Resident proposes “CART” charter amendment to add brief role‑modeling statement to ethics ordinance

PORT ANGELES, Wash. — During public comment on Aug. 25, Dr. Sarah Huling of District 3 urged the Clallam County Charter Review Commission to advance a one‑sentence charter amendment called CART — the Civic Accountability and Role Modeling Test — that would require the county’s ethics ordinance to include a brief, non‑punitive statement describing expected everyday role‑modeling by officials.

Huling said CART would place a short statement in the charter directing the county’s ethics ordinance to describe what role modeling looks like in everyday conduct, while leaving enforcement details to the ordinance. "The shopping cart theory is a useful shorthand for public trust. Do we do the right thing when no one's watching?" she said, citing behavioral‑science research on visible norms and prosocial conduct.

Huling told commissioners the charter already requires an ethics ordinance and that CART would keep a high‑level expectation in the charter while allowing the ordinance to contain implementation details. "When leaders model the small things, it makes the big things like open meetings, honest budgets, reliable services easier to deliver," she said, urging the commission to "move the Civic Accountability and Role Modeling Test forward tonight."

Commissioners thanked Huling; no formal motion or referral to committee was made during the meeting on this public‑comment item. Commissioners did record her correspondence among other public submissions to the commission.

Huling recommended that the charter require only a short, non‑punitive affirmation of pro‑social conduct; she suggested the details remain in the ethics ordinance rather than in charter language.