Madore is off to Olympia, but he’s still thinking budget

Clark County Commissioner-elect David Madore is heading off to a “newly elected officials orientation” held by the Washington State Association of Counties this week.

The Dec. 4-6 meetings in Olympia are an annual event for new county officials. Madore will join 35 other officials from across the state for presentations with thrilling names such as “Meet Your Affiliates – Rapid Meeting Style,” “Your Personal Infrastructure for Success… As Champion of an Issue Important to You,” and “Legal Do’s and Don’ts: Public Records, Open Public Meetings, Appearance of Fairness(,) What you need to know to stay off the front page.”

As a result of the training, he’ll miss a few county budget hearings this week. Those will be the first meetings Madore has missed in what has been a busy month since his election. As we’ve reported before, Madore has become a familiar face at county public meetings.

Madore said being away won’t keep him out of the 2013-14 county budget process. While he doesn’t have a vote at the moment, he will once he takes office in January, and the county budget isn’t set in stone.

The first supplemental budget hearing will be held in April, and Madore said it’s likely he will present changes at that time. He’s paying out of his own pocket for a third-party analysis of the county budget, and if anything turns up sideways, he plans to address it.

Madore also pinpointed one major change he expects to see regardless of the audit results.

“My goal for this coming year is to remove all parks fees in the county,” Madore said.

Making county parks free to all was a part of Madore’s campaign platform. The county is planning to look at the fees during a workshop in the coming months.