Open Public Comment: One person scheduled who is opposed to amendments 26 & 27 prohibiting proclamations or resolutions. One person called in to express concerns about ethical standards and recusal issues from last meeting.

March 4, 2026 minutes were approved.

Executive Committee Reports: The commission reported progress on website enhancements for greater transparency and visibility of deliberations.

Comments by Support Staff: County can get legal help through the prosecuting attorney, not through an RFP process. Legal staff will be reviewing amendments for consistency with law. The job is to approve as to form, that is on its face, is he proposal lawful. Commission can hire an attorney to do non-legal work.

Comments by Auditor Greg Kimsey: When looking at legislation, what is the problem you are trying to solve? Is there any other way? And, what are the unintended consequences? He spoke to several specific proposals:

26-01 He is in favor of this proposal--when only two candidates, there is no primary.
26-08 He thinks the 80% vote requirement to raise taxes is not a good idea. 70% of the General Fund goes to law & justice and that increases more than 1%/year. Due to a Supreme Court decision, public defense cost is forecasted to triple. With the 80% approval requirement, it would make it unlikely to meet that requirement.
He spoke to two amendments regarding deputy staffing. He provided the analysis of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) that describes the use of fixed ratios like officers per thousand ratios for staffing decisions are not appropriate. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (“CALEA” an agency that provides accreditation for Sheriff’s Offices, including the Clark County Sheriff’s Office) and the Center for Public Safety with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) state that the Workload Model is the gold standard, based on data analysis, measuring the actual amount of time officers spend on calls and other law enforcement activities. Commissioner Donnelly referenced the Washington State Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) report using officers per thousand as a comparison to support more police officers are needed.
26-13 He clarified that the objective was that the County Council could have its own employee(s). He said the proposal that refers to the “legislative branch” was interpreted by some to include all county employees who report up to the County Manager.
26-14 He said that County ordinance directs the county auditor to conduct performance audits. He asked what the problem to be addressed is. If the issue is that councilors do not have enough authority to direct audits, there are other ways to accomplish that. In response to a question, he said County Council provides oversight; ensuring audit expenditures are properly budgeted and authorized. The State does an annual financial audit.
26-15 Auditor Kimsey said that creating an Inspector General position is a big step; he is not sure Clark County is big enough to warrant that function.
26-20 Regarding term limits, he said no one has ever served more than twelve years. Quality officials might go to another jurisdiction if they want to continue to serve.
26-22 He suggested that the Commission may not want to give the County Auditor the authority for rank choice voting decisions. If rank choice voting is used, he recommended that the first be a top four the primary and rank choice in the general election. He said that the current voting system could handle rank choice voting with minor changes without much cost. Expenses would be having two different ballots and the added labor cost of processing ballots. If the primary was eliminated there would be cost savings for the jurisdiction using rank choice voting. Given that there would be multiple rounds of ballot tabulation, reporting the outcome of elections could take a few additional days. In his opinion, cost is not a reason to support or oppose rank choice voting.
26-29 Removal of an elected official is in the Constitution. For the proposal the question is how does it align with Constitution.

Work Plan Subcommittee Report: The Subcommittee has met twice since last full meeting. Commissioner Gasque provided a summary and recommendations to streamline the process going forward. Discussion followed regarding responsibilities of a sponsor to present, form and convene subcommittees.

Public Outreach Plan: The commission plans to discuss public outreach strategies in upcoming meetings to gather community input. Expect outreach for 2026 on amendments already in discussion.

Meeting Time Extension: The commission discussed extending meeting times to accommodate the workload and discussions. Motion to extend meeting time to 5-8 passed.

Work Plan Adoption: The commission unanimously moved to adopt the updated work plan, emphasizing the importance of timely submission of proposal intakes. The Secondary Motion to amend the work plan to extend the timeframe to submit intake forms. Secondary motion failed.

Old Business: A question was asked about the recusal issue. Legal advice was to let each Commissioner decide for themself.

New Business:

a. Meeting schedule was covered earlier in the meeting.

b. First Readings delayed while each Commissioner expressed what ballot year they want the proposal. At this point 20 proposals still remain for 2026. For any proposals that were deferred to 2027 or withdrawn, cosponsors can resubmit under their name by Monday. The following go forward in 2026:

# -- Commissioner -- Topic -- Action

26-01 -- Garber -- clarify nonpartisan elections -- 2026

26-03 -- Garber -- salary increase for County Council -- previously tabled 2026

26-07 -- Jay -- land supply & construction cost analysis -- 2026

26-08 -- Jay -- Supermajority of Council to approval new taxes -- 2026

26-09 -- Jay -- prohibit county government from interfering with initiatives and Charter amendments -- 2026

26-10 -- Silliman -- budget transparency -- 2026

26-11 -- Silliman -- make deputy staffing a paramount duty -- 2026

26-12 -- Silliman -- 1% annual levy limit -- 2026

26-13 -- Silliman -- clarifies that legislative branch employees report to Council -- 2026

26-14 -- Silliman -- performance audits -- 2026

26-15 -- Gasque -- County code of ethics -- 2026

26-20 -- Erickson -- term limits -- 2026

26-23 -- Adigweme -- revise Council Powers Re: Council Board/Commissions -- 2026

26-24 -- Adigweme -- require published Annual Report by the County Manager -- 2026

26-25 -- Adigweme -- modify County Council Composition -- 2026

26-26 -- Donnelly -- County requirement to support public safety -- 2026

26-27 -- Jay -- prohibit symbolic political proclamations by County Council -- 2026

26-28 -- Donnelly -- Role Council on Board -- 2026

26-29 -- Holmgren -- allow County Council remove executive branch elected officials -- 2026

First Reading of Proposed Charter Amendments:

The commission conducted first readings for several proposed amendments that are intended for the 2026 ballot.

26-03 regarding County Council salary was tabled earlier. Motion to take it off the table was approved and voted to have a 2^nd reading. Additional cosponsors Commissioners Hamlick & Holmgren.

26-09 Sponsor Jay proposed an amendment to prohibit the county government from interfering with initiatives and Charter amendments, with cosponsors Commissioners Donnelly, Cline, Erickson, Silliman and Benton. Moved to 2^nd reading.

Good of the Order

Commissioner Adigweme asked how to fill the speaker slots that are open. Some invitations did go out to non elected positions.

Adjourn 6:58

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