County Commissioner Ryan Rundell speaks to the city's reluctance to approve ILA

DAYTON—At their meeting on March 10, the Dayton City Council expressed reluctance to sign the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with the County for Law Enforcement, Dispatch, and Municipal Court services.

Columbia County Commission Chair Ryan Rundell went on record last week to talk about his frustration over the protracted negotiation process between the county and the city. He also addressed opinions expressed by some city council members at that meeting.

Rundell explained the need for an updated ILA. He said since the ILA was initially entered into in 2007, there have been structural changes within county departments, and the cost of providing services has increased.

“If nothing else, we needed a simplified contract,” said Rundell.

Back in 2019, Rundell said he hoped the City and the County, along with all the parties involved, could sit down together and hash out the terms of the contract that would be amenable to all. Then have the attorneys present a contract for their signatures.

Instead, Rundell said the City attorney was brought in which led to a long process of “lawyering” and delaying tactics, on the City’s part.

Rundell said delaying tactics included repeated requests for information, exceeding what was needed, and failing to answer the phone after the city set a time and date for conversations to take place.

At the Mar. 10 council meeting, Councilman Dain Nysoe said he thought the city was being “strong-armed” into signing the contract after receiving a letter calling for arbitration if the draft agreement was not approved within two weeks of the receipt of that letter dated Feb. 22.

Rundell said the only time there was any traction during negotiations was when the word arbitration was mentioned.

“After a year and a half of delaying I don’t think it’s strong-arm tactics to say enough is enough,” Rundell said.

Several city council members expressed frustration about not getting some of the things they wanted to be written into the contract.

“The only things in the contract are those things both parties agreed to,” Rundell said. “If the Council is disappointed, they should have provided more oversight to their negotiation team.”

Rundell said by using delaying tactics, the city successfully avoided paying increased costs for services they received for almost two years.

He said the County initially asked for a three-year contract, but the City held out for a five-year contract.

Rundell now believes the City wanted a five-year contract to provide ample time to look into establishing its own police force.

“To single the Sheriff’s Office out is unfair," Rundell said. “The citizens of Dayton should know that the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is there to serve you and are doing it at a bargain price.”

He hopes when the ILA is renegotiated in five years, the city and county can sit down together without all the lawyers.

“We can’t be separate. We have to be on the same page,” he said.

“I am hoping that both parties engage transparently and honestly so that we can work together, both in our coming contractually obligated quarterly meetings and in general, for transparency,” he said.

The previous ILA was entered into on Jan. 2007 and the City agreed to pay the County an annual fee of $269,998 for services.

Seven years ago, a mutually agreed upon Continuation of Services Agreement increased annual fees, raised periodically to $337,428, according to City Administrator Trina Cole, in June 2020.

The new contract was mediated in Nov. 2020. It calls for a payment of $612,500 to the county each year with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, beginning on Jan. 1, 2022.

The County approved the agreement on Dec. 21, 2020 and the City approved it at March’s City Council Meeting.