Kittitas County Board of Health

Upcoming Meetings

Upcoming Board of Health Meeting Agendas

Contents

• Board of Health Members
• Meeting Location and Schedule
• Contact Information
• Legal Authority for Public Health and Boards of Health
• Legislative Authority for Local Health Jurisdictions
• Minutes

Board of Health Members

James Donaldson — Nonprofit Director of Your Gift of Life Foundation

Laura Osiadacz — County Commissioner
Kittitas County Courthouse, 205 W 5th ST, Ellensburg WA 98926

Dede Utley — Director of Emergency Services
Kittitas Valley Healthcare, 603 S. Chestnut St., Ellensburg, WA 98926

Brett Wachsmith — Vice Chair, County Commissioner
Kittitas County Courthouse, 205 W 5th ST, Ellensburg WA 98926

Cory Wright — Chair, County Commissioner
Kittitas County Courthouse, 205 W 5th ST, Ellensburg WA 98926

Meeting Location and Schedule

Board meetings are held on the third Thursday every month at 10:00 AM (unless otherwise stated) in the:

Commissioners' Auditorium
Lower County Courthouse
205 W. 5th Avenue
Ellensburg, WA 98926

Meeting Dates

  
Contact Information

Kittitas County Public Health Department
Board of Health
507 N. Nanum Street, Suite 102
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Phone: 509-962-7515
Fax: 509-962-7581
Email: publichealth@co.kittitas.wa.us

  
Legal Authority for Public Health and Boards of Health

• Local health jurisdictions (LHJ) in Washington State are governed by both local and state regulations. The hierarchy of rule making authority is as follows:
• The Washington State Legislature has the primary legislative authority for public health, developing the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). Usually RCWs provide general intent, assigning detail to a department of state government or another governmental body.
• A department (Health, Agriculture, Ecology) of state government is granted authority by the Legislature through the RCW to develop administrative rules or chapters of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
• The Washington State Constitution established the Washington State Board of Health (SBOH) with authority to develop Washington Administrative Code. The SBOH has developed the majority of rules for the authority and legislative RCWs governing the operations of public health programs.
• A local board of health is granted authority by the Legislature through the RCWs to develop local rules and regulations. The local Boards of Health function separately from the SBOH and will often supplement SBOH rules to address local problems. Local board of health rules cannot be less stringent that SBOH rules.
• A local board of health is also granted authority by the Legislature through the RCWs to develop fees to carry out local and SBOH rules.
• A city is granted authority by the Legislature through the RCWs to develop local ordinances. Cities often have local ordinances governing garbage handling, keeping of livestock, development of wells within the city limits and noise control, which they may request the local health jurisdiction to enforce.

The specific RCWs that provide legal authority for the State and Local Boards of Health are listed in the table below.

  
Legislative Authority for Local Health Jurisdictions

The Washington Public Health infrastructure reflects the concept of "a governmental presence" at the local level: which is responsible for the health of the community. This concept is based on a multi-faceted, multi-level governmental responsibility for assuring that the public health needs of the community are met. It is a responsibility that often involves other agencies in addition to the public health agency at any particular level. The legislative authority for local health jurisdictions is summarized in the following table.

  
Minutes