County officials push for sustained resources to clean up conflicting finance policies and county code

Participants described recurring conflicts among procurement and finance policies and county code, and recommended the county assign a sustained resource to reconcile inconsistencies.

Shayla Nagel and other staff described finding multiple policies that contradict each other on thresholds and procedures (examples included inconsistent dollar thresholds and references that do not match current law). A staff member noted they had contracted an outside firm in the past to publish and update code and that the county has received a detailed list of conflicts to address.

Commissioner Mike French and CFO Mark Lane urged that whatever resource the county selects—internal or external—will still require significant staff time. Lane said the county lacks a dedicated, ongoing resource and that the problem "could be almost a full time job" to keep code and policies current. Participants cited the city of Port Angeles' multi‑year code scrub as a precedent and said outside counsel or consultants will still require regular input from departments.

Several staff recommended starting with the policies that most frequently cause operational confusion (procurement thresholds, small works roster references, and public defense standards) and producing short, plain‑language cheat sheets for departmental use. One practical suggestion was to maintain a single folder of problematic policies and to treat code/policy clean‑ups as a standing item at county cabinet or a work session to ensure department heads weigh in.

No formal hiring decision was made; commissioners asked staff to prepare a work session with options for internal vs. contracted resources and a proposed timeline.