PORT TOWNSEND — State legislators have received a proposal to divide the management of Fort Worden State Park between the State Parks system and the Port Townsend Public Development Authority, which seeks to turn a portion of the park into a Lifelong Learning Center.
“We’ve been talking about doing this for about 18 months,” said acting PDA Director Dave Robison at a special meeting at Fort Worden on Wednesday morning.
“In order for this to work, we need to do more than just talk,” he said.
“We need to move forward with the state in a collaborative fashion.”
The proposal was prompted by Kate Burke losing the job she has held since 2002 as manager of Fort Worden, Fort Townsend and the Rothschild House.
Burke was displaced by a new director, Allison Alderman, a 21-year State Parks employee, who “bumped” Burke because of her greater seniority after losing her job as region operations manager in the State Parks Northwest Region Office.
Burke’s last day is Wednesday.
The proposed legislation would pave the way for Burke, a PDA board member, to stay on as director of the PDA, which is in the process of developing the park as a facility with a variety of educational options.
The proposal was presented to the three legislators from the 24th District — Sen. Jim Hargrove, a Democrat from Hoquiam, and Rep. Kevin Van De Wege and Rep. Steve Tharinger, both Sequim Democrats — on Monday.
It outlines three possibilities for a change in the management of Fort Worden State Park:
■ An equal partnership between the PDA and the Park Service to run the park.
■ The leasing of buildings by the PDA while the Park Service manages the camping and trail facilities.
■ The leasing of the entire park by the PDA.
The second option is favored by the PDA board because it leverages the strengths of both entities, according to several board members.
A co-management option is the least desirable, Robison said, because investors would be discouraged by government being involved in decision-making.
The PDA board is hoping the representatives of the 24th District — which includes the North Olympic Peninsula — craft a bill in time to introduce it in this legislative session.
That deadline is Friday.
No response from state legislators on the proposal was immediately available Wednesday.
“The decision to bump Kate makes all of us feel that all of the decisions made in moving forward have been undermined,” said Erin Fristad, director of the Fort Worden branch of Goddard College.
“We are at a point of bringing a new program out here and increasing our investment in Fort Worden substantially, and we now have a very nervous board and a very nervous president.”
Fristad said that if the college needs to wait another 18 months to resolve the question, “they would really question moving forward with an undergraduate program.”
Rodger Schmitt, a Port Townsend resident who serves on the Parks Board, said the parks system will be open-minded about adopting one of the solutions but would have to be convinced the plan was viable.
“The parks system will need to understand the business plan and have a comfort level in moving forward,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said Burke’s leaving is not connected to the State Parks’ commitment to establishing a Lifelong Learning Center.
“There is the perception that the two are linked, but they are completely divorced,” Schmitt said.
“Kate’s being bumped is an unfortunate situation, but the parks is not backing away from the lifelong learning concept. Our commitment has not changed.”
Port Townsend City Councilwoman and former Mayor Michelle Sandoval said the PDA had proposed similar legislation in the last session but pulled it at the request of State Parks as a “good faith” gesture, which the parks should now return.
“We were ready to go forward last year with a stronger proposal, but the parks service said they wanted to work together with us to find a solution,” Sandoval said.
“I would ask for them to work with us on a solution now as a good-faith gesture of their own because this is about saving the community,” she added.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
