shelter RFP options",1158,582000,1740000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769&start=582&end=1740","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769/thumbnail_582000.jpg","/articles/5976954/Mason-County/Washington/County-staff-outline-homeless-services-contract-changes-monitoring-plans-and-emergency-shelter-RFP-options","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5976954-082307648e33687b16239f8e6920a96e/orig.mp4?Expires=1773598042&Signature=FPtnz0Jtbh2WVlhPMsvypjq33PeJ4rnGi56FKQVenZOJRVy2jpasYvgAZ9Zi3AC1QpjDWZWB2OC7fFDwOLB9I4ogwmtE2N~jeem33BvpfKQEVoy7UciCqSYHKnjiXQ-uIheDeiDqjrdPD89o0hyfEraZJxmFR4wiPM-YhUAFerk3XKDUtWQ6znd0MakwKzgr5hnTOWAb2b5VNEGDiWFqXUvXqj2Pan3G1WHud4hSQCOMN07q2~IOw6gu28okWT725cG7Rg4hyidwvVhec5Xadv4ljBiFHhocNuoBi56kmb0TgVbA54MatZmek2VR5SsSasa4fT~rGT0hDlKNJHq4nA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","County staff updated the Mason County Board of Commissioners on multiple items related to the homeless response system: a contract amendment request for a youth-services provider, proposed language clarifications for consolidated-homeless-grant compliance, planned improvements to contract monitoring, and preliminary budget calculations for issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to fund emergency shelter in cold months.
Public health staff said Olympic Health and Recovery Services will remain the law-enforcement-assisted-diversion service provider despite an approximately 20% reduction in funding from a state health-care authority; the county plans to continue the partnership and said a subcontract for Olympic will be presented later if the county approves continued funding. “The emphasis is really gonna be maintaining staff,” the presenter said, noting the county and public-health staff are still finalizing how administrative tasks will be divided between the county and the provider.
The county also described a minor contract-language amendment requested by Youth Connection to align its contract with consolidated homeless grant guidelines. Staff explained the change softens a requirement into an option in one clause and stated that clear contract language using mandatory terms such as “must” aids contract monitoring by producing a yes/no compliance result.
During discussion, commissioners and staff addressed past communication problems between the county and service providers. Staff said they have consulted risk management and an outside reviewer (named Nicole) to get a second perspective on contract language and that risk management is reviewing a specific legal case that had previously strained provider relations. Staff emphasized an intention to “over communicate” with board members and to bring corrective-action updates to the board as needed.
On emergency shelter, staff described using a previously held reserve for single-adult emergency shelter to fund a cold-weather shelter rather than a year-round operation. They presented a scenario covering November through February (with an option to extend through March) and estimated funding needs for two overnight staff to support a 35-bed minimum capacity with the ability to scale up to roughly 50–54 beds on hazardous-weather nights. Staff provided a sample calculation totaling about $128,400 for staffing, meals and facility costs — which staff said is less than the amount reserved — and suggested any remaining balance could cover utilities and administrative costs. Staff said an RFP would be the county’s standard method for awarding contracts above $50,000 and that they would present sample RFP language and model documents from other communities.
Staff also laid out contingency options in case only a previously unreliable provider submits a proposal; one option would be for the county to directly contract with employees and manage payroll to remove accounting burdens from the provider.
No formal contract approvals were recorded during the discussion. Staff indicated they would present subcontract language for Olympic and the Youth Connection amendment at a future meeting and recommended placing the emergency-shelter RFP discussions on the Housing and Behavioral Health Advisory Board agenda for further review.
Commissioners supported moving forward with additional outreach and preparing an RFP; staff said they would return with more detailed documents and a plan for next steps.","County staff briefed commissioners on contract amendments with service providers, plans to improve contract monitoring and options for issuing an RFP to fund cold-weather emergency shelter between November and March.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_46":92,"_48":93,"_50":94,"_52":95,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":96,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":97,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},5976957,"Mason County public works seeks engineering technician to ease engineers’ workload",446,274000,720000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769&start=274&end=720","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5834482-710519acd7c696cea8d6b1569a15f769/thumbnail_274000.jpg","/articles/5976957/Mason-County/Washington/Mason-County-public-works-seeks-engineering-technician-to-ease-engineers-workload","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5976957-543f81d03a9cce64fcad29a3e4398833/orig.mp4?Expires=1773598042&Signature=bIWo4mOKvnjcrIXX1lVMUWN6TtNFLYPEtdbHaHLWLcne8DS2ArWw7GIT8JPT6pwzQ4SpP5QKba~KdMjF-JQkdaUi~QsjeEFcRMTyZghXtWi4nuzjaUPc2A-qz3GUrSAYQzE6scaloXBB4VS6dVkwbN61gvkPa5Y4jpJsdYFOPK8KDL8Yo6jfEGAyCzJKDT8hIHwC6rjL8FLDOjfOA6-He7n0ciBHhCViVI0FYrWB7AswiLdttV9UmuHF7cHD9MTqaodCxDWfepRHXSpITnchEFMhJjLEMWEP13z4cCpSWlteDwzOMfKv6gz~~pPiZM91TvfDEJHdqcNpdIFP11EQuA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mason County public works staff asked the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to approve reopening recruitment for an engineering/construction technician to support the department’s workload this winter.
A public-works presenter said the department has had “slim pickings” in previous recruitment attempts and wants to try again because it expects a heavy winter workload, including design support, permitting and maintaining files for federal grants: “we have quite a bit of work, to do this winter and, bring someone maybe up to speed on some design things and some, keeping the files up to date for our federal audits on our funding.”
Commissioners and staff discussed the practical differences between an engineer and a technician. Staff described technicians as performing field data collection — traffic counts, basic topographic assessments, drainage observations — and assisting engineers with project development. “A technician assists the engineers, you know, like in project development. They do maybe, go out and do field, collect information in the field ... and basically, assist the engineer in the development of the projects,” one presenter said.
Commissioners agreed the hire would be a better use of engineering resources when the work does not require licensed-engineer design, and the board voiced general support for another recruitment attempt. One commissioner emphasized that sending engineers to collect data that a technician could gather is an inefficient use of professional resources.
No formal vote or hiring authorization was recorded during the discussion; staff said they intend to move forward with another recruitment effort and asked commissioners to approve reposting the position.
Public-works staff said they will invest time training a new technician alongside an engineer to ensure data quality and reduce the need for cross-checking once trust is established with a long-term hire.","Public works staff asked the commissioners to authorize a new recruitment for an engineering construction technician to collect field data, support permitting and federal audit documentation and reduce engineers’ time on lower-level tasks.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

County to pilot job-shadow program for high school students with auditor and community development

County staff outline homeless-services contract changes, monitoring plans and emergency shelter RFP options

Mason County public works seeks engineering technician to ease engineers’ workload