FORKS — Mayor Nedra Reed bid farewell to her office and the Forks Chamber of Commerce in a speech to about 30 business people Wednesday.
Reed, who did not run for a third term as the mayor of Forks, will be replaced in January by now-City Council member Bryon Monohon, who was elected in the Nov. 3 general election.
Forks has a strong-mayor form of government, in which the mayor is elected and serves as the city administrator. The position is not paid in Forks.
Reed, who was first elected to the top Forks city post in 2001 and re-elected in 2005, spoke Wednesday of both accomplishments and disappointments while in office.
She pointed with pride to her work to overturn a ban on keeping wild steelhead, instead of practicing catch-and-release, in 2004. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to overturn the two-year ban, instead implementing a one-fish annual limit.
“That was my very first battle in office, my first television appearance,” Reed said. “That fight was about the retention of one wild fish a year.”
She has said that she fought the measure “all the way to Olympia and won. So our local fishermen can get one native steelhead a year and feed their families with that fish.”
While acknowledging that not everyone favored her view, she said, “Some things have happened that cannot be quantified by dollars.”
In her speech, Reed noted improvements in Forks.
“The local infrastructure has been great,” she said. “The improvements — in particular, to the telecommunications and broadband capacity — has truly been the foundation from which Forks can continue to grow.”
Reed also counted an improved relationship with the Quileute tribe, based in neighboring LaPush, among her accomplishments.
“It has been such a blessing for me personally, and for the city,” she said.
“To have such a great working relationship with the tribe, who are our neighbors, family and friends has really been the highlight of my time here.”
One of Reed’s disappointments is that, so far, the city had not found a permanent place for West End Thunder to hold drag races.
The races, which draw thousands to the West End during race weekends in the summer, are now at the Forks Municipal Airport, but the Federal Aviation Administration has said they must relocate after 2011.
An FFA policy prohibits airports with grant obligations to close for non-aviation uses.
The city of Forks, which owns the airport, and the racing club were granted an exception in August 2006. It allowed the airport to be closed to aviation for a maximum of 10 FAA-approved days through 2011.
A Port of Port Angeles study determined it was not economically feasible to build a new race track, so the organization is still searching for a new home.
Police Department
Reed said that another disappointment were threats against her and anonymous critical comments about Forks Police Chief Mike Powell and City Attorney Rod Fleck in light of Forks Police Department terminations.
Sgt. Tom Scott, Sgt. JoElle Munger and communications Officer Deanna Dematteis were fired effective Feb. 29, 2008.
The three had brought allegations of alleged misconduct against Powell in early 2007, which the city investigated, clearing Powell.
In August of this year, a Seattle arbiter ruled that the city had sufficent reason to fire the three, saying that they had continually undermined Powell and Reed.
The terminations cost the city more than $300,000 in legal fees, Reed said.
“These legal fees and all of this stuff is not stuff that we at the city set out to do,” she said.
“We had to. We were forced to defend ourselves in these cases.”
Reed said that anonymous comments, forums and threats made the cases more painful.
“I was so disappointed that people felt compelled to write awful stuff about [Police Chief] Mike Powell and [city attorney] Rod Fleck,” Reed said.
“There was no good reason, because they are honest, hard working people.
“The threats to me and my family and everything else, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with without the wonderful people who called and asked how I was and provided a shoulder to cry on.”
Budget biggest challenge
Ultimately, Reed said that the budget was the biggest challenge for the city during her tenure.
The 2010 budget, which totals about $5.2 million, included many cuts, she said.
“I remember when I first came on, Mike had nine police officers under him. Now he has five,” she said.
“We’ve made it work, and he does what he has to do to protect the city.
“Truly we’ve been operating on a bare-bones budget.”
Twilight tourism has provided some economic relief, she said. The four-novel series about teen love and vampires set in Forks has drawn thousands of visitors to see the setting of their favorite characters.
“I have gotten phone calls from places I’ve never heard of about Twilight,” Reed said.
Lodging tax was up by 26.1 percent for the year from November 2008 to November 2009.
“Our sales tax is also up by 14.5 percent,” Reed said.
All of that is directly attributable to Twilight, Reed said.
“But more than the monetary value of what it has done, it has given us the opportunity to show what an incredible community we are.
“We are an understanding, accepting, dedicated, family people.
“People can see not only one of the most beautiful places on Earth – and I’m a military brat so I’ve lived a lot of places – but this is truly a community that is a great place to live and raise your children.”
Reed also offered thanks to each of the City Council members and to each of the department heads in the city.
When Reed announced in May that she would not seek a third term, she said she wasn’t sure what she would do with her time, but that she and her husband, Phillip, plan to stay in Forks, where they have lived for about 40 years.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.
