The Josephine County Board of Commissioners approved the second readings of amendments to three outdated ordinances on Wednesday.
Following three brief public hearings, the Board voted unanimously to adopt new rules pertaining to media participation in executive sessions, minor changes in practices and procedures for the Finance Department, and the removal of the Unified Board of Appeals. The first readings were approved on March 6th.
Assistant Legal Counsel Leah Harper testified that all the changes to the Josephine County Code reflect current state law. For instance, media can observe executive sessions but not record or report on them. Violators can be fined up to $1,000. The former Budget & Finance Department has been officially renamed the "Finance Department." Appeals to decisions made by the local building official are now heard by the state, so the Unified Board of Appeals no longer exists.
As part of the Consent Calendar, the Board appointed Jessica McClintock to a four-year term on the Josephine County Parks Advisory Board.
The public comment period included requests for the Commissioners to remove Josephine County as a participant in Oregon's "Sanctuary State" proclamation, a request for removal of a troublesome "halfway house" from a rural neighborhood, a question about the status of the library district exclusion case, and a presentation of cupcakes to the Board to commemorate the upcoming observance of Easter.
