Commissioner Rob Gelder (second from right) was recently elected as Second Vice President for the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) at their annual conference in November. He has been a member of the Board and active with WSAC for 6 years, and is honored to take on a bigger role with the organization in 2018.
"Local government is where the rubber hits the road in the provision of services to the public. As a subdivision of the state, it's often counties that have to do the work of the state without being given the funding to do so. I see one of my roles as being an advocate for Kitsap and all 39 counties when it comes to asking the legislature to support good, sustainable, and common sense government." Said Rob Gelder.
WSAC is a non-profit association serving all of Washington's 39 counties, advocating for county issues in the legislature. Counties provide many services that cities and the state do not provide, including a huge proportion of law and justice programs. WSAC's legislative agenda for 2017 included advocating for reform to property tax caps, an update of the public records act and adequate funding of trial court for indigent defense services.
As Second Vice President, Commissioner Gelder will continue his role with the legislative steering committee for 2018, and will work closely with other counties on legislative advocacy.
