Gma Public Hearing Falls Flat Few Spokane Residents Testify At Poorly Advertised Meeting

Legislators who came to Spokane for a hearing about growth management didn’t hear the outrage they expected from local landowners.

In fact, at least half the people who testified weren’t even from Spokane County. They were officials, many from Western Washington cities, attending a conference for the Association of Washington Cities.

The state Growth Management Act generally is supported by city officials, including those who testified. It is disliked by many county officials, who think it favors cities.

Only a few Spokane residents testified at the poorly advertised hearing, and most of them supported the GMA, as well.

In fact, the most critical comments came from Republican members of the House Government Reform and Land-Use Committee, which is hosting a series of hearings, mostly in communities where the GMA is disliked.

One legislator was so furious she called the meeting a farce and later threatened Denny Dellwo, a Spokane resident and member of the panel that hears complaints about the way Eastern Washington counties implement the act.

“Denny, you leave Grant County alone or else I’ll get you!” said Rep. Joyce Mulliken, R-Ephrata, shaking a finger at Dellwo.

“And Kittitas County, too,” added Mulliken, whose district includes both counties.

Dellwo, a former state legislator who helped write the GMA, had nothing to do with the hearing, although he listened to the testimony. His was a chance encounter with Mulliken in a Convention Center hallway.

Mulliken, who didn’t know a reporter was listening when she threatened Dellwo, later said she regretted making the remark.

“It really wasn’t fair to Denny. It was not a fair statement to him,” she said. “He happened to be in the line of fire when I walked out of the room.’

The three-member board on which Dellwo serves is one of the things opponents hate most about GMA. Kittitas and Grant counties have been called before the board several times to answer complaints from conservationists and the cities within their boundaries.

Rep. Bill Reams, the committee chairman, said legislators heard a lot of complaints about the hearings board Wednesday, when they sought comments in Ellensburg, the Kittitas County seat.

On Thursday, the committee heard a few complaints about the board, but also some compliments. Environmentalist Bart Hagen praised it as “a citizens operation.”

“I think there are a lot of people who would argue with you on that point,” said Rep. Bill Thompson, R-Silver Lake. “When you’ve got a group of people and they’re all appointed by one person, it’s difficult to get a broad perspective.”

Mulliken said she planned to file a complaint with House leadership about the way the Spokane hearing was scheduled.

“I don’t know who made the decision (to hold the hearing during the conference of city officials), but we will find out,” she said.

Hearing announcements were not sent to the media, Spokane County commissioners, industry groups or others who may have been interested.

“I just heard about this last night,” said Tom Hargreaves, a member of the county planning commission, which bears much of the responsibility for implementing GMA.

Suzanne Knapp of the Spokane Homebuilders Association said she learned of it by chance, during a discussion with state Department of Ecology officials.

The homebuilders association used the opportunity to take legislators on a tour of local wetlands, to make the point that regulations are overbearing and arbitrary.

The tour started in a three-acre pasture of knee-high grass, where the owner would like to build houses. He can’t, Knapp said, because the state Department of Ecology declared the dry field a wetland.

“If we don’t watch it, we’re going to have an uprising” over such decisions, Thompson said. “We need wetlands, we need habitat, but if it’s not functioning as a wetland, then what are we protecting.”

Thompson will chair a hearing today to discuss wetlands regulations.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Wetlands meeting The House Government Reform and Land-Use Committee will host a hearing on wetlands regulations today from 10:30 a.m. until noon at the Doubletree Inn, 322 N. Spokane Falls Court.