The Skagit County Board of County Commissioners approved consent agenda items 1 through 26 at a public meeting on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, including a resolution to call a public hearing on the county's 2025–2030 five-year homeless housing plan, an appointment to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and an amendment to a contract supporting treatment for opioid and alcohol use disorder in the Skagit County Justice Center.

The vote cleared a slate of administrative and contractual items so staff can proceed with scheduling and implementation. Commissioner Peter Wiesen flagged the appointment and several labor contracts before the board approved the package by voice vote.

Why it matters: The consent items include a public hearing date for the county's multi-year homeless housing plan and an expanded treatment contract for people in the county jail, both of which affect county planning and service delivery. The treatment contract amendment increases the program's compensation and could change the level of services offered at the Justice Center.

During the meeting, Commissioner Browning noted the planning timeline for the homeless proposal and the hearing date. "It's a real necessary part of our long term planning, and it's on Tuesday, 11/04/2025," Browning said.

The board also approved a resolution appointing Angela Abbenson to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Commissioner Wiesen introduced that item during the consent review, saying, "Number 5 is a resolution appointing, Angela Abbenson to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Really appreciate her volunteering to be on this board and, appreciate all the work all our different voluntary boards do to help and advise the Commissioners." The appointment was included in the consent package that passed.

Among the contracts approved on consent was an amendment to a professional services agreement with the Washington Health Care Authority to support a comprehensive treatment program for incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder at the county jail. A commissioner summarized the budget change in the meeting, saying, "And I didn't do the exact math, but it increased compensation from $678,000 up to $1,430,000 so that's quite a sizeable investment." The amendment was approved as part of the consent agenda; the contract text and funding sources were not detailed in the public remarks.

The board authorized use of a cooperative purchasing contract with CDW•G through the King County Directors Association for a planned firewall system, an agreement the commissioners said would save time and money by using an existing contract rather than running a separate procurement.

Commissioners also discussed ongoing litigation that names multiple county employees and elected officials. A commissioner described the suits as repeated filings that have so far been unsuccessful in court: "This is another 1 of the, I call them frivolous lawsuits ... plaintiffs have been unsuccessful in every single 1 of those cases, but they keep filing," the commissioner said. The commissioner identified that the current filing names 14 county employees or elected officials and thanked the prosecutor's office for defending the county. The transcript referenced Eric Peterson in connection with the prosecutor's office; the meeting did not include additional legal detail.

The commissioners recessed briefly to sign documents and scheduled an executive session at 2:30 p.m. to review job applicant qualifications under the Revised Code of Washington; the transcript did not specify the RCW section cited. The executive session was separate from the consent vote and not open for public comment.

Votes at a glance: The board approved the entire consent agenda, items 1–26, by voice vote. Individual roll-call tallies were not provided in the public remarks. Notable items included:
- Resolution calling a public hearing on the 2025–2030 Skagit County five-year homeless housing plan (hearing set for Nov. 4, 2025) — approved on consent.
- Resolution appointing Angela Abbenson to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board — approved on consent.
- Amendment to professional services agreement with the Washington Health Care Authority to support a comprehensive treatment program for incarcerated individuals with opioid and alcohol use disorders at the Skagit County Justice Center; compensation noted in public remarks as increasing from $678,000 to $1,430,000 — approved on consent.
- Cooperative purchaser contract authorizing CDW•G to provide a firewall system via the King County Directors Association contract — approved on consent.

The meeting moved next to a brief administrative recess and the scheduled executive session; no additional public actions were taken at the time the transcript ends.