Deadbeat junkie

When this blog was started in December, we promised it would be a place for readers to learn behind-the-scenes details about local government leaders.

I’ve also decided it is a venue where I can publicly shame Commissioner Steve Stuart into paying his tab for office coffee.

On Monday I was skimming through the latest stack of county commissioner emails and discovered that Stuart is a deadbeat member of the sixth-floor coffee club.

Office assistant Jennifer Clark buys the coffee, which is used to keep sixth-floor employees at the Clark County Public Service Center fueled. Commissioners and other bigwigs put in for the coffee so Clark can be reimbursed.

Since I wrote about Commissioner Tom Mielke failing to pay his property taxes on time last year, I thought Stuart’s failure to pay up was blogworthy.

Commissioners were paying $6 a month to keep the coffee supplies stocked, but the dues went up in June to $10 due to price increases. The other seven members of the coffee club were paying $5 a month and now pay $7.

The other members include budget director Jim Dickman and county administrator Bill Barron, who both, to the surprise of no one, pay in advance.

Commissioners pay more because they often have coffee-drinking guests at the office, Clark said.

Clark sent Stuart a polite reminder that he’s behind on payments. Stuart owes $31.

Stuart said Monday that he drinks plenty of coffee every day, but never remembers to have cash with him to pay up.

Please email steve.stuart@clark.wa.gov and tell him that nobody likes a freeloader.