🏗️ Tracking childcare land in Bingen & White Salmon - Klickitat BOCC 5/26 & 6/2

Enjoy the audio edition on Buzzsprout, or look for "Open Gorge" wherever you get your podcasts.

🏛 May 26 & June 2, 2026 Meetings

The Body: Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners

The Bottom Line: Looming public defense shortages and major summer infrastructure closures dominated recent discussions, highlighting the ongoing friction between state-level mandates and rural resource limits.

The Vibe: Pragmatic and slightly strained. Commissioners spent significant time navigating roadblocks, from state Supreme Court restrictions on hiring to the logistical headaches of closing six bridges simultaneously.

🔎 What Changed:

• A 2026-2027 collective bargaining agreement for 911 dispatchers was ratified.
• The county formally authorized the creation of a new, unified Community Development Department.
• Contracts were approved to repair the courthouse exterior, including fresh painting and stucco replacement.

⚠ What Escalated:

• The East District Court is facing a critical loss of defense attorneys due to a recent judicial appointment and state caseload limits, threatening the county's ability to process cases without dismissals.
• The county's volume of public records requests has necessitated an administrative push to centralize processing under a dedicated Public Records Officer, a role currently being negotiated between Human Resources and the Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

🧭 What’s Next:

• June 12: Deadline for fire districts to respond to the county fireworks ban survey.
• June 15: Construction is scheduled to begin on the county-wide bridge repair bundle.
• July 7–17: Lytle Bridge will be completely closed for bearing pad replacements and jacking.

⚖️ Justice & Courts: The Public Defense Crunch

• The East District Court is losing a key court commissioner, who ran unopposed for a Superior Court judge seat in Skamania County.
• The departure leaves Klickitat County with only two primary defense attorneys handling the caseload limit.
• The county needs to hire at least two additional attorneys to handle the current volume.
• District Court Judge Hanson requested permission to personally recruit attorneys, a process complicated by state ethics rules.

The Washington State Supreme Court strictly caps how many cases a single public defender can take. When an attorney leaves, as is happening now with a key commissioner moving to Skamania, the remaining lawyers cannot legally absorb the extra work. To make matters worse, recent Supreme Court rulings prohibit judges from negotiating contracts or pay directly with prospective hires. The county is now trying to figure out how to recruit defense attorneys to a rural area without the ability to negotiate flexibly, heavily relying on the promise of remote work (Zoom and phone appearances) to entice lawyers who refuse to travel. Urban counties generally offer higher pay and fewer travel requirements, making it incredibly difficult for rural municipalities to compete for a shrinking pool of qualified public defenders.

"The Supreme Court's also decided that it's unethical for judges to negotiate with people who they want, which to me is ridiculous. I mean, we're in the best position to do that, in my opinion, but they determined we can't negotiate, set the price or what. So I can't hire anybody." — District Court Judge Hanson

🚧 Public Works: Summer Bridge Closures

• The Board approved a resolution to temporarily close six county bridges: Lytle, White Salmon, Whitmore, Bear Creek, Tom Miller, and Horthwood Bend.
• The closures are required for "bridge jacking" to replace failing bearing pads.
• The Lytle Bridge closure (July 7–17) will cause the most significant disruptions, requiring detours on the Glenwood Highway.
• Message boards will be placed at the edge of Glenwood and near Highway 142 to warn drivers.

Summer roadwork is guaranteed in the Gorge, but closing six bridges simultaneously requires heavy logistical maneuvering. The Public Works department noted they have no choice but to enact hard closures because live traffic cannot cross while the bridges are physically jacked up for bearing pad replacements. While most closures will be brief, Lytle Bridge will be shut down entirely for up to 10 days, cutting off a primary local artery. The county is prioritizing early communication with emergency services to ensure ambulance and fire routing is updated before the closures begin.

"We don't have any choice, but to close those bridges, you can't put a live load on them... People aren't going to be happy. We're going to close through the weekend." — Public Works Leadership

🛠 Jargon Buster

• Bridge Jacking: The mechanical process of physically lifting the bridge deck off its supports so the structural pads underneath can be repaired or replaced.
• Bearing Pads: The heavy-duty rubber or metal plates that sit between the bridge deck and its pillars, designed to absorb weight and allow for natural expansion and contraction during weather changes.

🏘 Early Education: Hunting for Childcare Real Estate

• Commissioner Zoller is investigating county-owned land or buildings near Bingen and White Salmon that could be converted into childcare facilities.
• Educational Service District (ESD) 112 announced plans to open a full-time preschool this fall and is currently advertising for a teacher.
• Zoller is scheduled to meet with Washington State Representative Hill regarding early education funding for rural areas.

The lack of childcare in the Gorge is actively throttling the local workforce, and the county is trying to locate physical space to solve the problem. While ESD 112 is pushing forward with a new full-time preschool, the broader issue remains structural: building or retrofitting a childcare center requires massive upfront capital. Commissioners expressed frustration that state bureaucracy and regulatory hurdles—, anging from mandatory, expensive feasibility studies to state building codes, prevent dirt from being moved or existing buildings from being quickly repurposed. This local frustration mirrors national academic debates regarding regulation as a primary cost driver for early education.

"It seems like no matter what we do anymore, you basically need to go through a feasibility study and start in that direction. That's kind of what they did for the pool over in White Salmon..." — Commissioner Ron Ihrig

⚠️ Editor's Note: The "Childcare Desert"

This real estate hunt is the latest escalation in a multi-year push to solve the regional childcare shortage. While peer outlets like the Columbia Gorge News have done vital reporting on local families navigating this crisis, the county's structural roadblocks align with several heavily studied national trends:

• The Math: The Center for American Progress (CAP) defines a "child care desert" as any census tract with more than three children per licensed slot. Klickitat County's ratio—roughly 1,046 children aged five and under competing for 178 licensed spots—is a severe 5.8-to-1 ratio, placing the Gorge well above the national rural baseline.
• The Regulatory Cost Debate: The commissioners' belief that state rules artificially inflate costs is a live, heavily researched debate. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has quantified that childcare costs more than twice as much in heavily regulated states (where strict degree requirements can push average infant care to ~$20,300/yr). Conversely, the impact of prevailing wage rules on construction costs is contested; some studies show a massive premium, while others indicate the costs are offset by labor productivity.
• The Boardman Blueprint: Residents and organizers have consistently directed local councils toward the "Families First / Play Frontier" model at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon—a facility that Senator Ron Wyden has previously championed as a model for the nation.
• Economic Infrastructure: Boardman succeeded by treating childcare as a public-private utility. The Port provided the space, state money seeded it, and roughly 40 area companies sponsor it (covering about $30,000 of a $50,000 monthly budget). This allows the facility to serve over 150 kids with Head Start and the ESD co-located, which is the exact regulatory braid local commissioners are currently trying to replicate.

How to Join & Learn More

• Review the Raw Materials: Access the full agendas, minutes, and documents via the Klickitat County Website.
• Attend the Next Meeting: Meetings are held in person at the Klickitat County Services Building (115 West Court, Room #201, Goldendale, WA) and broadcast online via Zoom. Look for the link on the official county agenda.