Politics & Government
Pulkrabek's Lack of Conference Report Stirs Board Members
Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek said he wanted to wait to give his report until Commissioner Dennis Hegberg was present.
Disagreement about follow-up reports from the National Association of Counties conference broke out between Washington County Board members at the July 26 meeting.
Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek declined to give a report on his participation in the conference, saying he wanted to wait until Commissioner Dennis Hegberg was present. (Hegberg, who also attended the conference, was absent from the meeting due to a death in the family.)
Meanwhile, Commissioner Autumn Lehrke gave a report on the sessions she sat in on at the national conference in Portland, OR. Because three commissioners attended the conference, the board's July 19 meeting was canceled.
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Commissioner Lisa Weik, who did not attend the conference, said she didn't see why Pulkrabek was waiting to give his report. She said he had previously demanded a report from her about a trip she made earlier this year to Washington, D.C., on behalf of the county and she felt attacked at the time.
“The representative from District 2 basically demanded that I give my trip report,” she said. “Commissioner Lehrke did not wait for Commissioner Hegberg to be present ... so maybe the commissioner from District 2 could give us an overview of some of the workshops he attended.”
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She added that with a death in Hegberg’s family it could be a few weeks until he returns with a report.
After seeing that Pulkrabek was not going to give the report as requested, Board Chair Gary Kriesel said, “Commissioner Pulkrabek said he would give a presentation next week; we fully expect that he will.”
Pulkrabek did not give a report even after Weik pointed out the conference can track the sessions members attend and send reports.
This isn’t the first time this conference has been a for the board. Sending three representatives rather than
the typical two was an issue a few weeks ago. Kriesel and Weik said they felt sending three was fiscally irresponsible while Pulkrabek, Lehrke and Hegberg said the county budgeted to send three so three should go.